Helpful Tips From A Wedding Photographer

After months of planning and prepping, your wedding day is guaranteed to fly by without you realising. But by choosing the right photographer you will have a beautiful set of images taken in a certain style and in a way that you love, that tell the perfect story of your wedding day so you can relive it over and over again.

Over the past 10 years as a wedding photographer I've experienced a lot of different scenarios on a wedding day, so I thought it would be helpful to pop below a few tips on how to get the most from your wedding photographs. From embracing the UK weather to going with the flow, these are all little things you could consider on the lead up to your wedding to get the most from your wedding photographs.

Weather

As we all know well here in the UK, the weather can never be fully predicted. But even if its forecast with clouds or even rain, don’t let it ruin your wedding day, embrace it! By checking the forecast a few days before, you can plan and prepare for what the weather is going to throw at you, and sometimes it can really help provide a dramatic backdrop for your photographs. Know its going to rain?! You bring the wellies and I’ll bring the brollies! Don’t ever think that just because its raining we can’t go outside and still capture some beautiful images that really show how it was on your wedding day.

Second Shooter

Consider having a second photographer come along with your wedding photographer. This is a service some wedding photographers offer as an add on or even already include (I do!), simply because I love the freedom that having a second photographer gives at a wedding. Not only does it minimise movements during ceremonies and speeches, they also give a great second perspective of certain moments, or capture things you may not have seen happening, ultimately giving you a wider set of images from your wedding day.

Venue

You’ve picked your venue for a reason, make sure you tell your photographer why! Was it because of the location, the gardens or the ceremony room? Or is there simply something you want a photograph near such as a lake or a certain feature? By telling your photographer what you love about your venue the most will give them an insight to what backdrops or areas of your venue you would like to use for your photos. Don’t be shy to speak up too if you know if a nearly location or spot that you like, your photographer may not know about it!

Finding A Photographer

Finding a photographer nowadays is easy, but finding a photographer that is perfect for you is hard work! There is a huge variety of photographers out there with very different styles, approaches and prices, which range from the very traditional to alternative, relaxed to completely documentary. However it is true when they say there is someone out there for everyone.

My first suggestion would be to look up photography styles to find which one you like the most, then expand further and look for photographers who use that style based on key words such as 'bright and colourful' or 'dark and moody' etc. Once you find some that you like, research their websites and galleries, read their reviews and see how they come across on social media. If you love their work and you can imagine having them at your wedding and your photos taken in their style, you’re probably in the right place!

I personally would say my approach to wedding photography is very relaxed and documentary(ish) and I often get told by my brides me being there was like having a friend take their photographs rather than a photographer! I love brightness and colour in my photographs, and that my editing style will never go out of fashion.

Another good tip here too is that price isn't always everything, if you love someones work but they are slightly out of budget, remember that when it comes to your wedding photographs quality, style and personality is key.

Your Getting Ready Place

Pre wedding preparations is one of the busiest and exciting parts of your wedding day and sometimes your location can be overlooked and not really thought about from a photo perspective. Take a little time to consider the room or location you have chosen. If you are planning on having all 8 bridesmaids plus your side of the family all get ready at the same location, you ideally should look for somewhere that’s big and open, and has loads of natural light that your photographer will be able to work with. 

If it’s important to you, allocate a bridesmaid to keep on top of getting ready mess to avoid things like underwear (yep I've seen it all ladies!), pyjama’s, dress bags or breakfast plates randomly being laid around in the back of your photographs. You ideally want to aim for a tidy, clear space with minimal clutter, but if you forget, it doesn't matter! I do photograph locations as they are, but I try to minimise capturing certain parts of the room if they are not looking the neatest. I would also recommend putting a pile together of the things that you would like your photographer to capture such as shoes, perfume or any jewellery you plan to wear for your close up shots ahead of time, so your photographer can dive straight in when they arrive.

As your photographer, I usually aim to arrive around an hour and a half before your ceremony time to capture this part of your day. This usually leaves you plenty of quiet time in the morning, plus gives you all an opportunity to get slightly glammed up before I arrive. Its always best to aim to be dressed and ready to go around 20 minutes before you are due to leave to get some shots of you and your bridesmaids before you go get hitched!

Allow Time

Think about how much time you are allowing for all aspects of your wedding day, from getting ready to the travel, there’s a lot of things to consider! 

I will always recommend to leave around 2 hours minimum between your ceremony and your wedding breakfast for photographs, along with half an hour in the evening to get some twilight photos if that’s something you like the idea of. The two hours will leave your photographer with enough time to do your family groups, your couple photos, details and candid shots of your guests all before you eat. 

Twilight Photos

These are my all time favourite to take on a wedding day especially if the weather has been kind. The low light provides a beautiful orange glow and really gives your evening photos together a beautiful look. Consider taking 10/15 minutes alone together during your reception just before the sun set's is the perfect time to capture these types of images! 

Just Going With The Flow 

You’ve planned for this day as much as you can, so if it seems like things are going wrong on the morning, my best advice is to try to forget about it. I’ve seen it all on wedding mornings from broken zips, freak weather to extremely late wedding cars (my second photographer had to drive some of the bridesmaids to the church once), but when its all over it simply becomes part of your day.

Just go with the flow and seriously don't sweat the small stuff!

Sophie xx