WEDDING DAY PHOTO GUIDE

SIMPLE TRICKS TO ENHANCE YOUR WEDDING PHOTOS

This guide offers some of my personal experience and insights that can help better prepare you for your wedding day, with the goal of helping you surrender to the emotion of your day. For further reading, I have created city-specific wedding day planning guides for Montreal and Ottawa.

HOW TO THINK ABOUT YOUR VENUES

I used to watch Sex and The City, and they used to say that NYC was the “fifth star” of the show.

Good wedding photographers provide context, they make the details, rooms and landscapes as framework to complement your wedding day story. The decor, season, weather and light will also influence the ambience, how the wedding day proceeds and will make each wedding even in the same venue it’s own unique experience.

Speaking of venues, I know some of my own clients are thinking of backup venue ideas just in case they can’t move forward with their original.

I have worked steadily on a list of venues that to me feel unique, pandemic friendly, outdoorsy and lean toward smaller more intimate gatherings. If you’re looking for some venue information, visit:

• My list of elopement & small wedding venue ideas (including airbnbs!)

• My list of recommended outdoor wedding venues in Montreal

• My Canadian Wedding Bucket List — a few of these I’m slated to photograph in 2021 and I couldn’t be more excited. Check it out if you’re looking for something more destination within our borders.

• My city specific guides (as mentioned above) also have a bunch of suggested venues listed in them :)

FIND THE RIGHT VENDORS FOR YOU

There are weddings of all sizes for all budgets. A small wedding does not mean it’s a budget wedding. Decide between yourselves what the most important aspects are of your wedding day. Like a renovation, be prepared for some vendors to cost more than you expected but have confidence that you will find savings with others. My advice is to get your priorities of your celebration in place (i.e. venue, photographer, planner, food) and then get creative to make the rest work with your budget.

Getting the right team of experts in place will allow you to breathe easy and allow you to think about things like who you’re marrying instead!

WEDDING DAY LooKS & AESTHETICS

A few small tips & tricks to consider to enhance your look on your wedding day. These are things that many people not think so much about but are what I stare at in the editing room when confronted with particular challenges… like newly tanned skin.

THE PINTEREST SHOTLIST

I love Pinterest, it’s a wonderful resource to brainstorm ideas for all sorts of projects and finding inspiration.

I love seeing what inspires you, I often use your boards as a starting point to help me build the mood board that I create for your wedding day.

Just one note: let go of that board on your wedding day.

Here’s why: I photographed a wedding once where it became obvious right from the start that the bride had a shot-list in mind from Pinterest. Everything we did started to feel staged for a someday Pinterest board. This makes the day feel robotic - who are we doing this for? You or Instagram?

What’s wonderful about Pinterest is to collect the feelings you want to complement during your day. Often that’s done with lighting, clarity in planning, and staying focused on who you are marrying.

A good photographer is going to think about your wedding and plan for it before they arrive. How I do that is scout the location(s), look at the weather, think about what I know of the couple (and ask them for their stories!) and plot a moodboard as a storyboard. Being this prepared helps me be ready for all the surprises and candids that will make your wedding uniquely yours.

Want to see what’s inspiring me for weddings right now? Visit my Pinterest board here.

New Beauty Decisions

Aside from a special mani-pedi, venturing into beauty choices like spray-tanning right before your wedding should only be done if you know what the results are dependably. From a technical side as a photographer spray tanned skin can at times read orange on camera and that can be a challenge to balance out in post-production. Your natural skin is more luminous and reflects light naturally. Enhancing how it’s luminous can be done easily with moisturizer!

Long term pro-tip: invest in your brows. I wouldn’t recommend doing this right before your wedding, but if you have a yearlong timeline, this is something I wish I had done too many over-plucked decades ago. A professional sees our faces better than we can. Personally, I get mine threaded, shaped and tinted regularly.

For proof of how it can transform your face, here’s a fun celebrity eyebrow before & after gallery.

The beauty of a strong brow is that it frames your face symmetrically and because of this, you naturally end up reducing how much makeup is on your eyes. Having a strong set of eyebrows is an anchor to all of your expressions and because of this, your eyes are naturally enhanced.

Share a photo of your dress With your photographer!

Wedding dress vendors often request a photograph of the suit or vice versa. This helps vendors make sure the whites are all working together (so many shades of white!) and so forth. This type of share actually works well with photographers too!

After a bride forwarded me all the looks of her bridesmaids and sent me some photographs of her wedding dress - I started asking brides for photos of their dress & grooms for suiting since then. Getting this information in advance really assists in inspiring me when it comes to scouting for locations and building the overall framework for the wedding day.

THINK ABOUT YOUR UNIQUE details

Invitations, rings, flowers are all important details that help provide an overall look and feel.

I’ve asked also asked my couples in the past to consider other details they might want attention drawn to and incorporated to make flush out their stories: a poem; handwritten vows; a wall of heirloom dishes; antique champagne glasses; funny suit labels. By no means is this a requirement but if something occurs to you as significant, I always encourage bringing/pointing them out.

Think About Lighting

It’s the Photographer’s job to think about and be prepared for light: soft, harsh, low, dappled, reflected, tungsten, ambient, fluorescent are just a few types that ask for different ways to be photographed. And they can all happen on the same day.

However, you do not need to be a lighting expert to make these few small changes that will not only improve your wedding photographs but also build the moods you want to have for you and your guests. Here are a few tips:

• Turn off the recessed lights. While they are functional to make a room bright, they do nothing for anyone’s face. Because the light comes straight down from the ceiling, “raccoon eyes” are created just by way the shadow falls.

