Getting the most from your wedding Photos

We know how stressful planning a wedding can be with so many things to take into consideration.
We get asked so often how to get the best out of your wedding photos, so we decided to jot down a few tips and tricks to consider for our couples and share them here.
The most important thing for us is that you end up with photos that not only capture what happened on the day but how you FELT as you married your love!

1. Make a timeline and stick to it!

Not the most romantic place to start but we can’t stress how important this one is.

We get a lot of couples who are fun and relaxed and think that having no set plan will keep their day fun and relaxed too. Unfortunately, from our experience we have found it often ends up being the opposite.

It’s really important to chat to your wedding photographer well in advance and come up with a realistic timeline to allow plenty of time for your creative photo session as well as those all-important group and family photos parents seem to care a lot about!

If you are one of our couples, feel free to schedule in a call at any stage of the planning process, we are here to help!

As a general rule, we like to allow at minimum of 1 hour (not including travel) for the creative shoot. This gives us plenty of time to make everyone comfortable and really get those awesome shots in a more relaxed and creative way.

It’s also a great time to take it all in and enjoy some quiet time alone with your partner!

Bonus points if we can steal you for 20 minutes at sunset, ask us when it is for your wedding date and we will let you know so you can schedule it in. Trust us, it’s worth it. This leads perfectly into point 2…

2. Trust your photographers

This is a biggie and one that’s really important for our couples to understand. All good photographers learn to adapt to what’s around them and will produce great work, BUT, those gorgeous, perfectly lit, golden photos you see all over Instagram don’t happen by accident.

We work really hard to get the locations right and the timing right so that the light and scene is just perfect, and you look the best you possibly can.

Please trust us and talk to us about your ideas for location and timings. We want to work with you to create something magic, how things look on camera is often really different than you imagine. So, if we suggest things it’s because we know it will work well and avoid harsh lighting situations or avoid ending up with images that are not our best work.

We also spend time hunting out great locations for photos before every single wedding we shoot so you don’t even have to think about it. We see things you might not, that’s what you are investing in!

**3. Prep your bridal party**

Although 99% of the time our couples have great bridal parties, sometimes we get a few people who make our life a bit harder. We don’t mind but we do hate spending time asking them to play along when it takes away from your precious photo time.
We know wedding photography is a big investment, so please share some of these tips with your crew and make sure they understand how much it means to you.
TIP: We love when bridal parties bring a picnic along to the photoshoot, everyone’s a little less awkward with a glass in hand and something to do!

4. A little prep goes a long way

We are all about catching those candid moments and documenting your day as it happens BUT unless you’d like that dirty washing in the background as part of your story, do a quick sweep of the getting ready locations and keep things as clean and clear as possible. Even if you’re not sure if it will be in the photo, it’s better just to hide a few things away.

5. Lay it all out

Another helpful thing we love is when our brides let someone in the bridal party know where your gown, shoes, rings, flowers and perfume is so that they can direct us to them when we arrive. This means we can take a few snaps of these without bothering you too much and gives everyone a chance to get used to having a photographer around before they are standing in front of the camera, it also means you can spend more time on your prep and your best people and not have to run around finding things for us!

5M1A0690+%281%29.jpg — **6. For goodness sake smile**

I debated whether or not to put this one in because it sounds generic and so cheesy, but I wish someone had told me to RELAX more on my wedding day. I cringe looking at the photos where I look stiff and wish I’d realised that although I thought my forced poses wouldn’t show in the photos they did.
We cannot stress enough, how much better images are with real emotion, so do a little dance, give them a little squeeze, let out a little scream or just shake it out mid shoot, whatever you need to do just figure out a way to look like you just got married to the love of your life and you are enjoying yourself!

7. Book an engagement shoot

If the thought of posing really makes you nervous an engagement shoot can be an amazing way to get some practice in. It helps you to feel comfortable in front of the camera and also to get to know us. We always offer a special rate to couples who book an engagement and wedding shoot with us, so send us a message if it’s something that might put your mind at ease.

8. Introduce your wedding photographer and videographer

This is such a simple one but if you are using a different videography company please put us all in touch before the day, we all want to get the best images for you but it can be difficult and frustrating if we haven’t had a chance to chat beforehand and make a plan to stay out of each other’s way!

9. Don’t stress about us

When you find a wedding photographer’s style you love, and you’ve met with them or spoken to them on the phone and you are ready to lock it in, let that be your last thought about the whole process. We are committed to capturing your whole day, all the parts you want and all the moments you don’t even see happening. We are shooting nonstop so just trust we are doing our thing and try to ignore us as best you can.

10. What is most “you”

I don’t know about you but in years to come it’s the picture of my best friend on the dance floor with a bottle of champagne and my bridal party squished into the back of a car that I am going to look back on and cherish most from my wedding day.

Think more about moments and things that represent the two of you in the 99% that is real life rather than the 1% wedding day.