| What to expect from your photographer.
If you have decided upon choosing us to photograph your wedding you
have probably done so for a couple of reasons. You like our style
of photography and you trust us to capture your wedding day how it is,
which is one of the reasons we only offer full day coverage. Your
coverage starts when you want and ends when you want at any time during
your wedding day.Â
 When to Start Taking Photos?
Generally, if you want to capture the entire day, we suggest that
photos start about 3 to 4 hours before the ceremony begins and before
you start getting dressed for the wedding. Take your shower before
you ask us to arrive, but hold off on putting on the dress or tux until
we get there. For the formal photos, try to plan to be on location
a minimum of an hour before the ceremony starts to begin taking the
formal photos and be sure everyone is also there at the same time and
lined up and ready to go. Optimum would be 1 hour for the preparation
photos and 90 minutes for the formals, leave a half hour extra for
travel or late arrivals. Sometimes it’s wise you tell anyone you
want photographed in the formal photos, that they will be taken a half
hour before they are actually scheduled to ensure the late people are
still on time. If your wedding starts at 6pm and we have scheduled the
formals to begin at 5pm, tell everyone to be there at 4:30pm as there
always seems to be someone in the group that is just always late.Â
The extra time is also helpful if someone’s vehicle breaks down and they
need a ride to the ceremony. It can never hurt to make these times
even longer, as you will be amazed at how fast this time period slips
by.Â
 Your photos should be about your wedding day not the wedding
day being about the photos.
Although we are happy to coordinate the formal photos and give some
photographic advice and tip to get some good photos, we try to be the
fly on the wall capturing everything and anything that may be of
interest to you.Â
We are not here to coordinate the days schedule and most people
generally hire a wedding coordinator to do that. However you plan
to schedule your day’s events, it’s your responsibility to either plan
the flow yourself or have your wedding coordinator do it for you.Â
Of course we are always available to help or offer suggestions.Â
There are limitations on what the photographer can do. For example:
If you have planned to have certain people in your planned photos,
either you or your wedding coordinator are responsible to be sure they
are there on time.
On this website and/or during your meeting with the photographer
there will be a sample itinerary available for you. This is a sample of
how a typical wedding flow might go. Please feel free to use this
and change it to suit your own wedding day, or download another off one
of the bridal wedding sites on the web. There is no obligation to
fill out an itinerary or get this information to your photographer,
however if you have things scheduled and planned in advance things can
go much smoother and greatly enhance your photos, especially if you have
shared your wedding day schedule with the photographer, wedding
c0ordinator, or DJ.
 Formal photos before vs. after the ceremony
- The tradition is for the groom to not see the bride until she
starts walking down the aisle for the big WOW.
Believe it or not, you can get that same experience before the
ceremony as well as during.
- For the purposes of good photography, we highly
recommend that you take all your formal pictures before the
ceremony, but it’s not required.
- Here are some of the advantages to doing the formal pictures
before the ceremony. To start off with you don’t the pressure of a
hundred people watching you.
- The photography and photos are not disrupted by all the people
distracting you or getting in your photos.
- You can take your time and can choose where you want to take the
formal photos, preferably in a location with better scenery or
better light.
- Getting the formal photos done and out of the way can make you
feel more at ease and allow more time after the ceremony for some
fun photos.
- And, by far the most importance advantage is that most couples
feel rushed to get back to their guests that are waiting at the
reception for them. Any photography where you feel rushed will
seldom turn out as well.
- Lastly, if you have made some time between the ceremony and
reception, you will have a few minutes just to relax and have some
fun with your family and friends. This also allows your
photographer to get some great candids or relocate their equipment.
The Shot List
As well as the itinerary, we provide a shot list for the typical
wedding formals. Please feel free to download this and fill in the
details or change it to suit your needs. Again, there is no
requirement to do so, but it helps to provide us with this list in order
to eliminate any missed photos you may want.
The Magic Hour…
This is the time of day photographers love because it has the best
light of the day. The Magic Hour includes the 30 minutes before
and after the sun rises or sets.
You photographer will try to get you outdoors to take a few photos
during this hour, and if you can make 15-20 minutes  to sneak outside we
can get some really great photos. The more time you can make for
this the better. Nearly all photographs you see of people in magazines
that are outdoors are taken during the magic hour and there is good
reason. Bright indirect warm light from the sun.
If you want photos outside during this Magic Hour, we’ll let you know
when it’s about time to head outside and sneak in some photos away from
the crowd. |
