5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Wedding Photography

There is so much that goes into planning a wedding — one of the most important days of your life! And at the end of the day, all you have to remember it by are your wedding photos. So you want to make the most of them! Here are 5 tips to get the most out of your wedding photography.

1. Find Window Light 

Window light in the bridal suite or getting ready room can help bring so much life to your photos. The more windows the better for wedding photography! The more outside light, the more control your photographer has over the natural light coming into the room. When there is natural light, your photographer can mold that light as they wish to get the perfect shot! Just by opening and closing shades or turning lights on and off, we will be able to create stunning portraits with beautiful, rich color.

Getting your hair and makeup done in a hotel conference room? Consider moving to a hotel guest room for getting in your dress!  Large conference rooms are great for giving you lots of space for hair and makeup, but so many times I find they don’t have windows! Moving to another room with window light will not only give you the beautiful natural light shining in, but also a clean space for the background of your photos! 

2. Plan a Formal Photo List

Have a game plan going into your wedding day! I can’t stress enough how important it is to know what family pictures you want to be taken and work with your photographer to create a formal shot list.

When making your family list, try to think about what photos you imagine displayed in your home — or your loved ones’ homes! The three most important family photos usually are; bride and groom with bride’s immediate family, bride and groom with groom’s immediate family, plus bride and groom with both ‘immediate’ sides together. Try to keep family photos to 10 groupings or less.

Typically, I recommend leaving large, extended family photos for the reception. This makes it so you don’t miss out on photo time of just you and your new spouse!

3. Add Buffer Time

Adding buffer time to your wedding photography timeline is so important! You never know if someone is going to need their hair re-done last minute, if there will be traffic on the way to the ceremony, a bridesmaid’s dress needs a little more adjusting, or your dress will take longer than expected to get into.

I have found over and over again that when things run late on a wedding day, the first place time gets cut is the formal photo time. This makes an already stressful activity even more anxiety-inducing for everyone, and leads to photos you have dreamt of being cut from the list. Buffer time helps make your day more relaxed and allows you to enjoy every little moment!

Work with your photographer to insure you have buffer time built in everywhere you can. Just adding 5 minutes here and there is everything! 

4. Check for Sunset 

Finding out what time sunset is BEFORE picking your ceremony time is a key factor in wedding planning. Especially if your not doing a first look and want outside formal photos – you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of sunlight for photos after the ceremony.

Chat with your venue, wedding planner and photographer about this early on in your planning process. You don’t want to find out a week before your wedding day that you can’t get those gorgeous outdoors shots that you have always dreamt of because the sun will have already set by formal photo time!

You can find your wedding day sunset time on sites like timeanddate.com or simply just typing into Google “What time is sunset on DATE in CITY/TOWN?” and up will put your sunset time! 

5. Trust Your Wedding Photographer

Hire a professional photographer you trust 100% and feel comfortable to be yourself around. I cannot stress this enough! If you trust your photographer and feel relaxed in their hands your photos will shine! Trust me! Plus, you’ll be able to sit back and enjoy every moment of your big day knowing that your in good hands! 

I hope these tips help you get the most out of your wedding photography! And you get all the stunning photos you have been envisioning!

Are you starting to look at wedding photographers for your big day? Check out my blog post, 5 Questions to Ask Your Wedding Photographer Before You Hire Them to make sure you pick the perfect photographer for YOU!