1. Make sure the room you’re getting ready in is tidy.

There’s a lot happening on the morning of a wedding. People are eating breakfast, having their hair and make up done, getting dressed, and who knows what else! It can be a challenge, but try and keep the area where most of the photos will be happening clutter and trash free. It will help make your photos that much nicer!

2. Be sure to remove hair ties from wrists.

At almost every wedding, when I arrive I have to remind someone to take hair ties off their wrists. Most people that wear hair ties around their wrists are so used to wearing them that they don’t even think about them, but on a wedding day they stick out like a sore thumb. And if you’re spending money on a beautiful hair style, chances are you probably won’t need a hair tie at any point during the day. The safest bet is to remind everyone the day before to leave the hair ties at home.

3. First looks are your friend for late ceremonies.

If you’re planning to have a late day ceremony, like 5:00pm or after, I highly recommend you do a first look. While a late ceremony is great for avoiding the midday heat and is definitely better for photos than a mid afternoon ceremony, the problem is that it limits the amount of time you’re going to have for photos. A first look will allow you to get most of your photos out of the way earlier in the day, if you go the traditional route, this will mean you will have limited time to fit in family photos, bridal party photos, and couple photos into your cocktail hour. And if your cocktail hour is only an hour, you’re going to miss out on a lot of photo opportunities. If you want to have a traditional wedding without a first look, consider having a ceremony earlier in the afternoon so you’ll have more time for all those special moments you’re going to want to look back on.

4. Avoid long travel distances.

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes couples get ready far away from their venue, or want to travel to a distant location for photos. This means that a good chunk of your wedding photography hours could be burned up by traveling from point A to point B, especially if there’s more than one distant location. Try and find ways to minimize the travel distance so you can get the most out of your photography hours.

5. Avoid the midday sun if possible.

It’s no secret that midday is the worst time of day for photos. The sun is at its highest point and that will cause undesirable shadows on faces, squinting, and may be limiting to locations. In addition to being the worst time of day for lighting, it’s usually the hottest time of day too. So if you’re having a summer wedding, it’s best to squeeze any photos in earlier in the day or later in the afternoon to avoid the harsh sun.

6. Have your officiant make an announcement about no phones before the procession.

Signs for unplugged ceremonies are great, and us photographers appreciate it so much, but let’s be real… your family and friends probably aren’t paying attention to the signs you have up. They’re going to be greeting and reconnecting with other relatives and friends before the ceremony starts. A sure fire way to make sure everyone knows about your unplugged ceremony is to have your officiant make an announcement to everyone that you kindly ask them to not film or photograph the ceremony before anyone even walks down the aisle. Ceremony photos only happen once and there’s no re-doing them. Don’t leave it up to chance that someone pops out their cell phone into the aisle and ruins your once in a lifetime photos.

7. Tell all your family beforehand about photos.

Family photos can either be a super easy process or a total nightmare. The best way to make sure your family photos run smoothly is to tell all the family members you want included in the photos beforehand that they should stay after the ceremony for the photos. Without communicating that to your family, they may not know they’re supposed to stick around for the photos. Then someone will have to go and track them down in cocktail hour or you may miss an important photo because a family member left the venue already. A simple text or email to your family members can help make the process go by quick and easy.

8. Plan a long enough time for cocktail hour.

Cocktail hours typically happen because your guests need something to do while photos are happening. Sometimes an hour is enough, but other times it’s not. Try to think through all the photos you’re going to need to accomplish in that time frame. If you do a first look, an hour is probably plenty. But if you need to fit all of your photos into the cocktail hour, you may need to consider what photos are going to be most important to you and cut back on some that aren’t as important or you may need to consider lengthening your cocktail hour in order to make sure you get everything you need. 

9. Just keep smiling :)

It’s your wedding day, when you look back on your photos you’ll want to remember just how happy you felt on that day. So when your photographer starts popping off photos, remember to keep a smile whenever possible. You don’t have to cheese for the camera all day, but make sure the emotions of the day show in your pictures.

10. If you’re not sure about something, ask your photographer.

If something comes up in your wedding planning and you’re not sure how that will affect the layout of your day or the photography - just ask your photographer! We’ve been through dozens if not hundreds of weddings. We can be one of your most valuable resources when it comes to helping you plan out your day. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for our opinion! We’re there to help!