After all the work you’ve put into planning the wedding of your dreams, all you’ll have left is the pictures. You want to make sure that those pictures are as gorgeous as they can be. Having a fabulous photographer is just the first step. If a few crucial details aren’t taken care of, the best wedding photographer in the world isn’t going to be able to produce the beautiful wedding pictures you are hoping for. We’ve been photographing weddings since 2003, and we’d love to share some tips that we have learned over the years to help you get the best pictures possible.
Getting ready pictures
*Move ugly stuff out of room – no fast food wrappers
*Assign bridesmaid to clean up room
*Ask stylist to put you in window light
*Get nice hanger for dress
*Assign bridesmaid to locate bride’s jewelry, garter, shoes, etc. for photographer
*Make sure all bridesmaids and mother are dressed before bride puts dress on
*Your apartment won’t do for a getting ready location
Most brides have a wedding picture Pinterest page filled with so many amazing images. We all do. I love looking at wedding pictures on Pinterest because they are just so gorgeous, and I’ve been married for 16 years! Some of my favorite images on Pinterest are of the bride as she is getting ready on the wedding day finishing up her hair and makeup and getting on her dress.
Tidy up that bridal room!
One thing I noticed about all of those pictures was that they started with a beautiful room. Getting ready in a beautiful room is half the battle in making beautiful pictures as the bride gets ready. The bathroom in your apartment isn’t the dreamiest place to set a romantic tone so searching around at some of Austin’s hotels or wedding venues for a beautiful room may be something to ask your coordinator about. One of our favorite getting ready rooms is at the AT&T Conference Center, and their ballroom is gorgeous to boot. The next thing that I saw was that there wasn’t junk over the room. Those Chick-fil-a sodas and bags need to be hidden away if you’d like elegant wedding getting ready pictures. Also, bags and boxes that the bride or the bridesmaids brought their clothes in, shoes or whatever items need to be hidden away. Life is messy but with a little effort you can keep that mess out of the pictures. Assigning a bridesmaid to keep the clutter out of the room would help to create better pictures and let you relax while you are getting ready.
Get those detail shots!
Assign another bridesmaid to acquire and keep track of your shoes, garter and jewelry, so there is no need for hunting frantically for these items when it comes time for the photographer to take pictures of the bride’s details. Another thing often forgotten is a hanger for the dress that is attractive and pleasing to photograph. After all, a bridesmaid’s role is to help the bride on the biggest day of her life, so don’t worry about assigning these duties.
Natural light!
Dreamy pictures like so many of my favorites on Pinterest are most often taken in natural light so be sure to ask your stylist to make sure that you are being lit by window light while you are having hair and makeup done.
Get some help!
Putting on the wedding dress is a sometimes a tremendous undertaking! So much is required that you can not possibly put on the dress by yourself, and here is where the bridesmaids and mother of the bride can truly be of help to the bride. But before getting that wedding dress on ask for two things: The bridesmaids and mother-of-the-bride need to get dressed first and have their hair and makeup already done. Nothing looks worse then bridesmaids in curlers and sweatpants helping the bride get dressed. Since most likely the mother-of-the-bride is going to be helping or at least observing, she should already be dressed and looking her best as well.
Get dressed first!
It is so sweet when the bride and groom give each other gifts or lovingly written cards, and these pictures are so much better when the bride is dressed with make-up and hair complete. Wait to put your jewelry on as well until after your hair and makeup are done and you are all dressed.
Avoid Pinterest fails
Photographers have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest for wedding pictures. There are some fantastically romantic ideas on Pinterest, but almost all of them were planned or just were non-replicable lucky happenings. Requesting a Pinterest shot on a staircase at a location that does not have a staircase is not really going to work, so we’ve developed a little list of Pinterest dos and don’ts:
*Do not show your Pinterest page to your photographer for the first time at the wedding on your phone
*Do make sure that you have any necessary props on site
*Do tell the groom what is expected of him and his groomsmen. Show him pictures before the wedding!
*Don’t request a sunset shot if you can’t see the sunset from your venue or if your ceremony starts after sundown
*Do plan on doing a first look before the ceremony to maximize picture taking time
Swoon worthy dancing pictures
I love those first dance pictures that look like they are from a movie. This is how you make those pictures happen:
*Look happy like you are having fun
*Tears are okay too!
*Do not look like you are a deer in the headlights
*Keep the groom’s jacket on. So much classier than just his shirt or vest!
