10 Wedding Photography Tips for Brides
Aside from hiring a great wedding photographer that you love the works of, here are 10 wedding photography tips for brides & grooms and all couples on the hunt for a wedding photographer.
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Moving on, I have some tips for you today which will help you with your wedding photography?
1. Create a Mood Board – Creating a mood board is a great way to show your photographer what you do and don’t like. Although it’s best to trust your photographer with creative aspects of photography (this is after all why you hired them!) it’s a great way to communicate on both sides what you’re going for. Pinterest is a great way to collate ideas and send across, and have your photographer add to the mood board too. It’s a fun way to get to know one another’s creative style too.
2. Introduce the Photographer & Videographer – It’s always a great idea to introduce the videographer and photographer on email if not in person. They will be working with one another closely on the day and so it’s a great ice breaker to be introduced by the couple!
3. Pencil in times for each part of the day – It’s really imperative to schedule in a time frame for each part of the day. This not only helps the photographer but your wedding co-ordinator on the day. Within that time should include all your photo sessions like the bridal prep, guest arrival for candids, ceremony time, couple portraits and more. Sometimes the photographer can help you with this if you request a sample itinerary if they’ve been in the business for a while!
4. Locations – When working with your photographer during the couples portrait session, it’s really great to stick to two or three locations in close proximity to one another. This avoids walking around a lot on the day but at the same time, trust your photographer on locations they recommend. You hired them for their creative eye after all!
5. Veil – Veil’s make for some absolutely amazing photos! There’s a sort of emotion that a veil brings to photographs and your photographer will secretly be hoping you have one! The veil can later be used for the couples portraits too.
6. Confetti & Sparklers – This isn’t restricted to just confetti but anything that can be thrown into the air for photos makes a great addition. Those confetti shots really add to the story of the day and really capture the energy and peoples emotions through out – but in the most natural way possible, which us photographers love to photograph, and couples love to see! Sparklers are a beautiful addition to photographs so you may consider this for the evening.
7. Include a get away session – The get away session is a great part of the day where the newly weds can relax away from guests and have some couple portraits taken. This can either be after the ceremony or after the wedding breakfast but before the evening guests arrive. If you can do both, that’s even better! You can really create some great evening photos with your photographer alongside the daytime photos. The evening shots can add some magic to the photos! I got the dress and other decorations from a bridal shop towcester to personalize my wedding.
8. Smoke Bombs – Yep you got it! During the portrait session why not have something like smoke bombs or other tools incorporated for a more creative couples shoot. On a personal note, I brought smoke bombs for our wedding and really loved what we created for the photos – You can see a fave below!
9. Trial Hair & Make-Up – Having been on both sides of this as a bride and a photographer, I’d highly recommend getting trial make up done pre wedding. Sometimes the once, sometimes twice. I had to do mine twice since I wasn’t feeling the first look. This is a great way to make sure you are happy with the hair and make up team you later hire and to make sure you are both on the same page since there’s so many bridal looks!
10. Transportation – Where possible, have the photographer ride with you from and to the wedding venue. There is nothing worse than one of you getting stuck in traffic and not making it across to a venue whilst the other is ready and waiting to proceed with the day. Not only that, you will get some amazing intimate photos this way.
11. Shot List with Names – We don’t need a complete break down of shots, formals are great but they take time to arrange so leave extra time for this if you plan to have group formals. What we do need, is names of immediate family and friends who you want to have photos with. Better yet, have the brides maid or best man help us co-ordinate the group formals so we can get through them ASAP and carry on with the day!
Most of all, try and have as much fun as possible with your wedding day!
If you’re looking for a Manchester Wedding Photographer or a North West Wedding Photographer who is also available for Destination weddings – Shoot me an email here – I would love to hear from you!
Much Love
Priti x
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