POINTERS

PLANNING
TIMINGS
IDEAS

This page is created specifically to help you guys to get the most out of your day in terms of fun, flow and of course great images. Having attended a ridiculous amount of weddings, I have seen first hand that preparation makes a world of difference. I see it as my job to give you a heads up about points that you probably hadn’t thought about or even considered. Please have a read through this page and bear the points in mind when thinking about your schedule.

PREP/MORNING

  • If there is one videographer or photographer then common sense states that they can’t be two places at once. It’s best to stagger the bridal and the grooms prep on the morning so that key stages can be covered to tell the story.

  • Most grooms say that “they’re not bothered about any images of them”. That being said, the value of just 10 minutes shooting the last bit of the boys getting ready is very high. If only to punctuate the brides side of the story. Remember, the bride will never see anything from the grooms morning shenanigin’s unless we are there to cover it. Even if it’s just the boys cracking open a cold beer or putting on their flower button holes.

  • For the grooms prep, if time is limited then we can cover everything we need to in about 15 minutes as long as you’re ‘ready to get ready’. Weird phrase, I know. This means, showered, trousers on, hair done. It gives us the opportunity to see the cuffs and tie being done up, the jacket going on…..All the good stuff of mainly the groom (grooms men are a bonus if they’re around too but not necessary). Obvs if timings allow then we can do a whole load more but this is a great starting point. Then we will have time to get back to the bride for all he gorgeous final stages of prep.

BRIDAL PREP

  • I like to drop in and see the girls first thing in the morning before potentially heading to the boys. It’s nice to say “Hi” and see what stage you’re at. The last stages of bridal prep are by far the most flattering though and generally the best shots that make the album. We’re talking the finishing touches to the hair and especially the lipstick finishing touches!

  • Getting into your dress - At this stage its best to have all your bridesmaids nearly ready at this point. Once you’re into your dress, if you plan on having a reveal moment to the girls then you want them in their dresses. Otherwise you end up with all the girls looking amazing and then one bridesmaid in her dressing gown still. It just looks a bit shit. I guarantee it will annoy you every time you look back and see everyone else ready apart from one girl for that moment.

  • If it’s a parent or friend helping you into your dress, the same applies. Make sure they’re ready before you and not in their rollers still.

  • Don’t forget that if you’re having a registrar that you will need to allow time for your pre ceremony interviews. Usually about 15 minutes each.

TIMINGS

When to get into your dress. You need to get into your dress at least an hour before the ceremony, minimum. I know it sounds like a long time sitting round ready to rock but trust me, this hour will absolutely fly by! It serves many purposes as well. Firstly if anything is delayed on the morning then you have a small window to make up some time. Once you’re ready we will have time to spend 5 minutes doing some beautiful portraits before heading off to the ceremony. You will have time to sit down and have a breather, pop some fizz open and chill with the girls before the mayhem begins. This is the point that you can do things like tit-tape, sort your handbags out, final touches. If time allows we can even do a few shots of the girls together :)

  • Being ready early mainly allows me to do my job better. It allows me to get to the ceremony to set up any gear that I need to. Say hi to the celebrant, work out angles I want to shoot from, set up audio gear……..the list goes on.

  • One of the main things it allows me to capture is the other side of the morning that the bride would miss. I get to capture the guests arriving and being greeted by the groomsmen. The hugs, the kisses, the smiles, the nerves, the build up.

  • Side note 2 - It’s nice to bring a set of all of your wedding stationary along to the bridal prep for me to capture along with anything else that you want specifically photographing.

BOUNDARIES

It’s good to have a think about this ahead of time and potentially speak to your partner to get their opinion as well. Everybody has a different level of confidence or care on this subject. It’s totally your call!! When it’s time for you to get undressed and actually into your wedding dress, just let me know what you want me to do.

Please bear in mind that I do this every single weekend and I’m usually surrounded by a room of girls in underwear. When I say I have seen it all, I HAVE SEEN IT ALL ! It takes a lot to surprise me any more (I have come great stories). Most brides are happy for me to just stay in the room and carry on getting the beautiful images that tell the story. Other brides prefer to have the last few stages covered. Keep in mind, I’m a professional there to do my job to create beautiful, flattering images for you to remember. All images that your husband will never get to see unless I’m there capturing them. I often hear “I want to see the images of me in my underwear looking hot”. In 20 years down the line, you will completely appreciate them! Think more art based, seductive images compared to crude awful pervy images. A middle ground would be to get your dress half way on just so that your arm can cover your boobs. Then the remaining details can be captured.

  • Side note - I’m very happily married to a smoking hot woman (in my eyes, she’s a goddess!!). I often think about theses images from a grooms point of view. I would love to see beautiful, professional images of my wife at this very special stage of our lives.

