One of the challenges of your wedding day celebration is you can only be one place at one time. This means there are all these special moments you’re guaranteed to miss—unless you have a photographer there, documenting it all on your behalf.
We’ve put together this wedding photography checklist, ensuring you get to preserve all the incredible moments—including the ones you never got to witness in person.
From proper and posed to candid snaps, here’s a list of all the must-have shots of your wedding day celebration.
The Details
Before the festivities get underway, have your wedding photographer take pics of all the special details you worked so hard to curate.
Communicate clearly with your photographer, letting them know which are important to you—which special memories you want to hang on to—like how incredible the venue looks, bursting with fragrant white roses and flickering candle light against a historic faded brick wall.
Getting Ready
These candid shots of you and your bridesmaids getting ready in yourbeautiful dresses are some of the most gorgeous photos ever.
Your mom, misty eyed as she watches you transform right before her eyes, your bridesmaid putting a smidge of lipstick on the flower girl’s lips.
Even the groomsmen share tender moments, and having photos and memories showing the joy and anticipation as you prepare to tie the knot is a crucial aspect of any wedding album.
The sheer joy and love that binds all these important people to you is there, visible, on your wedding day. Make sure your photographer documents all that magic as it unfolds.
The Ceremony
Silks fluttering in the breeze, rows of white chairs set up on a freshly mowed lawn, shaded by majestic oak decked out in twinkling lights. It’s important to get photos of the special ceremony space when it’s all set up, prior to guests arriving.
As guests begin to filter in and find their way to their seats, your photographer should take pictures of that as well.
Then of course, the ceremony. Your fiancée at the altar, nervously awaiting your appearance.
And when you emerge, there needs to be a picture of the first look. The awed expression on your fiancées face when he catches a glimpse of how stunning you are.
Other noteworthy moments include
The wedding party as they make their way down the aisle
Giving away of the bride
Both of you at the altar
The vows being said
A close up of the ring exchange
The first kiss as a married couple
The two of you exiting the aisle as newlyweds
The signing of the registry
Typically, after the ceremony your photographer will start rounding up family and wedding party members forportraits, while the guests mingle. Enjoying their champagne and cocktails, and eating small bites of light refreshing appetizers.
The Reception
Your photographer should take pictures of the gorgeous reception space with the table setting, flowers, and cake all laid out prior to your guests taking their seats.
Then, when the reception gets underway, there’s toasts, laughter, and first dances to document. Plus, the cutting of the cake and the bouquet toss—more photo ops that shouldn’t be missed.
The rest of the revelry will mainly be candid shots—your guests laughing and enjoying themselves, and you and your new husband mingling and reveling in their company and the overall celebration.
And of course, don’t forget the pictures of guests letting loose on the dance floor, these by far are some of the most fun images to have.
Lastly, if you two make a grand exit—especially if you rented a fun getaway car or are peeling out in your everyday sedan decorated with cans on strings and “Just Married” scrawled on the back window—those pictures complete the saga. They’re the perfect way to conclude your wedding photo album.
Important Tips Before Your Wedding Day
We’ve touched on some of the more traditional types of celebrations—including a lot of the moments that most people choose to have on their wedding day. However, you are by no means required to do what everyone else does.
Just make sure that you have a clear idea of which aspects of your wedding you’d love to have captured, and how you’d like that done.What kind of style and mood you’d like to convey.
Share all of that with your photographer beforehand, along with the timeline.
Conclusion
Your wedding day is a day you’ll want to remember forever. And if your album is full of beautiful pictures chronicling the celebration, chances are those memories will remain crystal clear in the forefront of your mind.
