Creative Wedding Day Photography

How to get those way-cool Wedding photos!
Back in the day, wedding day photos meant that the family and wedding party would be gathered for a lineup, a few shots would be taken and that would be the end of it. Although these pictures grace the walls of your grandmother’s home, they may not necessarily work for you. Traditional wedding portraits are lovely, but they tend not to show the true personality of the couple. Here are some tips to make sure you get the perfect wedding photos that really reflect who you are:

1. Make sure your photographer knows who you really are.

When you start meeting with your wedding day photographer, it is important that they get a sense of who you and your fiance are. They should be asking questions about your personality, your hobbies, your ceremony and reception venue(s) and even your wedding day attire. This helps them determine what you want out of your wedding day portraits, and provides inspiration for unique wedding portraits that allows your personalities to shine through. A helpful hint for helping you determine if your photographer is willing to see your vision is by looking at samples of previous wedding photos. If you end up seeing the same pose over and over, then you know the photographer does not cater to the wedding couple.

2. If the photographer doesn’t ask questions, speak up!

If your photographer doesn’t take the initiative to ask questions, don’t be afraid to let them know what you want. I’ve seen too many wedding party photos that look like a “usual suspect” lineup-not exactly what you want to convey for your happy event. These kinds of photos are usually the result of the photographer not asking questions about their clients and/or the couple not saying what they want for their photographs. The best pictures that I’ve seen have been portraits where I look at the couple and say, “That is so them!” Remember, the point of wedding photography is to be able to look at your pictures years later and smile at the memories. If you’re not happy with how your wedding pictures were captures, it will show in your photos. If you find yourself unsure of what to say to your photographer, just think to yourself, “What do I want to look back on and remember?” That usually helps determine what you need to say in order to get the photos you want.

3. If you’re not sure what you want, do some research!

The other cause of bland wedding day photos is a lack of inspiration. There are some wonderful wedding blogs out there with some great wedding day photography ideas that truly show who the couple is. Most of the featured photos are quirky and inventive, and show just how much fun the couple had on their special day. These pictures can be helpful in determining in what you want for your own photos and you can even put your own unique twist on what you’ve found. If you’re really stuck, take a look at what you do as a couple. If you like board games, have a picture taken where you and your new spouse are playing Monopoly or Scrabble. Are you a couple of pool sharks? Find a nearby bar and rack up those billiard balls! The possibilities are endless and whatever you find will definitely create some amazing results.

Hopefully, with these tips in mind, you and your photographer can come up with some unique and fun photo ideas for your wedding day that are true to who you and your spouse are.

Guest blogger - Jessica Sherman

The Pre-Ceremony Reveal

When creating the schedule for the wedding day, most couples do not set enough time for all of the photos they want in between the ceremony and the reception. Of course, it’s easier when the ceremony and the reception are at the same location, but what if they’re not? In addition to scheduling time for the photos of you and your spouse and your wedding party, you now have to worry about travel time as well. As a result, everyone misses the cocktail hour, as well as adding stress to a day that is supposed to be romantic. So, why not set aside some time BEFORE the ceremony and solve all of these problems? Although it is not for the most traditional or superstitious among us in the wedding community, the pre-ceremony reveal provides several benefits for the wedded couple, as well as their wedding party:

1. You won’t have to sacrifice getting the photos you want for the photos they want.

Most brides and grooms these days are favoring the photojournalist approach to their wedding day photos, mainly because the results show more personality without actually getting in the way of the festivities. However, there are always certain relatives that want the traditional stand-there-and-pose pictures at the altar. This is perfectly fine, yet, the set up and actual picture-taking tend to last around 30 minutes, depending on the size of the family/wedding party and the level of cooperation. Of course, when Grandma starts getting tired and the ring bearer is being chased by the flower girl, the process can take a lot longer. There are also the photos that the couple wants to take, either at a park or some other location that the couple prefers. More often than not, these sights are nowhere near the ceremony or the reception site, which means a great deal of travel time has to be carved out during the day. On average, the travel can take up to an hour in between the different locations, not including time to stop and take any photographs. As a result, sometimes the couple must give up what they want in order to give their families what they want and still take part in their wedding. Or, there is the alternative: miss the cocktail hour. Which leads us to...

2. You won’t have to miss the cocktail hour

While it may just seem like a time for your friends and family to start getting boozed up for the dancing later on, the cocktail hour is actually an opportunity for the newly married couple to mingle with their friends and family after one of the best moment of their lives. Unfortunately, many couples decide to nix attending that part of their celebration in order to get the photos they really want. True, you can just catch up during the dinner and dancing, but do you really want to attempt to have a conversation with Uncle Harry and Aunt Joan half-starved and sweaty? Probably not.

And most importantly,

3. You get the rare opportunity for some alone time together.

While it is a wonderful experience to see each other for the first time at the ceremony, hundreds of onlookers are also sharing in that experience, which can make that moment somewhat impersonal. A pre-ceremony reveal allows the couple to pick a location to meet in their wedding garb where they won’t have hundreds of eyes looking directly at them. Couples that have done this found it to be far more tender and intimate than the traditional reveal at the ceremony. It also helps them to remember why they went through the stressful planning process before they go through the ceremony, alleviating the symptoms of wedding day jitters. After the couple enjoys some alone time, the bride/groom and wedding party/family shots are taken. With all of that out of the way, the members of the wedding party are free to celebrate the rest of the day without having to worry about posing for the photographer.

As a result of the pre-ceremony reveal, the couple gets to share a private romantic moment before the wedding, no one has to miss the cocktail hour, and everyone gets what they want to hang on their walls. Now, doesn’t that sound more ideal than the alternative?

by Jessica Sherman, guest author