What your wedding photographer wants you to know. It seems simple, right? As wedding photographers, we’re supposed to show up on the date you’ve picked out and photograph it. Easy.

Well, that’s not really all there is to it. I like to think of wedding photographers as the glue that holds a wedding day together.

Disclaimer here: I don’t want to discount wedding planners. If you have hired a wedding planner, first off — thank you, and secondly, they would be handling all of the logistics, last minute plans, etc. Wedding planners are amazing. You could think of wedding photographers as the Elmer’s glue of a wedding day and wedding planners as the Gorilla glue.

With that being said, here’s a list of things your wedding photographer wants you to know.

1) Wedding Planners are Wonderful

I mentioned this above, but hiring a wedding planner really does make wedding planning so much easier. You won’t have to keep up with a million different vendor email threads, nor will you have to coordinate every single tiny detail (think about napkins, how they’re placed, what color, etc). There are so many things you don’t think you’ll need to do until you are in the thick of it. If I could go back (my personal advice from being a bride), I would undoubtedly hire a wedding planner.

2) We Can’t Work Magic

Scenario: You’ve been scouring blogs like Style Me Pretty and Magnolia Rouge. You’ve stared at countless outdoor ceremony photos with floral arches underneath large moss-covered trees. You’ve fallen in love with a certain photographer and you HAVE to hire them for your wedding. Your big day rolls around, you have your indoor formal church ceremony in front of the altar, and all is well. A few months pass and you receive your wedding photos. You think: these do NOT look like the work I saw of “said photographer” on the blogs.

Well…that’s because it’s not the same type of work.

Indoor ceremonies and outdoor ceremonies have totally different vibes because they have totally different light. Can indoor ceremonies still be gorgeous and ethereal? Absolutely! Your wedding photographer wants you to know that different light will yield different results. Lack of light will not render beautiful skin or light and airiness like being outside will.

Of course, there are ways to combat little to no indoor light with artificial lighting — but again, this yields a different vibe.

Even if lighting isn’t an issue, there are still some things we can’t “fix”. For example: your cousin had too many cocktails and missed the big family group photo. It takes a lot of time to take him from a separate photo and place him in the family one — it’s not impossible, but we just want you to know that it might not look real 🙂

Tips for good light AKA good photos:

– Consider a venue that has a lot of windows in the getting ready space and reception area
– If a venue doesn’t have good natural light, see if there is an outdoor space like a patio or balcony where getting ready photos can be taken (this Southern Autumn Tennessee Wedding showcases this perfectly! The room inside was way too dark for photos so we moved Nicole and her mom outside for some beautiful dress shots!)
– Ask your photographer what time of day/what spot would be best for an outdoor ceremony (I have seen a lot of brides that chose sunset for their ceremony and the sun is glaring in their eyes)

3) We Work Before, During, and After Your Wedding Day

Wedding photographers work hard to make sure clients are taken care of before, during, and after their wedding day!

Before your big day, we not only communicate with you as the client, we also chat with other booked vendors about coordinating logistics. Sometimes we help create the timeline (which I enjoy doing because then I can ensure there’s enough allotted time for beautiful photos).

On the day of your wedding, we are 100% committed to the documentation of your love story. This is why we do what we do! We strive to create timeless memories for you and your spouse that you’re able to treasure for years to come. To do this in a beautiful way can take hard work. Sometimes it can mean hauling heavy gear around for eight to ten hour days or not being able to use the restroom when you really have to go 🙂 We just want you to know that despite all of these little job quirks, we really really really care.

After the wedding, we safely transport all of your wonderful memories to our homes and computers where we work on editing for the next month or two! Or if you’re like me, you mail the film off to The Find Lab to get it developed and sent back to you digitally. Depending on our current workload, sometimes we can have a waiting list on editing. This means we may not get to your wedding until we have completed the last ones we photographed. But no worries! We will still get your photos to you by the time spelled out in our contract! In the end, we want to take our time so that you LOVE your wedding photos 🙂

4) Proper Timelines are Everything!

Who doesn’t love a good ol’ timeline? 😉 As a wedding photographer, we heavily rely on a detailed timeline to make sure the day is running smoothly and we have captured everything you want us to! Our top priority is making sure the bride and groom are happy!

When you have a timeline that doesn’t allot for enough time to capture certain things, it can make your wedding photographer feel rushed — and this will unfortunately hinder our creativity.

One big tip I like to tell my brides is a bit of a main principle when it comes to timelines — if the first thing runs behind, it all will. It’s a simple domino effect. Your hair and make-up team need to be prepared (with extra hands) depending on how large your bridal party is.

We typically do not photograph during dinner — no one likes to have documentation of themselves mid-chew 😉 This is also when we have a bite to eat and regain our energy for those epic dance floor images!

Lastly, we can’t leave on a wedding day and come back a few hours later to save hours on your timeline or wedding package. In a worst case scenario, an Act of God could happen making it where we couldn’t get back to the venue. It’s also not conducive to a fluid work day.

5) We Love What We Do & Are Here For YOU & Your Story

This is the last thing your wedding photographer wants you to know because it is one of the most important! We LOVE what we do and are in this industry for the people. As photographers, we create genuine relationships with our clients and become invested in your personal lives. It takes a great relationship to help create those natural looking images we all love! Your bond with your grandmother is more important to us than a pretty centerpiece (although we will capture both).

Your wedding photographer wants you to know they are here for you.

If you found this post helpful, you may also enjoy 10 Tips for a Stress-Free Wedding Day.