5 Tips for Wedding Photography

1. Your Day Will Fly By

Many of my couples remark at how quickly their day has gone. This is the most important piece of advice I can offer any couple - because it drives so many of the decisions you can make about your day.

With a full 12-14hrs of entertainment to plan, it can be easy to over think - and over plan. When you've arranged too much, you can find yourself a little rushed, feel overstretched and you might find that you miss out on things you had planned, like the giant Jenga lawn game or sweet cart.

No matter what you've got planned, make sure that you'll have enough time to enjoy the day yourself as well.

2. Travel Between Venues

Take into account how much travelling you'll want to do on your wedding. While you might want to get ready at home, if it's an hour away from your venue it can add a lot of unnecessary stress on the day if there are delays or traffic.

If you are also travelling from your ceremony onwards to your reception venue, it can mean a significant amount of your day will be spent on the road. When your day is already flying by, consider whether you can budget for a hotel closer to your venue, or if you can book in the night before at your venue to get ready there in the morning.

Staying closer to or at your venue will make for a more relaxing wedding day experience and means you can spend more time celebrating with your friends & family.

3. Prioritise What You Want

It might sound really simple, but when you've got a guest list of a hundred people, it can be easy to lose track of what you'd like from your day.

Don't feel that you have to be traditional either. In place of first dances I've had karaoke and late evening BBQs.

When it comes to group shots, sometimes there's an expectation that everyone needs to have individual family shots with you. I always recommend that group shots should be Wedding Party & Immediate family only, and we can always incorporate an entire wedding guest group shot instead. It saves you so much time on the day, and means you can get back to enjoying your party.

So if you'd rather skip the ceilidh or speeches and be light on the group shots, then absolutely do it. This is your day, your journey as a couple - so make sure you plan something you want too.

4. Photography Can be Fun

There might be a tiny amount of bias in this piece of advice! But it's only because I have seen so many couples be a little nervous about photography before their day and then absolutely love it on their wedding.

My job is to blend into the background and if you can forget I'm even there then all the better.

The best part of about candids is that people are just acting naturally, barely even aware that my lens is focussed on them.

The same is true when it comes to your couple portraits - enjoy it as much as you can because it's such a fun, liberating and exciting moment in your life.

5. Book Early

As someone who works in the wedding industry, one of the best pieces of advice I can give you is if you love a supplier - book them early. Chances are if you love them, someone else with your date will do too. Personally, my summer dates are booked up very quickly and I hate turning away couples.

If you are planning a last minute wedding - try looking at weekday dates instead of weekends. Not only can this be significantly cheaper at your venue, but other suppliers might be more likely to be free as well.

In general though, if your heart is saying yes - whether it's the venue, the celebrant, the band or the photographer - get them booked as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

Wedding Planning: 5 Handy Tips

You said yes! Now what?!