Any wedding photography worth having is going to require you part with a sizeable chunk of cash. It’s also true that it’s going to require some participation on your part to get the most bang for your buck.
Love it or leave it.
The absolutely most important, top of the list, highest priority step for getting the most out of your wedding photography investment is to hire the photographer you love. I cannot stress enough that saving a few hundred bucks is not worth getting stuck with images you’re not proud to display in your home and show to your family and friends. Love it or leave it. It’s that’s simple.
A zillion uses for engagement session photographs
If your photographer includes an engagement session, take advantage it! An E-session is a must-have for a number of reasons: 1) It gives you a chance to get comfy with the process and the person. Then when the big day arrives your photographer will know what you like, and you’ll be more at ease knowing you’re in good hands. Less stress is best! 2) Engagement images are great for guest books, save-the-date items, place cards, centerpieces, programs, slide shows, signature mats – the list goes on and on. 3) Besides the zillions of wedding uses, it’s always nice to have portraits in your home of you and your honey in “regular” clothes.
Keep your honey sweet by keeping your time line on track.
Work with your photographer to plan a realistic time line and stick to it. Your photographer will know how much time to schedule for portraits, and you’d be well served to take his or her advice. Few things can turn up the stress levels more than running behind schedule and trying to cram everything in to whatever time you have left. You’ll be stressed. You friends and family will be stressed. And your honey will cease to be as sweet. Schedule in a little “just-in-case” time here and there to be on the safe side.
Crowd Control
When you meet with your photographer for your final consultation, be sure to discuss your expectations for formal family and bridal party portraits. I’m a big fan of utilizing a shot list for formals because it makes sure everybody’s on the same page, helps determine the amount of time needed, and addresses the additional time and considerations that might be needed to accommodate small children, divorces and physical or mental challenges. If your photographer doesn’t work with an assistant, enlisting the help of a friend or family member that knows most of people involved can help keep groups under control. Additionally, it allows your photographer to concentrate on creating the images rather than tracking down the subjects.
It pays to be a blabbermouth.
Communication is vitally important to your time line and to your wedding day sanity. Talk to your hair and make-up vendors about how much time they’ll need. Talk to your florist about when your photography coverage begins. Talk to your family and bridal party members about when they’ll need to be ready and where you’ll need them to be for portraits. Talk to your ceremony coordinator about when you can arrive and when you need to be out the door. Talk to your DJ about when the first dances take place. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, repeat.
Divide and conquer
This is your day but you’ll be sacrificing chunks of hair to the stress gods if you try to do it all yourself. Delegation is your salvation. Delegate tasks to the people in your family and bridal party that your can trust to follow through. Better yet, involve a wedding planner. Some companies offer smaller “day of” packages if you’re looking for a budget-friendly alternative.
Practice makes perfect
Utilize trial runs for your hair, make-up and attire. It’s better to find out in advance how long each task takes, how your veil works with your hair, and how well your make-up holds up throughout the day. Try on your dress with all your accessories, including undergarments, shoes and jewelry. Make sure you can sit, stand, walk, bend, lean forward, raise your hands over your head, and even dip and jump to make sure that everything moves when it should and stays put when it should.
Make-up Malcontents
If you’ve ever seen photographs were it looks like someone’s make-up was a few shades too light, the culprit was most likely SPF. Although SPF is a definitely a “do” on every other day of your life, for your wedding, it’s best to avoid lotions and make-up with SPF. It reflects light differently from skin without SPF, which can cause that oddly mismatched look.
Similarly, avoid other products that reflect light like body glitter, lip gloss and shimmery eye shadows. These products can create “specular highlights,” which in non-photographer speak means “white dots” on your images.
Obviously, no one wants to look like a raccoon after a good boo-hoo, but you can do better than waterproof mascara. I’m talking about fake eyelashes, ladies. Get them. Wear them. Love them. You can even have your own eye-lashes dyed! Will wonders never cease?
For additional wedding make-up tips, check out these articles by Annalise Kaylor. I was lucky enough to photograph her wedding, and I can attest to the fact that her make-up was the picture of perfection. As both an author and an extremely talented make-up artist, this girl knows her stuff!
Tanning: Friend or Foe?
The answer, with a doubt, is foe! Tanning is not your friend. It is an evil, evil liar. It’ll whisper sweet promises of a more gorgeous you, but when you’re not looking, it’ll punch you in the gut and run away with your youth. I’ve sat in front of my computer until my eyes are on the verge on bleeding retouching tan lines, wrinkles, yucky skin texture, and shades of orange that don’t occur naturally within the human race. This tan-ban includes fake tans, too, folks. They’re notorious for being splotchy and even worse than regular tans for producing weird-o orange tones. Your best bet is to make friends with your natural skin tone and kick that nasty, evil tan to the curb.
Drink, drank, drunk in photos.
If your rehearsal dinner is the night before, keep the cocktails in check. A hangover is not an accessory you want to be wearing on your wedding day. It doesn’t look good, and it sure as shoot doesn’t feel good. Additionally, try to refrain from pulling out all the party stops until the reception. Whether you want to believe it or not, drunk shows. And it does not photograph well.
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