*Agree on a specific location first dance on the dance floor to dance so photographer can be ready
Look like you feel
One of the most emotional times at the wedding is during the first dance when the couple stares into each other’s eyes and enjoys a private moment with 200 people fawning over them. To make the pictures look amazing remember that the camera can’t see how you’re feeling on the inside unless you show it on the outside. Be happy. Be sad. Bury your head into your new husband’s chest. Kiss often. Show emotion. Embrace the opportunity to be the center of the universe and show it on your face and with your body language. Be bigger than life because this is the day to be that.
Keep his jacket on
One of the biggest problems we have at Texas weddings is keeping the groom dressed in his full tuxedo or suit after the ceremony. We know it’s hot, and that suit coat makes him hotter. But pictures during the first dance are going to look a lot more wedding-like if he still has his jacket on.
Lights, camera, action!
One of the things that isn’t thought about a lot of the time is how the photographer lights you during the first dance. Light is the most important element of photography because without it the pictures would just be black. Since this is so important, it is good to consult with your photographer about exactly where to dance or if you are are planning a Dancing With The Stars routine that covers a large area of the dance floor because your photographer might need that information to plan out how to light your dance to make it magical.
One big, happy family
*Avoid complicated family situations during portraits
*Remember to warn photographer beforehand
*Do Mom and Dad get along?
*Are there step siblings?
*Ask parents beforehand what pictures they want
The formal portraits at a wedding with immediate or extended family should be a grand, old time of happy reunions and hugs and fun. But in our world of divorce, remarriage, step parents, step siblings and the like, it becomes not quite the happy reunion that you’d hope. Dad doesn’t like mom and won’t be in a picture with her, and mom doesn’t like dad’s new wife and won’t be in the same room with her. Grandma and grandpa have been estranged for 30 years and are at your wedding together for the first time harboring some tense resentments. Wow. Sounds like so much fun. Normally people can be mature and not bring their baggage to a wedding and can be in the pictures that their son or daughter requests, but for those times when they can only act like immature children, planning is the way to tiptoe around these blazing wounds. Most photographers will send out a questionnaire asking about these details so they can be prepared to strategically shoot the shots that are needed without having to bring up the subject on the day. Give your photographers a very detailed list of family shots, including the names of each person who will be in each shot and their relationship to the bride or groom. If you do not plan, feelings will more than likely be hurt, and your wedding day will not be as joyous as it could be.
Walking down the aisle
*Bridesmaids should look happy coming down the aisle
*Smile and have fun
*Don’t look down – practice walking in shoes before the wedding
Everyone who walks down the aisle should be having the time of their life because how often do you get to walk down the aisle and shine? Don’t look down at the ground. Don’t rush but don’t walk too slow, either. No one wants have that deer in the headlights look immortalized in a picture for all of history. Brides, grooms, groomsmen and especially bridesmaids want to look their best. To combat facial expressions that say, ‘Where am I? How did I get here,’ have fun, look up, look happy, and walk with confidence.
If wearing fancy heels is a new experience for your or your bridesmaids, put those bad boys on and walk around in them for a while BEFORE the ceremony and pictures. You should be able to walk confidently in your heels without looking down. If you can’t, you need more practice so you can look your best walking down the aisle. Guys, if you feel left out go ahead and walk around in your shoes before the ceremony too. I will, however, expect you to look happy when walking down the aisle without practice.
Hire a coordinator
Possibly the most important wedding vendor you can hire is a wedding planner or coordinator. Having someone to help you with the planning from the very beginning is invaluable, but having a day of coordinator at the very least is a must.
Your wedding coordinator will:
*Pin boutonnieres before scheduled picture time
*Make sure decor is set up early for pictures of location
*Line up wedding attendants for ceremony
*Make decisions on wedding day for damage control
*Coordinate between bride and vendors
*Keep the reception running on time
*Make sure that your bags are packed before you leave at end of the night
*Ensure that your exit vehicle arrives on time
*Pack up all the important decor items to go home with the right people
Hiring a wedding coordinator can lift a lot of stress from the bride in planning a wedding, and Austin is filled with many wonderful wedding coordinators. Organizing your wedding on the wedding day should not be the job of the bride or her mother. Instead, there should be someone there who has come up with a game plan and has the skills and experience with weddings and vendors to make the best of any less than perfect situations that may arise on the wedding day.
