Working with your wedding photographer

I’ve done my fair share of wedding shoots and they can be stressful. After all, you want to do your best for the client. To help their photographer, there are a few things brides and grooms should consider.

Some brides are, well, let’s just say, more demanding than others. Generally, the little girls that dreamt of fairy-tale weddings can be a bit of a handful when you come to photograph their big day. They know what they want and woe betide anyone getting in their way. Others have more realistic ambitions, which can make them easier to work with. However, underdeveloped ideas can lead to unexpected results. The key is to know how to work with your photographer rather than against them.

Weigh up your priorities. Decide whether cost or composition is more important. If you want to save money, you might find someone that will work free to build up their portfolio. If composition is more important, hire the photographer based on their work. Generally, you pay for knowledge and experience, which doesn’t often come cheap.

Don’t expect miracles. If you didn’t look like Heidi Klum or Tyra Banks beforehand then it’s unlikely that putting a white dress on will achieve this effect. Photoshop isn’t a fairy godmother, and frogs can’t always be turned into princes. The best you’ll end up with is some kind of unholy frog-prince hybrid.

Your input is important. Without your input, how will you ever get what you want? If you’re one of the aforementioned “demanding” brides who has been scrap-booking wedding ideas since you were in your mother’s womb, now is the time to expose this madness to your photographer. Don’t overload them, though, you don’t want to be carried away by men in white coats.

Consider the timings of your day. Why not do your formal photos before the wedding? OK, the groom will have to see the bride before the ceremony, but unless he has a mail-order bride being flown in who is likely to run away upon first sight, it is acceptable to break this tradition. If you shoot before the wedding, the black sheep of your family won’t be drunk and you’re unlikely to have to stop the wedding to find Uncle so-and-so who is in a corner, stewing his liver in whiskey, or trying to touch up the maid-of-honour.

Don’t let your photographer go hungry. If they are at your wedding all day, consider getting the caterers to give them a snack. You won’t want them snapping at the breakfast tables while people stuff food into their face-holes. So, it is the perfect time for them to recuperate. The shoot can be stressful and demanding. They will appreciate the thought and have more energy to see the wedding shoot through to the first dance.

Don’t forget you’re wearing rose tinted glasses. On reflection, your big day will seem very different from the reality. Unfortunately, the camera doesn’t lie. If you had to pour yourself into your dress and didn’t manage to lose those extra pounds by the wedding, you won’t remember, but the camera will. Just be realistic.

In summary, keep up a dialogue with your photographer. Oh, and consider, if this is the most important day of your life, does that mean it’s all down-hill from here?