As the wedding day approaches I wanted to share a few tips to consider before the wedding day professionals arrives to capture your day.These are designed to make our work fast and efficient, reduce interruptions, and generally keep you happy!
- Make sure the “getting ready” locations are cleaned prior to the photographer/videographer arrival to optimize our time taking photo/video.
- Make sure the dress is hanging from a wooden hanger, not a plastic one.
- Ladies – Stage your jewelry, the rings, shoes, dress, gifts, accessories, etc. before the photographer/videographer’s arrive. Gentlemen – Stage your shoes, boutonnieres, ties, cufflinks, blazer, suits, etc. before the photographer/videographer’s arrive
- Open the curtains and let in as much indirect natural light into the “getting ready” room as possible. Also use a tall chair for hair and makeup and position the chairs facing the largest window available. Furthermore when I arrive may turn off other light sources with competing color tones (i.e Tungsten lamps) in an effort to get the best looking image.
- Hand a copy of your stationary (save the dates, invitations, rsvp cards, envelopes & other cute elements) to your photographer/videographer when they arrive at the beginning of the day.
- Possibly consider having an “unplugged” ceremony so no one takes photos on their phones or tablets blocking the views of the photographer/videographer’s cameras. This is also good to force people to “live in the moment” with you. Check out my Blog post for help with this.
- After the ceremony have the officiant or MC/DJ announce the location of family portraits and cocktail hour.
- If you haven’t already, come up with a list of possible locations for photos for the couple, family portraits & wedding party photos.
- The photographers/videographers have to eat at the same exact time so that you can ensure uninterrupted photographic coverage of your event. You must confirm this with your catering that each photographer/videographer will receive a hot complete meal {protein, vegetable, & carb} with 15 minutes of uninterrupted rest.
- Remember that weddings are often if not always behind schedule and you can always make up time during the reception – so don’t sweat the small stuff!