Tips to Remember on your Wedding Day 

1:  Give good thought and attention to the timeline for your wedding day.  It’s better to leave more time for getting ready and portraits to ensure a smooth, peaceful day.  Everything takes longer than you think it would.  A peaceful wedding day leads to beautiful pictures!

2:  Maximize that time!  Prepare ahead of time before your photo crew arrives.  Make sure things are neat and tidy so items aren’t in the background of your pictures.  Have your dress, shoes, jewelry, rings, invitation, etc. all on hand in one place.  Have your bridesmaids clean up their clothes, food, drink items; anything you don’t want to see in your pictures!  We also suggest having a non-plastic hanger for your dress.  It doesn’t have to be one of those “bride” or “Mrs. Smith” ones, but a nice wooden or felt hanger is definitely nicer than the plastic ones.

3:  For getting ready, decide ahead of time if you want just a couple of your closest friends or if you want to be surrounded by your whole crew.  Each is fine, but each will create a different atmosphere for the beginning of the day.

4:  If the gentlemen will be wearing bowties that need to actually be tied, have them learn how to do it before the wedding day.  The same goes for pocket squares if you want them folded a particular way.

5:  Stay relaxed and go with the flow.  For the most part, you’ve done all the prepping and planning already.  Micro managing the day creates stress, which shows in pictures.  Let us handle everything for you.  Embrace the unexpected.  Enjoy your day and focus on the love between you, your fiancé and your family and friends.  When else will all of these people be surrounding you to celebrate you?

6:  We always STRONGLY suggest doing a first look, especially with a tight timeline.  It helps make the day go more smoothly and helps everyone feel more relaxed.  We PROMISE you and your fiancé will still have all that emotion when walking down the aisle.  Just because you saw each other beforehand doesn’t mean that moment won’t be special.  It’s the moment you’re actually about to get married.  All the feels are still there.  We promise. 

7:  “Can we take pictures over there?”  We are often asked to take photos in particular locations because of the appeal of how it looks.  However, photography is all about the light, not only about the location.  We are literally painting with light.  If the location you like is in bad light, the picture is not going to look good. 

9:  Family & Friends with cameras and smartphones:  We play nice with others.  It’s totally fine for them to take pictures.  BUT be sure to kindly ask your guests to be considerate and not “jump” in front of the photographers or videographers, especially during the ceremony.  You’re spending thousands of dollars for us to capture your day.  It’s upsetting to all parties when a shot is ruined because a guest needs it on their phone.  No cell phone photo will ever compare to a photo captured on professional equipment.

10:  Remember, you’re being captured all day.  On film and video if you have decided to hire both.  So during your speeches and dances, remember to smile, don’t pick your teeth or chomp down on your first course.  There will be time to eat it.  Keep your full attention on whoever is speaking.  It just looks nicer in pictures and video!

11:  During the reception, uplighting, if available, completely transforms your reception room for the better.  Without it, there’s a less dynamic look to your images and the room may appear dark.  The best colors for uplighting are white, light blue, purple and orange.  Pink, green, and darker blue cast their color over people’s faces, especially for video so if you’re partial to those colors, you’re going to REALLY see those colors.