What You Can Do (Part 4)

This is another entry in my continuing series on what you can do to help make your photography spectacular. All of these posts are merely suggestions and not requirements. You'll have beautiful and wonderful photography from me regardless. But take some of these things into account and your investment will have much larger dividends. I'm not a magician and some of these suggestions can make a huge difference in how stunning your photographs can be.


(this is a shot from the shoot I did for The White Box {a hidden sneak peak!} - to me it is the epitomy of the relaxed bride who is really enjoying her day - a good illustration for today's post)


What You Can Do - Be an Organized Bride

I'm not asking for a fire-breathing, micro-managing Bridezilla, please don't misunderstand. (please don't.) But being organized before your big day can go a long way in making things run smoothly on your day, and this will help your photography go smoother. For one, you'll be more relaxed, and that will translate to your photos. Some photography-specific organization tips:

-Know who you want formal shots with. I talk to all of my couples about a month before the wedding and we make a punch list of the groupings they want formals of (i.e. bride with parents, bride with both sets of parents, etc). Having this done ahead of time means we aren't standing there on the big day trying to figure out who we haven't taken pictures of yet, who might be missing, etc. My assistant has the list, we make our way down it quickly and swiftly, and formal shots are painless. No one likes taking formals, not even me, so we do what we can to make this part of the day short. I myself made the mistake of not having this list done for my wedding day, and the only formal shots we have are of the two of us with our parents - nothing with our immediate families, our siblings, nada. We were so caught up in the day (and running a little behind schedule) that it totally slipped our minds.

-Inform the necessary family members and the wedding party of the photography plans. If you plan to get the formals done right after the ceremony, please tell everyone involved. Tell them where they should gather and when. Hunting down people is the quickest way to make formal shots painful and lengthy. In particular, be sure your grandparents, and anyone who might be assigned to them that day are aware of their need to be in pictures. Make sure the wedding party has a clear outline of what their duties are for photographs. I have seen many a groomsman or bridesmaid disapear with their significant others or own families precisely when we need them for photography because the didn't know what was expected of them.

-Provide transportation to your wedding party between the ceremony and reception. This is most important when you are planning to go to alternate locations for pictures between the two events. The ability of possibly 10 or more people to get to another location and park, in separate vehicles, is highly limited, especially in all of the excitement of the wedding day. If you are waiting for people to arrive, trying to direct them by cell phone, etc - we are loosing photography time.

-Have an overall itinerary for our day and make sure everyone knows it. Not to say you should make a schedule and become a nazi about following it, but knowing a general outline for the order of events is helpful to every wedding professional, and the integral personal participants of your day. This kind of thing gets fully discussed with each of my couples at that 30 day point, but make sure everyone else knows the schedule too. I can't tell you how many times the caterer has approached me asking when the couple is planning to cut the cake. I know, but they shouldn't have to ask. Having a general outline for your day allows me to plan appropriately for memory cards, lighting and other equipment issues. And, if everyone has a reasonable idea of the plans, you'll answer less questions and the day will run smoother.

-Send me a copy of your invitations, ceremony programs, menu cards, etc ahead of time. If you want fun detail shots of these types of items, send me one ahead of time. Not to say I won't be able to get these shots on the spot the day of, but if I have a Ceremony Program in my bag and have an idea for a cool shot of it in the middle of your ceremony, I don't have to steal one from a guest (because there are rarely extras). The invitations though are the big thing to send me. It is so nice to have a few shots of these available for your album, and I won't be able to scrounge one of these up at your wedding. PLUS, and this is a big plus - having your ceremony program lets me know the exact order of your ceremony and allows me to plan for when I can run up to the balcony or to some other vantage point without missing something.

-Give me a point person. Assign a bridesmaid, sister, cousin, someone to me. Make it somebody with a good overall knowledge of the day and the guests. I can go to this person then when you have requested a shot with your Aunt Sally and they can retrieve her, because they know who she is. It is not a big job, and they don't have to shadow me all day - but if they are willing to fetch people for me, then I know I can bug them when I need to, and not you.


I am a super organized person, or I at least try to be. And many of you know I'm also what I affectionately refer to as a "recovering bride". So, I am always happy to talk over the schedule of your day with you and help you fit in everything you want photographically with everything you want to experience in your day. It is never my goal to spend more time capturing your day than you do experiencing it. What would be the point of that?