Wedding Planning Tips

Woo! You’re getting married.

First off, I just want to say a huge thank you for booking me! I really cannot wait to be a part of your big day. We’ll have such a blast and I’m really looking forward to capturing some amazing images for you!

A lot of my couples are never comfortable about being in front of the camera - and that’s where my expertise comes in! My super fun and relaxed approach means I actually thrive off this awkwardness, it truly brings out the best in your wedding photographs. You may be feeling a little nervous about the planning and being photographed in general, but also how the day will unfold too. That’s why I’ve made this handy little guide exclusively for my couples!

I’d like to think that by now, over the years, i’ve been to a wedding or two haha! Along the way I’ve picked up a few helpful nuggets of inspo and tips that can make your day as relaxing and smooth-sailing as possible.

After all, my job is to give you amazing memories of your wedding, whilst still getting to enjoy your day (it’s all about the food, right?!) and feeling comfortable in front of the camera. I want you to feel like you’ve had a lovely experience with me as one of your wedding suppliers, and that you weren’t just stood around posing all day.

I’m so excited to share this guide with you! I think that with a little forward thinking and combining these tips below, we can make sure that you’re able to get the very best from your wedding photography! So, on that note - here are my top tips from each part of the day and what to expect…

No doubt you’ll be feeling 100 different emotions all at once on the morning of your wedding and it’ll probably come in waves - nervousness and excitement all in equal measures.

I love the morning prep. It’s a great way for your close friends and family to get to know me and warm up to having a camera pointed at them. You can have a glass of fizz if that’s your thing, put on an incredible playlist and just chill out before you’re on your feet all day!

Whilst I do tend to capture the morning preparations as they unfold, so it tells the story, I will also capture any little details that are unique and special to you. It would be super helpful if you could gather up all special ‘trinket’ items that you’d like photographed - this could be things like: Wedding invites/stationery, rings, any letters or cards from your partner, shoes, something sentimental, accessories etc. Tell one of your party know where you’ve put it and let them show me when I arrive (one less thing for you to worry about then!)

Some good tips to keep in mind are:

-Get ready in a nice light room that’s as tidy as it can be. Try and get set up in front of a big light window - your pictures will look amazing! Don’t shut the curtains, we love the natural light!

-Expect to put your dress on at least 30-45 minutes before your ceremony. Prep can go quite slowly in the morning, and then all of a sudden everyone is rushing to be ready at the same time.

- Try to keep the space tidy! It doesn’t bother me personally, but I know from experience no one wants a bright orange Sainsbury’s bag in the back of their photos!

The ceremony.. AKA the “oh sh*t! I’m getting married” moment.

If you’re not getting ready at the venue (which if possible, I really do recommend as it saves you time/stress/money!) then I’ll leave prep early to get room detail shots and arrival of your guests. I also use this time to chat to your vicar/registrar about what their rules are as every county is different.

There is only one way for a photographer to capture your ceremony - its alllll natural. I’ll capture you saying your vows, exchanging rings, your first kiss etc! This is candid GOLD for me as there are so many happy and smiley moments to get!

After all the formalities are done, you’ll walk back up the aisle full of JOY and then you’ll be congratulated by your nearest and dearest.

At this point, I’ll be floating around and letting you enjoy your canapés and drinks reception without being too intrusive.

Things to keep in mind here:

- Please, please, please talk with your vicar/registrar about photography restrictions when you book them. I once missed the entire ceremony coverage because the vicar was super strict and didn’t even allow photographers in church (which the couple weren't told beforehand!).

- My angle is often limited during the ceremony as their are rules in place by the vicar/registrar that i’m not allowed to move around. So if you are having readings and things, I may not be able to capture them.

- Just have fun!! You’ll probably be so nervous before the ceremony, but honestly you will get tunnel vision when you see your partner and no one else in the room will matter!

I know from my own wedding just how important group photos can be, but please resist the temptation to have LOADS. It is quite time consuming - you’ll have less time to chat to your guests, enjoy your yummy food (it’s all about the food, right?!) and drinks that you’ve paid for etc. The most time consuming part is trying to find a runaway guest who’s gone to the bar (or Grandma Edna who no one can find!).