  A window is sufficient.

  So for the room you’re getting ready in: choose one with a good window. In bigger halls, any alternative should be explored: dramatic chandeliers, bistro lights & lots and lots of candles!

• Find light that creates ambience. Create some beautiful light in your dining table centerpieces: candlesticks, candelabras, glowing orbs, votives, tea lights! The glow from them compliments your guests faces, your decor and creates a feeling of intimacy. Err on the side of too many candles! Bistro lights, twinkly lights, solar garden lights — all build new depth and shape and place for people to collect themselves.

• Get some light you can play with. Sparklers, Fireworks, Cell Phone Glow, Glow Sticks, all create visual interest at the party! Bring it!!

• That First Dance Light. A white spotlight is the type of light you want (I normally speak with DJ’s at weddings, but not all are created the same. Some don’t bring lights — and in that case I’ll set up an off camera flash/or bring my own continuous light stands, but these are details that are better known in advance!). Lights with color - green, red, blue, magenta - can be saved for the dance party… but a classic spot light will render your photos timeless.

TIMELINE & GROUP PORTRAIT PLANNING

PLANNING FOR FAMILY & FORMAL Portraits

This can be the most stressful part of any wedding day.

I prep all my couples as we get closer to the wedding to try to pare down their lists to the essential. And to share this list with your parents before your wedding day, so often I see them perplexed about the makeup of these groups on the wedding day.

Finally! I like to make these fun and dynamic, more Vanity Fair than Class of 2020! Adding chairs, people sitting, people standing, etc… makes it more personal and adds that touch of glamour.

Download my FREE Guide now to get your own editable Formals Shotlist Guide HERE.

On your wedding day

Getting Ready

Find a room with a window and get ready in there. I recommend a place with a few interesting details, like artwork or mirrors are wonderful because they create visual interest, bounce light, add depth. But more importantly a room with less in it is a room that will let you shine and stay calm (or as calm as you can be on your wedding day!).

If you feel like this room doesn’t exist, maybe consider renting an airbnb or hotel room for the occasion!

I love this starting moment of the wedding day because I can ease myself into the background puttering around, photographing details, meeting other people attending the wedding (or the wedding party) and building those small intimate moments of the day.

Another little tip is to have a copy of your wedding day invitations or other important heirlooms that build context of your story together (I mentioned this above). I like to use what’s around me — nice textured chairs, wood surfaces, ornately patterned carpet, grassy lawns, etc are a great backdrop to showcase some or your details.

And most importantly: have FUN. Put some music on or don’t! Toast a glass of champagne with your loved ones or sip on that glorious cup of coffee or don’t!

LEt Go of Your Dress

The day has arrived for you to wear THE DRESS. After finding it, all the fittings, making sure it gets to your wedding day untouched, now you are supposed to wear it! Don’t let the dress wear you.. YOU are still the showstopper.

It’s time to let it hang, drag, flow, get whipped in the wind, get dirty, spill champagne on it and move with you as you experience your wedding day. Tell your bridesmaids to let go of overprotecting it, try to only hold it if you feel like you might trip on it, and only put it in the bustle when you’re getting down on the dancefloor.

Otherwise…. let your dress be the dress in its full unheld glory so it can let you SHINE. ps. the same rule applies for the veil!

Have your Guests put the phones away

I have now seen on the internet some couples who ask for phones to be left in a basket outside of the ceremony. But having your officiant remind guests to put the phones away right before your ceremony is generally enough to dissuade MOST guests — I say appeal to them by asking for their beautiful faces to be seen. Phones hide your guests faces!

ENGAGE WITH WHO YOU ARE MARRYING

It sounds pretty basic, but I spent an entire wedding once with a bride watching me (and I think she was just excited that I was there, she wanted to put on her “best face”) but it kind of felt like she was one of those paintings in cartoon Haunted Houses where the eyes follow you. More importantly, it took away from her being present in getting married. In Improv one of the biggest challenges but also biggest keys to success is to maintain eye contact which allows you to connect with the other person. When you LOOK at each other you are connected, you are experiencing the day together, you are allowing your vulnerability to be shared.

Hold The Kiss

One of the best tips my own wedding photographer gave me just before I walked down the aisle was to HOLD THE KISS. I can’t tell you how quick some couples can be at kissing — this is not the time to be prudent and polite — this is the real only time that PDA is a delight for all! Give people a dramatic moment to stand up and applause for! Let them shower you with confetti!!! All. the. drama.

It also makes sure that your photographer can get a lot of great snaps of such a huge moment of your day.

Have Fun

What if it rains. What if the driver doesn’t show up. What if my hair is not done on time. What if what if what if… planning a wedding no matter the size is a massive undertaking.

But on your wedding day, it will not all go according to plan. And that’s where you need to let go and have fun. Enjoy your people and whatever “mistakes” are made become a part of your story.

If I can offer a small personal anecdote: my officiant said “I thee weed” at the end of our ceremony — and it was such a surprising slip of the tongue that delighted EVERYONE — that it was better that it had happened that way rather than it being perfect.

So get out of the weeds and enjoy your day.

As you can see, I am passionate about the ways in which you can make your wedding day more about the two of you and making the planning of it easier for you. If you have any questions or would like to set up a call - take a moment to fill out this form and tell me a little about you & your wedding day.

THANK YOU!