Aisle

Have a plan!
Make sure that everyone knows the plan!

The golden rule - Bridesmaids walk down first, followed by the bride. Allowing enough space for each bridesmaid to be seen/photographed properly instead of just being able to see only their face because they’re all walking in a line.
Let the aisle clear before the bride enters so that the groom can get the full reveal.

Boys - Why now have your moment walking down the aisle?

A French tradition sees the groom walk down the aisle with their mum. From a males perspective I think it’s a sweet idea and wish that I had had known about this when I got married.

CONFETTI

  • A great confetti shot just doesn’t fall out of the sky (pun intended). As always, have a plan!

  • First of all, I strongly suggest that you buy some biodegradable tissue paper confetti. This is the absolute bees knee of confetti. It flutters through the air and has plenty of hang time. If there is a bit of wind then it just drifts through the sky and looks magical. It probably wont go in your eye or get stuck in your hair compared to dried petals. The first time I saw this kind of confetti it felt like an epiphany.

  • If you want a confetti tunnel (always the best way to do confetti) then make sure that you’re not around while everyone is getting lined up. Once you have walked back down the aisle, go off to a side room, the back of the church, do a lap around the venue to the back door etc. Whatever it takes to just disappear. If you stand anywhere in sight then automatically people will congregate around you and say hello/congratulations and before you know it, the entire wedding party will have formed a welcome line to say hello. An hour later you’re still in the line saying hello to people, the rest of your guests are bored stiff wanting a drink and canapés and you just want to get on with the bloody confetti and onto the party!

  • Make sure your bridesmaids/ushers know the plan. I’ll be on hand to make sure that everyone is in place to get the best shots. A little help from your team goes a long way.

  • Make sure to stop half way down the confetti line for a kiss.

  • Lastly, just enjoy it. It’s one of those once in a lifetime moments so try and embrace every second of it :)

Want to see more info about choosing the right confetti….

SPEECHES

The speeches are all about managing expectations. If you have someone stood in the darkest part of the room with his back to half of the wedding party and then they decide to start roaming the room, image standards might suffer.

  • Choose a spot for all of the speeches to take place. Whether that’s one specific spot or whether each speaker is going to just stand up from their seat and speak from there. Have a plan and stick to it.

  • There isn’t a magic formula for where to stand as each room layout is different and seating locations may vary. The main focus would be that the person giving the speech can address the bride & groom as well as the rest of the room without having their back to half of the wedding party. Usually up at the front just to the side of the bride and groom works really well. They can speak personally to the bride and room while the rest of the rom can still hear them.

  • A mic stand can be a great idea to give a specific location for the speeches to take place. It also frees hands to hold notes and to skip through pages instead of having to fumble around. Your sound guy/dj/band will probably have one if you ask.

  • If lighting needs to be set up for the speeches then having a specific location for them to take place will allow us to have more creative freedom. We can get the main shots that are required as well as the cool, arty stuff and the reactions/laughter/tears.

  • Chat to your speech givers and prep them about these point ahead of time.

YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO HEAR THIS

Your dress will get dirty! Just a heads up, at some point in the day you will reach a point where you stop caring about whether your dress will get dirty or not. The sooner you make peace with this, the sooner you will enjoy your dress and have more fun in it. You bought it specifically for this one big day so get the most out of it. When you look back and think “I wish we had more sunset photos in the meadow” but in reality you said “I don’t want to go in the meadow in case my dress gets dirty”. A dirty dress is the sign of a fun day. I’ll not go on about this, you get my point.

BRING THE GOOD VIBES

THIS ONE IS SIMPLE.
ENERGY IS TRANSFERABLE

If you turn up to your wedding ready to rock and to party your ass off, so will your guests. Bring the good vibes and so will your guests.

If you’re worrying that the candles haven’t been lit and that table 4 haven’t had their wine opened yet and you start to stress out, your guests will sense that and the energy will start to fall. You can’t control everything, just concentrate on having a good time with your new husband/wife and your friends and family. The rest will fall into place.

  • Step it up even with the bride and groom doing the rounds with shots of Espresso Martini’s free pouring them into your guests mouthes.

  • Set up a beer pong table or drinking games

  • The best point for keeping the energy high and to avoid any lag in moods. Have music playing constantly. Just an iPhone as background noise can make a world of difference!!!

  • Lastly, it’s your day. Make it your own and do whatever the hell you like. Forget traditions (unless you actually want to do them of course). Don’t do something because you think that you have to or because your parents did it at their wedding. Have a blast, have fun and party your ass off :)

WANT MORE?

Dive into my blog page. Filled with all sorts of shizzle that you might find interesting