In my experience, group photos can get pretty hectic and more often than not, you guys can end up getting stressed as well if there are too many! I try to recommend keeping it to 8-10 combinations of the really important

This whole process will hopefully take no more than 30 minutes, and I’ll make it as easy and painless as possible!

My top tips for making your groups as painless as possible are:

-Keeping the groups small and manageable. This means we can fly through them and I can go and document your guests enjoying the vibe of your wedding day!

-Please let family / friends know they will be needed for photos ahead of time and that these photos aren’t for me, I don’t need group shots in my portfolio, they are purely for you guys!

-Set some extra time aside for just your wedding party photos. We can get a bit creative and have fun with these ones - sparklers / smoke bombs etc. (I will still do more traditional ones too!).

-Make sure your venue has some really nice open spaces with clean backgrounds. Trees/Hedges tend to work well here. If not, I’m sure I can do some magic and we’ll make it work!

Once you’ve had a bit of a mingle and all the congratulations are done, I will whisk you guys away really quickly for your couples session. I don’t need any longer than 10-15 mins.

We won’t go far - I tend to use the grounds of the venue if the (typical UK) weather is playing ball! If not, there will be at least one spot we can use inside if needs must.

Don’t panic! I know how nerve-wrecking this session can be for some couples. I actually thrive off of your awkwardness, I only photograph REAL couples and look for the little in-between moments.

My top tips to NAIL your couples session:

-Enjoy the time alone! Trust me, as much as you love all your lovely guests, it will be nice to have a minute or two alone just to be by yourselves.

-If you’re worried about getting your wedding shoes dirty, why not bring a pair of pumps or wellies along?!

-Let me do my thing! After all, you’ve put this much trust in me to capture your day up to this point. I know how to bring out the best in you guys, we’ll have a laugh whilst we go for a bit of a walk and you’ll come away with some fab photos of just the two of you!

It’s time for speeches! I work in a completely documentary, story-telling way and capture your speeches as they unfold. I’ll be on hand to capture all the giggles, laughter and those “did he REALLY just say that?!” moments.

Speeches can be really nerve-wrecking at times, and more often than not I’ve found the people giving their speeches don’t enjoy their meal if the speeches are after. Of course this is personal preference and it doesn’t make a difference to me when they are - but it may be best to consider when you have them for all those involved!

My top tips for speeches are:

- Make sure if you’re having ‘things’ on the top table (like flower arrangements and candles) that these aren’t too high and block your lovely faces.

- If the people due to give a speech aren’t sat with you on the top table or are all spread out, I advise you to let them know that it would probably best if they all came and stood near you and delivered their speech at the front.

- Consider top table placement. It’s tempting to place your top table in front of a big window to provide lots of light for your photographer. Actually though, this makes photographing the top table harder as the subjects are silhouetted against the light. The best work around for this is to face a window or have light hitting you from the side.

The evening is a really nice nice to get some awesome sunset photos of you both. It’s a really short session (15 mins tops) so that you’re not away from the party and welcoming your evening guests! Obviously living in the UK we can never guarantee a nice sunset (or even nice weather for that matter!) so if the weather isn’t looking too good then we may skip the evening portraits as I will have got everything I need from the session earlier in the day.

With summer sunsets we get some really beautiful light that looks super pretty and romantic. In the winter we might get a little bit of sunset but again this can’t be guaranteed!

Top tips to nail your evening session:

-If possible we will do this between your meal / speeches finishing and your evening guests arriving if the light is right. It might be that I just grab you and we GO GO GO!

- You totally don’t have to but this might be a good time to freshen up ready for the evening to commence!

-Have fun! At this point you might be a few gins in and feeling a bit more relaxed than we did earlier and do some different poses!

It’s first dance time! Time to let your hair down and have a boogie! I set up some lights (don’t worry they won’t be too distracting!) to really add some atmosphere and fun to your evening images.

You can expect lots of fun (and some embarrassing ones too!) of your pals throwing their best moves on the dance floor.

A lot of my couples hate having centre of attention and all eyes on them during the first dance, and they find this bit of the day mega awkward.

My biggest bit of advice would be to just have the first few lines or maybe the first chorus of the song and then get all your guests to flood the dance floor with you.

-A Photo Booth (ask me for my recommendations) with fun props are a really great way for you to document the evening after I’ve gone.