Making sure you and your photographer have set your big day up for success is hugely important to getting all those images you’ve envisioned. They way to do this is: communication. Communicating all the details, and what you both expect is super important to how you feel about your wedding images in the end. Expecting something to go one way when it wasn’t communicated to your photographer can lead to upset feelings and trust me no photographer wants to disappoint their clients. I have found there are many important things to communicate with your photographer leading up to your wedding but here are the top 3 things I think are most important to flesh out in oder to get all the photos you are looking for.
• Your timeline- more importantly padding your timeline
Being on the same page about when things are starting, or important moments are happening are the most important reason to be very clear on your timeline. However there is something else that’s important to add to that timeline-padding. I don’t think I’ve ever shot a wedding that was 100% on time, I’ve even had weddings where there ended up only being 10 minutes for bride and groom photos instead of the planned 30 minutes because it was running that far behind. Not padding in enough extra time to the timeline can lead to a lot of stress for you, and your photographer and also lead to not getting all the shots you wanted. I suggest adding at least 30-45 minutes more than you think you need to the getting ready part of the timeline. This is usually where things start to fall behind. Tell your hair and makeup team they need to be done at 10:30 even if photos aren’t till 11:00-this way if they go over there’s still some time; and if they do finish on time this will allow you to hang out with your friends and family rather then stress about how late your running. As photographers we can only work with the time we are given, we want to make sure you get the best photos possible so padding that timeline will help everyone in the end!
• List of names and relationships for family photos
Having this list during the family photos is very helpful to keeping this part running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Most guests want to be enjoying cocktail hour during this time so getting these photos done as quickly as possible will benefit your guests, and ensure that you get all the time you planned for bridal party and bride and groom shots. Being able to just go down a list and call out names is much easier than trying to wing it the day of. So make sure to write it out like this: Brides Mom Carol with bride and groom etc. and just go down the list of everyone involved with those photos.
• Shot list of important pictures unique to your wedding
As wedding photographers we know the important moments to look for and capture at a wedding. Things like the first kiss, cake cutting, first dance are all a given. However if you want to make sure you get a photo of all your sorority ladies and you together then you should share that with your photographer, or is there a certain spot at your venue you absolutely must have photos done? Share that! That way we can add it to the list of shots we need to get to ensure you are thrilled with your photos and not bummed that a certain shot wasn’t captured.
