Wedding Preparation (And Post-Wedding!) as a Photographer
Wedding dress and shoes, all part of the magic of the day!
There’s oh-so-much-more than just showing up to your wedding with a camera! I often say to people that, for most who work on the day of your wedding, their work is done at the end of the day. As photographers, our work doesn’t finish until weeks after.
I thought I’d write a piece to ‘lift the lid’ on what goes on behind the scenes and on the day of your amazing day so that you can see how much work goes into not missing a single beat!
1. The Form
Yes, we have a form… don’t judge us! About a week before your wedding, we’ll send over a form to you to fill out. This form helps us keep everything running smoothly. We ask for things like:
Your names - I (Chris) am terrible with names… honestly, it’s a curse! I often have to repeat names to myself on the drive up to weddings so I can avoid embarrassing myself.
Maid of Honour, Best Man, Master of Ceremonies names and contact details - this is so we can tap them up to help corral people, weddings are amazing but fluid events where people who may not have seen each other for ages are milling around and having a great time and, often, a friendly face or someone they know telling them they need to be somewhere works much better than some total unknown.
Locations - so we can work out travel plan.
Any photos and people you really want pictures of, so we don’t miss out your grandmother or crew from your halls of residence at uni!
Your social media handles and the handles of other suppliers, so we can tag you and them!
2. The Night Before
The night before, it’s bag and gear central at our house. We pack our bags (three of them, each with a specific purpose!) and check all our gear over, cleaning and checking everything works as it should. Our bags are brimming with gear, water, snacks, deodorant and body sprays (it can sometimes get sweaty!), chargers, batteries, lenses… the lot! Sarah has a shoulder bag which stays with her all day, which often ends up holding the phone of a bride as she might not have pockets!
3. The Morning Of
We’re up early, coffee in hand, double checking everything and setting off. We dress casual-smart, so we are comfortable but presentable. Don’t be offended if we turn up in trainers, though, as we’re on our feet all day and need to look after them! We aim to arrive around half an hour to forty-five minutes after you’ve started prepping as we want to walk into a nice vibe, not crash into your sleepy morning.
4. Bridal Prep. Chaos and Magic
We usually start with the bride, if it’s a bride-groom style wedding. It’s always buzzing—Prosecco flowing, tunes on, someone doing their eyeliner with one hand and feeding the dog with the other… (Dog friendly weddings are the best!). If the groom’s nearby, we’ll pop over to get shots of him and his crew getting ready too. We’ve definitely done the drive-back-and-forth thing just to make sure we catch it all, but if you’re at the same venue but in different rooms, that’s amazing. For same sex couples, we’ve had mornings where the room has been divided in two and they’ve prepped on either side - which led to some amazing photo dynamics!
5. Just Before the Ceremony
This is where we split up, with Sarah remaining with one side of the wedding and Chris going off to the ceremony venue to start capturing people arriving and being greeted. Sarah will cover the final moments of preparation and nerves, often hitching a ride in the wedding car to get those amazing final photos and the arrival.
6. Ceremony Time
Our cameras have this amazing ‘silent shooting’ mode, which completely gets rid of the shutter ‘click,’ which can sometimes ruin the tranquility and amazing atmosphere of the ceremony. Nobody wants to be distracted by ‘click, click, click,’ whilst saying ‘I do!’ Sarah usually hangs at the back of the ceremony whilst Chris tackles the business end right down the front, between the two of us, we don’t miss a thing and capture every angle.
7. Raining Confetti
We’ve got walking backwards down to an Olympic sport, seriously. Cameras are set to fast-shutter mode and we walk backwards through your confetti corridor! These are some of the best photos as they’re pure chaos and joy all smashed into one amazing moment - and there’s always one cheeky guest who aims their confetti right into your face..!
8. Drinks Reception… chill time.
Maybe saying ‘chill time’ isn’t exactly right, for us… Whilst you’re having a drink and basking in that ‘we’ve just got married!’ vibe, we float around getting all those amazing candid moments of love and joy with your guests. This is also when we like to steal you away for some couple’s photos, nothing stiff or awkward - this is a walk away from the main party where you can have a breather, a laugh with each other, and just be cute whilst we snap away! We’ll get some ‘mantelpiece shots’ here, in a portrait style, so your gran’s got something to frame.
9. Wedding Breakfast = Recharge Time
Nobody wants to be photographed shoveling food into their mouths, so this is when we take a break and check over our gear, recharge batteries, and grab some food. We return for the speeches.
10. Party time
This is where Chris enters his natural habitat. Having started his career as a nightlife photographer, he’s been all over Europe and in some of the biggest nightclubs and on stage with some huge DJs such as Pete Tong, so he really knows what he’s doing when it comes to the party photography! Sarah’s a natural at getting those natural, full of joy photographs as well, and you’ll really love looking back on these - not many wedding photographers stay into the party, which is madness in our eyes.
After the Wedding…
Honestly, this is where the real work begins for us. Your wedding day is just such fun we don’t even feel like we’re working, but once the SD cards are out and the thousands of photos imported, this is where Chris gets to work… hard. Immediately, he picks around ten photos to deliver to you within mere days of your wedding so you can have some immediate memories. Over the next four to six weeks, he’s squirreling away hard at work to get your full gallery ready.