There are soooo many moving parts with a wedding. With the photography side of things, keeping an organized list of what needs to be done will help keep those parts moving stress-free!!! These 6 wedding photography tips will help things clear and on a roll!

 

1 | TIMELINE

The timeline of the day is one of the most critical elements to have completed at least 6 weeks before the wedding. Small tweaks can definitely be made to the timeline but the overall idea of how the day will flow in terms of photography should be finalized. This includes, when the photographer starts and finishes, time of the ceremony, how long portraits will take, first look or not….these are important factors to take into consideration! So if you haven’t done this already, get this done pronto!!

 

2 | SITE VISITS

Sometimes a site visit is needed if the photographer has not been to a location yet but some photographers like the surprise!! Definitely speak to your photographer about if a site visit is needed to check for lighting, electric lines, ugly backgrounds, really cool portrait spots, positioning of the cake and speeches, and any other questions you may have!

 

3 | QUESTIONNAIRE

This is a VERY important component of my wedding workflow as it helps me really understand the most important moments of the wedding for the couple as well as putting together their shot list and timeline. I usually send my questionnaires 1 month to 6 weeks ahead of time, depending on the scope of the wedding. These days, since weddings are fluid and changing constantly, I send it a little closer to the day.

 

4 | SHOT LIST

If family portraits are important to you for your wedding, then this is extremely helpful to remember all those must-have groupings. Try to keep this list as consolidated as possible to reduce time. The longer the list, the longer it will take to shoot. I send my couples a generic family portrait list for them to check off so talk with your photographer and see if they can help you pull this together.

 

5 | ALL YOUR DETAILS IN ONE SPOT

Those beautiful little details that come together and make everything perfect can get lost very quickly. Have a designated box with all your jewelry, garter, hairpins, rings, shoes, boxes, vow books, ribbons, handkerchiefs, and anything else special to your day in ONE PLACE. It will make prep much easier when you know where everything is and also help out the photographer and videographer when it comes time for styling and taking pics.

 

6 | FINAL DETAILS CHAT

And for the last of the 6 wedding photography tips, be sure to have a final phone call with your photographer to clear up all the details, have a final run-through of the day and answer any questions you may have!! Have a little glass of wine to toast during your call cuz it’s time to celebrate!!

Looking for wedding photography tips will help things clear and on a roll? Make sure to check out this post here.

Amber is a destination elopement, intimate wedding and portrait photographer rooted in Trinidad and Tobago but available for anywhere in the world! Amber Dawn Photography has been featured in multiple international magazines and wedding blogs. She also specializes in engagements, couples, lifestyle and boudoir sessions! Let’s chat! 

Available for travel worldwide!