It is only natural to have a lot of ideas and even more ambitions and desires to realize on your special day. The decoration of your wedding might be inspired by hundreds Pinterest boards, online searches, and wedding magazines. This makes you want to handpick everything: from your invitations and the colors of the flowers of the bridal bouquet to the decoration of the hall and the tables. Your wedding photographer knows the time, budget, and energy you invested in this process and is ready to capture all those details in order to effectively document the atmosphere of your big day. However, there are some small but important details that can affect the final aesthetic result of your wedding photos; and once they are there the photographer will not be able to work around them at the time of the shooting!
# 1 Rooms in total chaos 😭
Photography is heavily based on composition and framing. Wedding preparations, on the other hand, are usually messy situations. If you rent a hotel for your preparations, you have a lot of stuff with you; everything you'll need the next day or even the whole weekend, your mom's shoes, your dad's accessories, everything your bridesmaids need to carry for you to the church and reception venue, etc.
At the same time, your makeup artist's and hairdresser's stuff is everywhere, your friends and family are stopping by to see you, your mom is getting emotional, your nieces are running around, your bridesmaid is waiting for you with the champagne glass in hand to cheer you on... it gets messy fast!
And no matter how well you plan every moment of the day, I can assure you that at some point it will get out of hand!
Your photographer experiences this a lot, at almost every wedding, and he knows exactly how to get out of it so he can take all the pictures he/she needs, without interfering with you or your schedule. But the one thing your photographer can't do is tidy up your room and make it look at its best for a wedding shoot (although I've hidden shoeboxes, water bottles and shopping bags under the bed more than once... 😉).
And I'm certainly not talking about sterilized, perfectly organized rooms. I mean taking those few minutes to tidy and prepare your room and preferably the whole house, for a wedding prep photo shoot. Yes, after all, it's YOUR wedding, so you should have someone help you out! Don't forget to gather in one place everything your photographer asked you to have with you during the wedding preparations (wedding rings, invitations, shoes, jewelry, perfume, etc.) so you don't have to waste time asking around who has the wedding rings!
#2 The microphones during the wedding ceremony
At every wedding ceremony, whether it is secular, religious, or civil, microphones are often used. Usually, their positioning is not well thought out, so the microphones, and/or their stands, are in front of you during the whole ceremony! Unfortunately, this problem cannot be solved by having a relative, friend or the priest hold the microphone; because in this case, your beautiful face will be hidden not only behind a microphone but behind a hand as well!
To avoid such an unfortunate event, consider asking your wedding planner or priest where the microphones are usually placed and also ask your photographer and your videographer about their placement if possible. A good solution is to use a microphone stand and place it high enough between the bride and groom, but lower than their heads. The best solution would probably be to use tie microphones (lav mics) that are discreet and you can hide them in your clothing. Unfortunately, churches and town halls are rarely equipped with this type of microphones but videographers often are!
# 3 Light and sound installation at the reception
The lighting equipment is of great importance for your wedding reception; and of course, the professionals you or the venue manager hire know how to do their job! But sometimes the equipment lies in places that can result in not very flattering photos. The same goes for audio equipment: speakers, sound consoles, etc. can be scattered all over the place. This can be particularly the case if, for example, you have requested a slide show during your party, if you have planned speeches or if you want a colorful party atmosphere. Don't forget to let your lighting and sound vendors know in advance about the room layout, the path and exact location of your entrance, your first dance, your champagne toast, your wedding cake so that they can place the equipment in the right place but not in front of or behind you during all those important moments of your wedding day that will give you the iconic shots of your wedding party! We want you to look amazing in these photos, and usually the speakers and stage lighting equipment make the visual result less magical.
# 4 The failed makeup test
Very often, brides ask me what the right makeup is for their wedding photos. My answer is usually something like, "The less shiny the better"! But if you've chosen an experienced makeup artist, he/she already knows more than I do and will be able to correctly identify your skin type to make you look beautiful on your wedding day.
Photographers and makeup artists alike know that a wedding day is a very demanding and unique day: You get your makeup done early in the morning and you are not followed by your makeup artist during the day; the temperature and lighting conditions change all the time, and you are always moving and interacting with people and food. So your makeup artist knows that he/she will have to do his/her best to keep you looking fabulous all day despite the circumstances, using the right techniques and products.
The real question is how to choose the right makeup artist because the result will depend mainly on him/her!
Always try to have a trial appointment with your makeup artist; this way you can describe exactly how you imagine your makeup to be, and at the same time you can see if you are satisfied with his/her work, in terms of aesthetics, products, communication, etc. If you are not satisfied with the result, if you don't recognize yourself in this particular makeup, if you are not satisfied at all, keep in mind that it is a clear sign that on your wedding day you will not be satisfied with the result either. There is no point in hoping that on your wedding day you will get a really different result. You need to like the way your makeup artist works on your face the first time and then just adjust the little details to get the result you want. That's what the test makeup session is all about in the first place!
No matter what you do, at some point during your wedding day, your makeup won't be ideal. So make sure you've made the right decision; choose the makeup artist you love and trust, just like you did with your photographer. And then, enjoy your wedding day! The happiness on your face will make you look stunning anyway in the end!
# 5 Plastic Chairs
You've decided to have a secular wedding in a spectacular location, a castle, on a river cruise, in the woods or on a beach. You've taken care of everything: the decorations, the lighting, the aisle, the flowers on the bride and groom's chairs... but what about the chairs themselves? Take the time and energy to ask your wedding planner or venue manager about the chairs they use during your ceremony for you and your guests. It's a real shame to carefully choose your floral arrangements only to tie your little aisle bouquets to... plastic lawn chairs.
