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A Wedding Photography Guide
Anyone can take a photo but not everyone can capture the perfect moment...
A wedding is such a well planned and momentous event and most brides would have spent months dreaming of how wonderfully she would like the day to turn out. After all the days excitement is over, the dress has been worn, the cake eaten, the flowers withered and the guests have long forgotten about their tasty three course meal, all you will have left to remind you of your special day will be the photographs that were taken.
Having been a bride myself, I know what a huge task it is to plan such an eventful day and how important it is to find quality people, like a professional wedding photographer, who will offer you the level of service that you rightly deserve. Every one of us girls is a princess and we expect nothing but the best for the best day of our lives! The most important aspect of your entire wedding will be what you have to remind you of all your hard work after the big event. Your wedding photography should be the first part of your budget, and it should be the second most important decision after you have decided on your date.
It should almost go without saying that the photographs that will capture all the emotions of your special day should be ones that you will treasure forever. Regret is not something a bride would want to deal with especially since those fleeting moments will never again be repeated. It may seem like a good idea in the planning stages of a wedding, when you have so many other things to think about, to simply let 'Uncle Bob' or any other well meaning friend or relative, to take the photos. It would be such a shame to take the risk with one of the most important tasks of the day to someone not up to the challenge. Handling frayed nerves, stressed relatives, crying flower girls or missing bouquets requires a certain type of resolve to handle these situations so that the day still runs smoothly and the photos are captured with smiles. The first choice to make when deciding on your wedding photography would be to rely on a professional wedding photographer for guaranteed results.
During the planning stages of a wedding it is difficult to imagine how you will feel 'post wedding', and most brides don't spare a thought about the tasks they will have after their return from honeymoon, such as choosing their photographs for their album. Time and time again, I have seen how much a bride values that I went the extra mile on her big day so that she has beautiful memories captured with artistry and style. A photographer goes from being an anonymous person with a camera on the wedding day, to a valued friend and advisor after the wedding has passed. It's only after the day has flown by in a busy rush that a bridal couple appreciates, or is disappointed, with how their photographer dealt with them on their big day.
The second most important consideration is how much to spend on your wedding photography. A common mistake made by many brides is to give the photography the lowest part of the budget because they cannot see how a few photos will be that important. Ask any bride whose wedding photographs were ruined how she feels now that her photos of her special day are lost forever! It would be a good idea to choose to pay a little extra for quality photos that you will keep for many years, and possibly less on other ''forgettable'' things like the choice of menu, the flowers or the bridal car that you will only use for a short amount of time. As the saying goes - if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys!
The third aspect to consider would be the style of photography you would like. Every photographer will offer a different style and service so you should decide on how you want your day to be captured. The main styles offered are traditional, documentary / photo journalistic, fine art and contemporary which is a mixture of both documentary and fine art. If you would prefer to have formal posed photos of the bridal party where the photographer will dictate your stance, then the traditional style would be your choice. If you would prefer not to have the photographer interfere with your day or if you would like he/she to capture candid moments naturally, then the documentary style would be your choice. A contemporary style takes the best of both traditional and documentary and merges them. A contemporary photographer would capture the story of the day as it happens without interference, along with a section of more posed bridal photos so that you get all the detail of the day whilst keeping Mum and Grandma happy!
At the end of the day choosing a photographer comes down to personal preference and whether or not you get on with him/her personally. After all, they will be the one staring back at you all day long and if you don't get on or find his/her personality irritating, you are guaranteed to look irritated in your photos. Your photographer will share a major part of your special day with you, and you need to feel comfortable enough with him/her that you see them like a personal friend who offers advice and encouragement throughout the stresses of the day. It's important that both bride and groom meet with the photographer so that you can both decide if this is the person you feel will deliver the style, quality and essence of your wedding day. It's also a good opportunity for you both to look at their style of photography and the albums that are on offer.
Remember that your wedding day is history in the making and if you take a blasé attitude toward how your special memories will be captured, then all you will have left is tears, tantrums and maybe pieces of your tiara!
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