There are many ways that a wedding coordinator can help to make the photography on your wedding day better. Scheduling enough time for pictures in initial planning is crucial, and having a coordinator gather up the stragglers for pre-ceremony pictures is ever so helpful. The coordinator can be sure that the groom and groomsmen have their boutonnieres pinned before pre-ceremony pictures are to be taken. The coordinator makes sure that your venue is set up and decorated the way that you dreamed. If you would like pictures of how your venue is beautifully decorated before your guests come in, make sure to let your planner know to have everything set up early. Early does not mean that they will finish setting up during the ceremony as the photographers will be otherwise occupied until the end of cocktail hour with the formal pictures.
Even though even the wedding day schedule may seem easy to follow, sometimes it is not. If there are uncertainties in the timing and what exactly is happening, delays start to pile up and the wedding starts to run behind. This kind of thing is especially not good for the caterer who plans to have your meal at a certain time, and if the schedule is not followed, the food will may not be at its best when dinner is finally served. Your photographer may get stuck between a late ceremony and an immovable catering schedule but still has to take all the pictures on the list in sometimes half the time. What happens most of the time is that some of the pictures just don’t get shot, usually more creative and dynamic poses with the bride and groom. A coordinator can help you avoid this problem by making everything start on time.
Your wedding coordinator is definitely your best connection to great wedding vendors. A wedding coordinator has worked with many vendors during their career and will not only have good suggestions for the best wedding vendors but also what vendors will fit into your budget and vision. A full service coordinator can help you in corresponding with and organizing all of your vendors, making sure they get payments on time and keeping them all in the loop regarding the wedding timeline.
Tardy friends and relatives
Tell wedding party and family to arrive an hour before scheduled pre-ceremony pictures. Not kidding. Wedding attendants and family members are notoriously late for pictures that are supposed to be taken before the ceremony. They think if they show up five minutes before the ceremony, they are early! If you can’t take the pictures that were planned for before the ceremony because some people didn’t show up, they will have to be taken after the ceremony and the wedding schedule might get terribly messed up. Let everyone know when and where they are supposed to be for pictures. This, of course, includes the wedding party but also includes everyone who is scheduled to be in pictures including parents, siblings, and grandparents. If you are shooting extended families then aunts, uncles, cousins and everyone else need to be notified in advance. If you have special people like godparents or other people who are requested to be in pictures who may not be directly related, they will need to be notified as well. They will not know to come early for pictures before the ceremony and they will not stick around after the ceremony unless you give them advance notice. The day of the wedding is not the time for the bride to be yelling at people who are leaving the ceremony in an effort to get them to stay for pictures.
Remote location wedding
Having a wedding in a remote location around Austin is a great idea just so long as you put some effort into planning to be sure your guests can find your wedding on time. Including a detailed map with directions in the invitations is a must. Making sure your wedding party and immediate family, not just your guests, find where they are supposed to go is more challenging with a remote location. Some ways of helping everything run smoothly is to set up a shuttle bus from a hotel or somewhere where parking is abundant. This shuttle could bring the entire wedding party early to the remote ceremony location so they could finish getting ready and be prepared for pictures. Then the shuttle could bring your guests on time for your ceremony. Too often a weddings at a remote location will have many pictures scheduled before the ceremony delayed until after the ceremony because members of the wedding party go missing in transit. Then guests will arrive late and force the ceremony to start late which in turn pushes back pictures after the ceremony which there are now more of because the shots could not be photographed before the ceremony. Now the caterer is scrambling because the pictures are running late, and the photographer can’t shoot more shots in less time. It’s a domino effect that leads to less time to get the wedding that you want. These aren’t happy subjects that most brides want to think about it while daydreaming about their weddings, but a little forethought in this area will go a long way in making your wedding the best it can be.
Outdoor ceremony in the summer
*Try to stay in the shade during ceremony by choosing optimal time
*Don’t let the sun be in bride or grooms eyes during ceremony
*Make sure to have a water station
*Have fans for guests
Everyone wants to have a beautiful outdoor wedding in Austin, and the spring is definitely the time of year when people want to have one. But it does start to get a little hot for weddings a little earlier in the spring in Austin than other places. If you have booked a summer date and still have your heart set on an outdoor ceremony, you really need to pay attention to some issues. It is often too bright for flattering pictures earlier than the day and thinking about the comfort of your wedding party and guests in the blinding, blazing heat will only make everything better on your wedding day especially your pictures. Comfortable people are generally more apt to look happy in pictures, so a semi-shaded area is suggested for the ceremony where the entire ceremony, including your guests, are in some way shaded. Both the bride and groom should be in the shade, not just one. Uneven light on the couple is not flattering and often leaves either the bride or the groom squinting the entire ceremony. To make your guests even more comfortable, some of which will be in pictures after the ceremony, having a water station available will help to ensure that they do not leave the ceremony site immediately after the ceremony desperate for some hydration. Also, fans for guests are a fantastic way to help them stay cool and comfortable. You can even have them personalized or print the program details on them.
