This isn’t my first rodeo. Here is some advice to my future couples get the best pictures possible on your wedding day:
Getting ready:
• Bring a clean copy of your invitation.
• Have music playing while you and your entourage are prepping. It makes things better.
• Clean your room! Empty water bottles, undies, mussed bedsheets, dress bags, half eaten food, and the tornado of stuff you brought in probably isn’t the background you’re going for. Or arrange to move into another room to put on your gown.
• Hire a professional make-up artist, not just a nice friend or relative. A professional will know how to make sure you look good all day long in all sorts of lighting conditions from daylight to nighttime with flash.
• Have your hair and makeup FINISHED an hour before I’m due to arrive. It is most important that your face is ready when we’re working with a timeline.
• A little tan goes a looong way. If you’re going to catch some rays, don’t overdo it. Your orange skin will be very obvious when you stand next to bridesmaids.
• Grooms – if you have some serious blemishes, put on some concealer. It’s okay; I won’t tell anyone.
• Always budget extra time.
The Ceremony:
• Hire a planner. A day-of if nothing else. Their assistance on the day of the wedding is priceless. Corralling guests, putting out fires, finding things, keeping time… It makes such a huge difference!
• During the ceremony, look at your partner and smile.
• Receiving lines are monstrous timesucks. Instead, consider visiting tables during the salad course at the reception.
• Stop hiking up that strapless dress!
• Really think about the formal groupings you want. Do you need every iteration of family combinations or are you okay with individuals with your immediate family and large groups for extended family?
• Always budget extra time.
The Reception:
• Seriously consider additional lighting for the reception – uplighting, pin spotting, ceiling washes, etc. It can transform a room like you wouldn’t believe.
• On the flip side, please no band/DJ laser lights.
• Dance your full first dance rather than having guests or the bridal party cut in halfway through. These pictures are so emotional and amazing and I want more than 30 seconds to get as many angles and expressions as possible.
• Ask your catering manager to put food out for the photographers at the same time that you are eating dinner. This way the time I must spend away from you is the time that you’re grabbing a few bites to eat too. Once you’re finished and start parent dances or mingling with your guests, I’ll be right there with you (compared to being served after all of the guests when you’re back on the dancefloor having a blast). Most caterers will want to ensure your guests eat before the vendors do, but if you talk to your vendors ahead of time, they will be able to plan ahead and set food aside.
• Put down the fork during toasts.
• Always budget extra time.
Overall:
• No matter what else happens on your big day: at the end of the day, you’re married and that’s pretty awesome.
• Oh, and always budget extra time.
