7 Photography planning tips for your wedding day

1. DON’T RUSH.   As a long time wedding photographer, I’m completely used to being rushed on the wedding day.   Things often run behind schedule, putting the squeeze on the time allotted for photography.  However, this is definitely my number one tip for an ultra successful wedding day shoot.  Just don’t rush!  Nobody looks great when they are late for something important, eye on the clock, stress on their face. There are a couple factors that are what I call the “main offenders” that typically cause a wedding timeline to run behind all day.  I’ll discuss those factors in tip 2 and 3.

2. HAVE A PLAN.  Not just any plan, but a well thought out plan that includes a timeline with corresponding blocks of time scheduled for photography.  Any photographer worth his/her salt should help the bride/groom/wedding coordinator draft a timeline that allots sufficient time for all photography aspects at each part of the wedding day.   A successful plan starts with an in depth discussion with the bride/groom about their expectations for their wedding photographs.  Once the photographer understands what his bride/groom want he can then plan an appropriate amount of time to make those goals reality.  Another important factor is the size of the family, and bridal party.  More peeps equals more time.  So plan accordingly, and reap the rewards in amazing wedding photographs.

3. HAIR AND MAKE UP BEWARE.  Okay, where would we be without our gals and guys working the hair and makeup for your wedding?  Probably in a bad place.  I really love all you hair and makeup peeps out there, but Brides need to know, Hair and makeup make weddings late 90+% of the time. There, I said it.  Going past having a great plan for photography on your wedding day, it’s uber important to be on the same page with your amazing hair and makeup stylistas.  To be fair, hair and makeup need to have a real understanding for how many heads and faces they need to make beautiful, and what time they need to be completely finished.  THEN START AN HOUR EARLIER TO HAVE A LITTLE BUFFER TIME.  WHAT…MORE THAN 5 BRIDESMAIDS then start 1.5 hours early.

4. FLOWERS READY for pictures.  Also an important detail that is easily overlooked.  Most wedding coordinators are all over this one.  But occasionally, I’ll photograph a wedding without a coordinator, and this is when we as photographer need to make the brides aware of communicating with the florist to have the bridal bouquets, and boutonnieres ready and waiting on location for wedding portraits to begin.  It is definitely a bummer to be on location ready for family portaits, an hour before your wedding ceremony with flowers delivered to the church because this important detail wasn’t considered.

5. CHECKLISTS ARE GOOD.  If you’re a bride that is planning your own wedding adventure, or maybe have a friend or family member helping out on the day of the wedding.  This is for you!  First piece of advice, is hire a coordinator.  A full planning wedding coordinator will take away your pre-wedding stress of navigating the maze that we call a wedding.  If that’s just not in the budget, do yourself the favor of interviewing a couple professional wedding coordinators for “Day of Coordinator” services.  A good wedding coordinator is worth her weight in Platinum.  That said, if you choose to go at it alone,  hit your local bookstore and start researching some guides out there.  Make a checklist of things to remember for the wedding day,  it is also a great idea to have a list of responsibilities for who is bringing what to where.  Or example, Katherine my maid of Honor is bringing the ring bearers pillow to the church.  If your not the listy type, once again consider hiring a coordinator.

6. FAMILY FORMALS.  “Get ready, my family is totally crazy”.  This is one of my favorite things I often hear from my brides/grooms when we sit down to plan the wedding photography timeline.  Organizing large family groups is not always an easy task.  But one of the most important for any wedding photographer.  This soft skill of handling people can make or break a group’s impression of the photographer.  This is so important because when people like the photographer they really go all out and get motivated to make a great image.  Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.  When stressed inexperienced photographer steps up and starts yelling, and pointing at friends and family, the image is already lost.  The most important factor goes right back to TIP #2 HAVE A PLAN.  Bye this, I mean the photographer knows exactly which photographs the bride and groom want.  He/she doesn’t waste time or energy moving people around without reason.  The second most important factor is COMMUNICATION.  Say for example, said bride HAS A PLAN, and MADE A CHECKLIST, and communicated the shot-list to her family and bridal party, at the rehearsal dinner.  Maybe even gave family/friends a short timeline of when, and where they need to be for formals.  When the family knows where, and when for wedding photographs, and their expectations are set by the bride/groom, all the photographer has to do is smile, carry out the plan, and rev up the energy to make some amazing family portraits on your wedding day.

7. SEEING EACH OTHER BEFORE THE CEREMONY.  Lets preface this with the idea that, we at Imagery Immaculate Photography completely understand that you and the groom of your dreams might not be planning on seeing each other before the ceremony.  However, this trend of brides and grooms having a “first viewing”, or “sneak peak”, is on the rise.  Weather your just not the traditional type, or just want to spend some quality time at your cocktail hour with your guests, there are some practical reasons to see each other before your wedding ceremony.  WINTER WEDDINGS/SUNSET WEDDING CEREMONY.  After the first weekend in November, through early March, the clocks slam forward an hour out here on the west coast.  With the days getting much shorter than the summertime it’s important to design your wedding photography timeline with the sunset time in mind.  We have photographed many winter weddings over the last decade.  When you elect to not see each other until after sunset we must use more flash to make your wedding images.  Using flash is perfectly great, in fact we use flash often when lighting conditions call for it.  However, The important thing to consider is the style of photograph you like.  If wedding pictures with flash are your fav, then by all means wait till dark, but if you like the light airy, natural light look, then it’s time to reconsider your plan.  The same facts still apply for the SUNSET WEDDING CEREMONY.  If your dream wedding includes a ceremony with the kiss, concluding right as the sun dips below the horizon, then be sure to consider what style of picture you love the most, and use that information to put your timeline together.