As wedding photographers (or any wedding vendor), I think we forget that in most cases this is the first time our couples are experiencing planning a wedding. They don’t know the ins and outs like we do. Our job is to help prepare them before the wedding day so they can focus on getting married and having a blast.
We make timelines constantly during the wedding season. We know where we need to be and how long things take. We are thinking about how to organize everyone in a timely manner, hit all of your photo locations, and still get you into your reception on time. Sometimes I feel like I am overwhelming my couples when we chat on the phone because I am rambling on about little details that they just didn’t realize happen on a wedding day. There are so many moving parts and we want that day to go as smoothly as possible while coordinating with other members of your vendor team so everyone fulfills their obligations to the couple.
While A LOT of these things are covered in my Wedding Guide (which my couples receive after booking), I think everyone would benefit from these free tips (even if I’m not your wedding photographer). :)
Make sure all of the dresses are steamed the night before. It’s a huge time suck if we need to wait on this to be done especially the MOB or MOH’s dress. They typically help the bride get dressed and if we have to wait on them it can start to put us behind schedule.
PJ or Robe shots = Hair + Makeup finishes earlier. Look, no one wants to be the only one in the photos without their hair and makeup finished. I’ve had quite a few weddings where we had to wait for one or two bridesmaids to finish either hair or makeup before we could do robe shots. We only need a few shots of the bride finishing her hair and makeup so ideally, I would want the bride finishing up 30 mins after I arrive.
Take a video of how to bustle your dress. I set aside 10-15 mins before your reception introduction to have your dress bustled by your MOH or whoever you put in charge of this daunting task. I suggest getting a video so you don’t have to struggle with this and delay your introduction. Even if your MOH goes to your final fitting, she isn’t going to remember how to do it weeks later, with a few glasses of champagne in, and under pressure from the venue coordinator to get the reception started. Additionally, if it gets too challenging, people tend to just pin it up in frustration but we see the back of your dress during your first dance and forever in your photos. You paid to get the bustle done so let’s get it right and hopefully watching the video from the seamstress will make this easier.
Hold your ceremony kiss for 3-5 seconds. Self-explanatory ha. Just hold that kiss. Or I am just going to make you redo it at the altar after the ceremony.
Tell Dad what the heck a first look is. Last but certainly not least! I have seen so many clueless dads walk into a first look with a blank stare because they have no idea what is going on. So before the wedding day, tell them what a first look is and what happens. Next, we will make sure they know to be fully dressed and at the first look location 10 mins before we need to start shooting it.
Ok, I think that is it for now. I hope these tips help keep your wedding day stress-free! I know they will help your photographer feel less stressed lol.
