Your wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime event filled with cherished moments and emotions. To ensure these memories last forever, capturing the right moments through photography is essential. The question is, what are the must-have wedding photos that will tell the story of your special day?
In this blog post, we'll explore the key moments and shots that every couple should consider to create a stunning and timeless wedding album.
Bride/Groom Preparations
I always start off in the morning photographing the details, things like dresses, flowers, buttonholes, and shoes. My style is very documentary but I still feel it is important to capture these things are they are all part of how we tell the story of your day. Photographing these things won't take long, I never take people's clothes away for too long 😊
Once the "Details" are taken care of my second shooter and I will spend some time with each of you so we can document what's happening. Normally we just capture everything that happens around us, however, there are a few things that we tend to end up organising if you want them. A dress reveal to either your parents and/or bridal party.
Some photos of you and your parents and bridal party before you leave. Quite often we find there is not enough time for these so it's a great idea to make sure you include them with your formal group photos.
Ceremony Shots
In order for us to tell a story it is important to show a wider perspective on where you are getting married. This means we will always take photos of your venue. We will capture your guests' arrival and any important details that you have hand-selected to decorate your ceremony room. During the ceremony, you would want photos of everyone walking down the aisle, and your partner's reaction to seeing you for the first time - however it's worth noting that this photo is not always possible. A lot of churches/registrars put limitations on how much we photographers can move about and rightly so, the day is meant to be about you two, not your photographer getting in the way and being a distraction. Having a second shooter really assists with getting this photo so if you are dead set on having it speak to your photographer about hiring a second shooter. If you book me all of my packages actually come with one as to be quite honest I don't enjoy working alone 😂
Other key moments we will be sure to capture are the two of you exchanging vows and rings, your first kiss and of course any other moments in between. Legally we are not allowed to photograph you both signing the registrar but most churches/registrars will set us up for a mock signing once the real thing is done. We can also take this opportunity to grab a couple of photos of you both together with your witnesses.
Confetti
This is one photo that no one needs but everyone must have, whatever you choose to have, confetti, bubbles or rice you must have it in copious amounts. I'm not joking when I say if you think you have enough, you haven't go buy more! I love doing these photos, they end up normally being some of my favourite photos of the day, it's one of those photos where everytime you look at it you see something different happening. If you are having bubbles, i totally recommend getting bubble guns and you can actually buy confetti canons and streamers to get more of that wow effect if you really want to go all out.
Family and Group Photos
I normally do these straight after the confetti photo as I already have everyone's attention and I ALWAYS ask my couples for a list of photos before the wedding day. I also limit couples to a maximum of 15 group photos because boy does it take a long time. I can guarantee you that after 10 photos you will have had enough and just want to go and celebrate with your friends and family. If you do have a huge amount of guests and you simply must have lots of photos, then you will need to speak to your venue to allow more time between your welcome drinks and your sit-down meal. It's a great idea to group people together, seeing as you are all becoming one big family. So instead of doing photos with each of your parents, then your grandparents and then your siblings. Put everyone together in one photo. Trust me this will make your life so much easier, one last thing - don't forget the big group photo of everyone there. I nearly always do this photo first as like I said I have people's attention, once I have done that I can tell people who are not in the rest of the group photos that they can head over to get a drink etc. The fewer people you have milling about the quicker the whole process is.
Reception Highlights
Capturing your reception as it unfolds would involve taking lots of candid photos of you and your guests, we would photograph your room set up, tables, centrepieces again all those important things that will be gone after your wedding. If you are being announced for your sit-down meal, we will capture that too!
Once you are all seated and the speeches start, this is a great opportunity for us photographers to get loads of candid photos of people laughing, this is, of course, you provide a really engaging, funny speech. No pressure!
Once your food comes up this is when we usually take our break, no one really wants photographs of them chomping down on the wonderful meal you have provided them.
The Cake Cutting & Dancing
The final part of our day usually ends after the cutting of the cake and the first dance, I usually stay for a few songs after the first dance. It depends on what your vibe is like, if you are all up and dancing and there is lots going on I normally end up staying - plus I love to dance. But if everyone is sitting down then that's our que to head home.
Make sure you let your photographer know if you have any surprise dances, or confetti canons as we will need to make sure we are prepared and ready for it.
Creative Couple Portraits
This is my favourite part of the day and I love getting creative and seeing what I can do and what I can get you to do as a couple. The more fun the better, piggybacks, races, Hollywood dips and kisses! I find my style for couple shots is very non-posy and more let's have a laugh and see what we capture. I normally do these photos after we have enjoyed most of your reception and before you go to sit down. If you are game for a second round of photos we can go out during golden hour too!
If you would like to find out more information about hiring me for your wedding day then please do check out my packages and pricing and send me a message, I would love to hear from you.