Your Wedding Photography - What To Expect On The Day
Your wedding photography | what to expect on the day
Hey there. I’m Shaun and if you’re reading this you’ve probably already booked me or you’re in the process of trying to find a wedding photographer. I’ve written this blog to give you a good understanding of what to expect from me as a photographer on your big day.
So let’s do it.
You might have been to weddings in the past where the wedding photographer has made it all about them. That’s not me. I’m not bossy and I don’t get in the way or tell anyone what to do. My approach is based around keeping things as relaxed and as hands off as possible. I want you and your guests to enjoy your day without feeling like they are being constantly interrupted or bothered by a photographer.
That’s not to say that I won’t be involved. I’ll always be there watching for moments but it will feel like I’m a guest with a camera rather than a photographer - which is feedback I often get from my couples. I would describe my vibe as calm, quiet, personable and approachable.
Every Wedding Is Different
I don’t work from a shot list or have any preconceptions about what your wedding day should be like. It’s not about me - it’s about you. I won’t make you doing any weird stuff with the rings or dodgy poses that make you cringe.
I just need you to do your thing. I’m there as a witness. The more fun you have the better the photos will be.
This approach makes it really easy to be versatile. I don’t need to have shot at your venue before or anything like that. I’m not affected by the weather or the conditions. The venue could flood and you could get married on a raft - it wouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t be wringing my hands because I've got nowhere to set up my lighting rig - I’d carry on with my documentary approach as usual.
In fact… I’d probably be secretly happy that things had gotten so interesting.
The plan
Although I can react on the day to pretty much anything it’s definitely a good idea to have the main beats planned out. Obviously I need to be in certain places at certain times and I will make sure to get that information from you prior to the day. At some point in the lead up to the wedding I’ll send you a form asking for a general timeline of events with specific addresses and times. This is also an opportunity to let me know about any surprises that you might have planned that I need to look out for.
For example: a recent couple of mine wanted a specific guests reaction to a very specific thing that was only going to happen once. It helps to know about that sort of thing in advance.
If you like, we can also meet up before the wedding to chat about things in person. I always enjoy getting to know my couples before the big day but don’t feel under pressure to do that - I can still turn up on the day and get integrated with no issues if we don’t meet beforehand.
When do I start and finish?
This is probably the absolute worst way to go about doing things from a business perspective but I don’t have set start and finish times or set hours. We’ll chat about the best time for me to get started (normally the beginning of bridal prep) and then I will pretty much stay until the end when the party is winding down.
Again, every wedding is so unique that it just doesn’t feel right to me to set specific hours and I want to give myself the best chance to get the best pictures possible - I don’t want to miss anything.
What to expect when I arrive
As the day begins I’ll turn up, say hi to everyone, and get straight to hanging out and taking photos in a natural way. You may have been at weddings before and been told to sit on the bed in a group and smile at the camera or some such - I don’t do any of that. I just chill with you can get you all used to the camera by taking natural, candid photos immediately.
I don’t turn it into a big weird event - I’m just another member of the bridal party doing my thing. Chatting to you and taking pictures.
Bridal prep is one of my favorite parts of the day to shoot and interesting things will happen on their own. There’s a lot of excitement in the air. Lots of hugs and laughing. And it’s a good time to get some glamorous is and creative getting ready photos with no posing at all. I carry this ethos and approach forward into the rest of the day.
You’ll get used to it very quickly.
Groups
I’ve found that it’s best to get a few group photos done if possible. That may surprise you given my natural, unposed approach to the rest of the wedding (and certainly don’t feel like you NEED to do them - it’s up to you) but in my experience people regret not having them done.
Even if you don’t want them your parents or whoever inevitably will so bear that in mind if you want to keep them happy.
I’ve written about this in a lot more detail here.
Getting blasted by confetti
The confetti gauntlet is a real staple of wedding photography and it’s something that i love photographing. I’d recommend giving your guests as much confetti as possible and the more colourful the better in my opinion.
This isn’t a part of the day that I will plan or organise. It’s completely unnecessary for me to do so and I don’t want to set a precedent of telling people what to do - it undermines my whole approach and ethos.
Your guests will organise it themselves or the venue might have a set place where they normally do it.
I will see when the confetti is happening (two giant lines of people is generally hard to miss) and I’ll be there ready when it does.
Stop. Couple time!
Although you will naturally get many photographs of the two you together over the course of the day, lots of people like to get away from the wedding for a little while for some couples photographs.
I don’t treat these as traditional portraits and you won’t be asked to pose or do anything weird or cheesy.
We can pick a time of the day when the light is nice (sunset for example) and take a nice chill walk around the venue. The idea here is to get some lovely natural photographs of just the two of you together. I’ll leave you alone to walk around or I might stand you in a good spot and ask you to face each other. Then I’ll leave you to chat or kiss (or argue!) or whatever you want to do while I take some creative pictures from a short distance away.
When I feel like I’ve got some good stuff or when you want to get back to the wedding I’ll pop in close and do a couple of very simple ‘stand next to each other and look into the camera’ portraits and we’ll be done.
I might direct you to stand in a particular place or give each other a kiss but that’s pretty much the extent of the direction.
The whole thing will be very painless and you get to spend some time alone with each other for a bit - not easy at a wedding!
Meeting me before the day
Because of the relaxed and reactive way that I shoot it’s not required to meet me before the day if you don’t want to. It doesn’t actually make any difference to how easy or difficult it is for me to shoot your wedding.
But it is nice in general to have an in person chat before the big day and you may see some benefit from meeting me so I’m not a stranger on the wedding morning. It’s completely up to you.
If you think it sounds like a good idea then I’m based in Buckinghamshire and would love to meet for a coffee and a chat. If you live nearby I also don’t mind coming to yours if that’s easier. Another option is to bring me along if you view the venue again after booking it for any reason.
If that’s all a bit too much then a quick catch up via phone call is good too. Honestly I’m easy! Just let me know and we’ll work something out.
After the day - Wedding Previews
After each wedding I aim to get a small selection of preview images out to you within 48 hours. I’m always super excited to get home and look through the photos so getting this done is normally pretty high up on the priority list.
Please feel free to share these photographs far and wide and I would really appreciate it if you tagged me and mentioned me when you do. That sort of thing really helps me!
Full Gallery Delivery
I aim to get your full gallery to you within 4-6 weeks of the wedding. Each photograph will be painstakingly reviewed and edited down to a final selection of fully processed files. When this is done you will gain access to a stylishly presented online gallery of internet sharable and full size printable files.
I’m also a firm believer in the power of a printed photograph. There is something magical about holding a tangible memory in your hands. I will always send you a keepsake box of selected 6x4 prints in the post.
I’m a Buckinghamshire based, documentary style wedding photographer that shoots all over the UK. As you can see from these photos, my job is to take awesome and authentic photos so you can always remember how you felt on your wedding day.
If you’re a bit off kilter, creative or just love plain-old-fashioned, honest, human moments then I’m your man.
If that’s the case then get in touch so we can discuss the best way to go about capturing YOUR memories on camera.
DON’T HANG ABOUT THOUGH!
I can only physically shoot a certain number of weddings each year and people tend to book at least a year in advance. All the most popular dates will fill up fast.
Get in touch as soon as you can so we can lock this down and book you in.