Unplugged wedding
Everyone has a phone or tablet that they bring to weddings to shoot a few pictures to take home with them, but those are not very high quality images and you will see yourself tagged in soft focused, red-eyed pictures on Facebook or Instagram that you wish people would stop tagging you in. For the wedding photographer these people are a mine field of toes not to step on while accomplishing the shot list created by the bride and groom. During the ceremony there is nothing more frustrating for the photographer while shooting the bride walking down the aisle than twenty-five people stepping into the aisle to get a shot of the bride with their phones and tablets. They become part of the professional photographer’s pictures of the bride walking down the aisle which is not really what the bride wants. Firstly, the bride wants guests to enjoy themselves at a wedding and do the things that make a wedding a wedding: drink, dance, converse, catch-up. The bride has no desire for a guest to be there holding a tablet in front of the photographer. If you choose to ‘unplug’ your wedding, or at least ceremony, and request to have your guests put down the phones and tablets it is advisable to include this information on your invitation, have it posted at your ceremony, and even ask your officiant announce it at the beginning of the ceremony.
DJ lights at the reception
*Have DJ shut off DJ lights during first dances
*Up lighting improves how reception looks in pictures
The DJ or event lighting company can provide great ambient lights to create the mood you are looking for in your location. While event lighting, including up-lighting, spot lights, and pin lights, around the location will make the location look more dynamic, some DJ lighting is more about excitement with changing colors and movement. DJ lighting is awesome at doing this but it can actually detract from some of the emotion of the first dance, traditional dances, or toasts so it is good to ask the DJ to shut off their colored, flashing lights, and lasers for those events. Speaking of toasts, please do the toast somewhere other than in front of DJ and their tower of speakers. A tower of speakers in the background does not say classy.
Positions, people
*Put down tape where bride and groom are supposed to stand so they are centered
Since pictures are one of the only things that will be left after the wedding day is over, it pays to plan a few things out. Plan where you are going to stand for your ceremony. Tape is the best way to mark spots on the floor in advance to be sure that at least the bride and groom are standing in the middle of the aisle. When taking a photograph from the end of the aisle the bride and groom should be centered in the aisle. If they are not, the focal point of the image feels disjointed. This is also a good practice for the bridesmaids and groomsmen so a wide shot from the back of the ceremony site has everyone centered on the aisle and the guests.
No ambushing!
*Don’t ambush photographer with special spots at venue
*Let photographer know where and when beforehand
*It’s gotta be the right time of the day
*Where is the sun?
You chose your wedding venue because it’s beautiful with lots of fabulous places to take pictures. But your wedding photographer can’t read your mind and doesn’t know where all your favorite spots are at your venue. Let your photographer know ahead of time, so he or she can plan what shots they plan to get and how they are going to light them. Most importantly, where will the sun be when you are out taking pictures? Try to schedule pictures when the sun is low on the horizon during the “golden hour,” which is one hour before sunset. This is the absolute best time to take pictures. The light will be soft and flattering, and no one will be squinting. Pretty much every picture you see on Pinterest was taken during this time, or within one hour of sunrise. But that would be difficult to accomplish on a wedding day!
Little ones
*No ringbearer and flowergirls under two years old
*They won’t be on time
*They won’t be happy
*They will make picture time take twice as long
*They will run off screaming
*If their mother or father are in the wedding party, assign someone else to watch kids
Your one and a half year old niece may be the sweetest little thing ever, but it doesn’t meaning making her your flower girl is a good idea. Children under two are just too little to be in a wedding. In fact, it is really, really stressful for them. They are just not mature enough to handle all the stresses of the wedding day. Getting up early, traveling out to the venue, getting dressed up in clothes they can’t get messy, and missing their nap all add up to a less than pretty picture. Most of them can barely make it down the aisle and sometimes run screaming in the other direction. Once it’s picture taking time, they are really and very understandably unhappy, and it’s often impossible to console them and get a picture of the wedding party with a smile on everyone’s face. Additionally, they are almost never on time for picture taking before the ceremony. It’s very difficult for parents to get their very small children so early to a wedding that may be in a city far from home, especially if one or both of the parents are in the wedding themselves. If parents of the ring bearer or flower girl are also in the wedding, even if they are older children, grandma or someone else should be nearby to help with the kids during picture taking.