Congratulations!! You just got engaged!!…but now comes the dreaded one million suggestions and recommendations from all your family and friends. Don’t worry we are here to help. We happen to have attended hundreds more weddings than your opinionated aunty and we have trimmed down your list to everything you need to know for the top 10 suggestions for your wedding day.
A guide to the best day ever
- Introduction – Something blending ours and brittany’s, make the point that it is their wedding and they can do whatever they want.
- If you were to only read one page. Make it this one
– It’s okay to say no
– Assume everything is going to take 20% more time than you think
– Surround yourself with good people
4 Have an unplugged ceremony”
- Timeline: Either point by point or something similar to Brittany’s that talks about timeline of the day. Talk about getting ready, first look, family photo timing, etc. Add buffer time.
- Unplugged ceremony
- Lighting and Location – Avoid mixed lighting if possible. At the ceremony, especially getting ready, tidy the rooms. Having everything in the same location is great.
- Portraits – Don’t worry about how you look, it’s more important how you feel. Relax. Set aside at least 30 minutes. Alternatively post wedding day session. Take time for yourself.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff – Don’t worry about getting a bit dirty. Don’t worry if things don’t go exactly as planned. Sometimes the little hang ups create the most beloved memories.
- Use great vendors that will put you first.
- Be true to yourselves – Write your own vows, wear whatever you want, skip the traditions, make it your style.
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Introduction
What is a photograph? A photograph is an image created by light. It makes sense then, that light plays a huge role in the outcome of your photographs. By laying out your wedding in a way to takes advantage of the best light of the day at fantastic locations can encourage gorgeous photographs. Here are a few suggestions and tops to plan the best day ever for your wedding, engagement session or post wedding shoot.
Getting ready photos
Great lighting can really help capture the mood and emotion of the anticipation while getting ready the morning of your wedding. A room with large windows with natural light coming through can bring a lot of gorgeous light creating more flattering photographs. Avoid locations with mixed lighting (ex. natural light with florescent lights) which can create unflattering skin tones in photographs. If there is plenty of natural light in a room for the best results it is best to turn off any un-natural light in the room (tungsten, fluorescents etc.)
The First Look
A first look is where the bride and groom have a special private moment when they see each other for the first time on their wedding day. We love first looks and highly encourage them. Seeing each other privately before your ceremony we find really eases any stress a bride or groom may have on the wedding day, it’s also just such a special moment to share together privately. Without having the pressure of everyone looking on, we find that couples are able to truly react to seeing each other, which makes for such awesome memories and photographs to look back on.
Another benefit of having a first look is that it enables the couple more freedom of how they will lay out their day. For example, a couple could then plan to have their bridal party and family photographs prior to their ceremony.
Unplugged Ceremonies
These days everybody owns a camera or a camera phone. On your wedding day you want your guests to truly be with you during your ceremony, you want to look out into the audience and see your friends and family smiling back, really being present with you at that moment, rather than being disconnected behind a cell phone or camera screen.
It is being increasingly common for couples to have “unplugged ceremonies”. What is an unplugged ceremony? An unplugged ceremony is simply that, requesting your guests to turn off their devices to really be present and enjoy that special moment with you. Here is a suggestion which could be announced by the Officiant on your wedding day,
“The Bride and Groom have invited all of you today to enjoy this special moment with them. They have hired professional wedding photographers to capture this event for them and have invited you, as their guest, to sit back, relax and enjoy being truly present in this moment with them. They respectfully ask leaving all cameras and cell phones off during their ceremony in hopes that you can be apart of this moment with them.”
Lighting
The best time of day to take photographs is during what photographers refer to as the golden hour. The golden hour is when the sun is lower in the sky, this would be about an hour and a half before sunset. If you would like some beautiful glowy portraits it’s great to take advantage of this time on your wedding day. Most couples will take out 30 minutes to an hour during the golden hour (usually this would be during a couples cocktail hour) to get some great portraits.
During summer months sunlight can be harsh which can result in a lot of squinty eyes and unflattering shadows on the face. To make the most of this time of day, areas with shade can provide a great location for photographs which results in most flattering light along with cooling you and your bridal party in the summer months.