Tips for Wedding Photographers & 2024 Couples!
As an Ann Arbor Photographer, here’s my first tip for Photographers and 2024 Couples:
This first part is for couples: if you’re going to spend a lot of money on your wedding and you love to travel, make a vacation out of it! A destination wedding or elopement is the perfect way to connect with your close family and friends, because doing something new with people you love is an irreplaceable experience. Another reason you may want to do this is because depending on where you live, venue prices can be INSANE and in some cases it’s actually cheaper to fly somewhere else with better views (like Chelsea and Michael did at Spires Ranch in Colorado after getting overwhelmed by venue prices in Michigan). I have both photographed and attended destination weddings and the excitement and love surrounding the day is definitely magnified when travel and new experiences are involved. It can also be less stressful because if you’re getting married at a resort or something similiar, they will often include everything, including the planning and logisitics. You don’t have to stress about decor or catering or cleanup because you’re too busy laying on the beach with a pina colada in hand while the rest is taken care of. You know that sounds amazing!
As far as photographers are concerned, I will tell you this— If you bring a photographer in with you (as opposed to hiring someone local) you’re pictures are going to be so much better because they are THERE with you, 100%. They aren’t just doing a job and being anxious to go home at the end of the day— they are just as excited as you are, they are creatively engaged and inspired, and their energy will be something you want around with you on the day (Plus they are there with you presumably all weekend, so they are going to capture everyyyything. So if you fall in love with a photographer in a completely different country/state… take them with you! They will be so excited and ready to go above and beyond for you (a lot of them also offer discounts to certain attractive destinations… me included!) It will make all the difference, trust me.
Wedding Photographers:
Here’s a tip just for you, especially if you’re heavily focused on documenting the day in an authentic way: Set the Scene. Detail photos are so important and I don’t think a good photographer would ever miss them, but make sure you’re really zooming out and giving the whole day context in terms of the where. If all the wedding action takes place in banquet hall, are you also showing the outside? Maybe some of the guests getting out of their cars in the parking lot and heading into the venue. Maybe a shot of people walking into the event space. Maybe a wide shot of the venue and whatever is surrounding it!
(Listen, sometimes you shoot at an incredibly beautiful venue but the venue itself is sandwiched between a McDonalds and a Family Dollar. And you’re like yeah, no one wants to see that. Get a picture of it anyway! It doesn’t need to ever see instagram or your website/portfolio, but maybe the couple wants to look back on that years later and laugh, or maybe they’ll be like oh that Family Dollar isn’t there anymore, remember that? Maybe some publication is doing a piece on what a certain area looked like 30 years ago and they’ll be desperate for your photo submission. idk, it could happen!).
Even if you’re looking for instagram-worthy photos, remember that people like stories, and the scene is part of the story. Plus, a lot of people work really hard to set scenes every day, and sometimes their work just deserves to be appreciated in a photo. For example— this airbnb in Colorado was so lovingly curated and it felt like they had decorated it just for me to capture. Everything from the rustic but welcoming entrance to the retro kitchen to the record album covers hanging on the wall were just perfection (especially the living room which was a natural light photographers dream. Seriously. Murder me and bury my body in this living room).
Another tip for 2024 Couples:
If you’re looking for a good alternative to fresh florals, wood flowers are a great option because they photograph beautifully and are so customizable! You can buy them as prearranged bouquets or you can build them yourselves— you can even buy them as neutrals and dye them whatever color you wish! This can be a really good option if you’re worried about the logistics of keeping flowers alive when you’re doing a destination wedding or an elopement that requires a trek. It’s also a cheaper option if you love fresh florals but are a on a budget.
This tip is for both Wedding Photographers and 2024 Couples:
You’re all familiar with The Dress shot. But maybe you aren’t familiar with how wedding industry peeps are starting to moan and groan about it. I think most photographers are over it. They think it’s trend that’s had its time and now its time to move away from it. So I just wanted to share how I feel about it:
I love a good dress photo. But what I don’t like is when people get too crazy with it, or when it’s too obviously staged. Like, “we clearly spent 15 minutes trying to find the best place to hang this thing and decided on a garden pergola where it has no business being (is the bride getting dressed in the garden?) on a wedding day and no one is buying that this is a natural thing to do on a wedding day.”
I also will always do whatever my client wants me to do. This is why we send out questionnaires and talk extensively about expectations for the day: If a bride really wants to see a photo of the dress hung up in a strange location, I will do it and I will do it happily! But I’m definitely a proponent of letting things happen naturally and catching snapshots of time rather than setting a stage. Here’s an example: The two photos below are of the same dress, in the same location. This dress was actually hung there while the bride prepared to put it on. The first photo is a kind of off the hip photo that is kind of like “oh look, the dress (click).” The second photo is more thoughtful, the dress is centered and the scene looks more intentionally staged, and it’s a fine photo. But the first one is so much more alive and interesting to me. Plus I’m just going to say it— a lot of dresses do not look very good unless it’s on someone’s body.
Another tip for both Wedding Photographers and 2024 Clients:
DO NOT STRESS ABOUT RAIN/WEATHER. For one thing, it’s pointless— you can’t control the weather, and neither can your wedding planner or your photographer or your venue. BUT if your vendors are great at what they do, they’ll be able to work around weather seemlessly, and as a photographer I can tell you that sometimes rain or clouds or even snow is something magical that we secretly hope for sometimes because the pictures can be AMAZING. So while it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan for weather events, don’t stress that you might have to change locations for pictures or spend all of your time inside. If it’s raining, we can grab umbrellas and lean into the rainy vibes, and it won’t ruin a thing.
For Chelsea and Michael’s wedding in the mountains last year, it started raining at the end of the ceremony, and it was actually very welcome (it was hot out) and produced some really great pictures. And as you can see, they were all smiles regardless of being pelted with raindrops.
(Also, for some reason it has rained at probably 90% of the weddings I have photographed, and it barely feels like an inconvenience anymore. So If you DO want rain on your wedding day you should probably hire me, I guess, lol)
My last tip for both Wedding Photographers and Couples:
Take your time. I am writing this for you but also as a reminder to myself: Relaxing isn’t really a word that synonymous with the wedding industry, but giving yourself and everyone around you time to relax is really going to make all the difference. It’ll make a difference in photos but it will also make a difference in how the day feels, and how you are able to enjoy it. One of my favorite things to do with a couple is to just tell them to take a couple minutes to decompress, relax and be in each others company. Make them forget there is a timeline and a camera and let them feel the happy energy of the day without an agenda. They will be able to slow down and make a mental snapshot while you get actual snapshots. Just remember to take small moments to relax, because the day flies by so fast if you don’t take the time to enjoy it.
