7 Tips For Best Wedding Photos on Your Wedding Day!

Congratulation gorgeous, it is your wedding day, and I know you can’t wait to get started with those beautiful wedding photos. After all, beautifully capturing every big and little moment as they unfold is what it is all about, right? 

This is the day you have worked so hard for, and you have invested a lot of money to bring your dream wedding to life. So I get it! It’s only natural that you would want some guidance to help you get the best photos of your wedding. In this post, I give you seven tips to help you get the best wedding photos ever. 

Let’s get to it, shall we? 

1. Preparing for Your Getting Ready Photos

For the most part, your wedding day photography coverage will start when you and your bridal party are getting ready. You should be aware of a few things to ensure that you get the best getting ready wedding photos. 

The night before your wedding, you want to make sure that you have everything that you want to have photos of in one place. This means that your wedding dress, the veil, shoes, garters, jewelry, bridesmaids dresses, and any keepsake such as your grandfather’s bible or kerchief, etc. Be sure to secure one or two pieces of your save the date and wedding invitation cards to be photographed. 

The groom should ensure that everything is ready to be photographed on the day of your wedding. Typically, the groom will be holding on to the rings. Make sure that they are kept in a secure location. The groom and groomsmen tux, shoes, socks, belts, and other accessories should be kept in one place, preferably in the closet. 

Don’t worry about styling anything. The photographer will select the location with the best lighting and will also style wardrobe and accessories accordingly. 

If you are getting ready at a hotel, choose a big enough room to accommodate you and your girls and boys. My suggestion here is to consider getting a couple of adjoining rooms, especially if you have a big wedding party. Also, consider the room picturesque. Does the room have a beautiful view from the balcony or big windows? How about lighting, is it bright and airy or dark and gloomy? Things to think about, right? Don’t forget that you will need room for your makeup artist and your hairstylist. 

Bouquets and boutonnieres are usually delivered to the brides and the groom’s rooms sometime during the getting ready phase. One key thing to look out for when these beautiful and delicate pieces are delivered is that they are prepared to stay fresh. The bouquets’ tips should be placed in water and kept in a cool place until they are ready to be used. 

Boutonnieres should get a gently sprits of water and kept in a cool place until they are ready to be used. For the most part, your floweriest will be on top of this, but sometimes things slip through the cracks. 

Think about whether or not you want to make a Champaign toast with your girls before getting completely dressed. If you are making a toast, check that you have enough Champaign glasses for everyone. 

Boys, put your jacket on last. It’s a good idea to pin the boutonniere on your jacket before putting your jacket on. For photo-perfect results, boutonnieres are pin on the broader part of the jacket left lapel. Pinning a boutonniere on your jacket looks simple, but I’ve seen so many grooms and groomsmen struggle with this task. Take a few minutes to learn how to pin your boutonniere on your jacket a couple of days before your wedding. I promise it will make a world of difference in the photos.

Bride, think about who you want to help get you into that gorgeous dress. Generally, this is your mom, a sister, or your maid of honor. Also, leave the accessory for the last, especially the earrings. 

Whew! Preparing for getting ready wedding photos sounds like a pain in, you know what. You may be wondering how you will find the time to ensure that all these things happen. Don’t worry! Your bridesmaid and your groomsmen should have your back. If I can make any suggestions here, it would be to choose your bridesmaid and groomsmen very carefully. Choose people who you can depend on and keep the lines of communication open. 

2. Be Camera Ready

Ok! So you are all done up, and you are looking and feeling radiantly beautiful. Your man or woman is looking dapper, and you are both ready for your Vogue cover shots. Not so fast!!! Hopefully, before you even get to this point, you have done an engagement photo session with your photographer and have been practicing some good posture. Been in front of the camera can feel awkward if you are not a pro model, trust me, I know. 

Consider practicing some good posture a week or two before your wedding to get your camera ready on. Practice pulling your stomach in, shoulders back, chest out, breath and smile naturally. Throughout your wedding, your photographer will be creating a variety of candid and contemporary portraits. The candid shots will have less direction, while the contemporary pictures will have more directing. 

Understand that when you are in front of the camera, the movements are very minor. If your photographer said a little to the right, don’t take a step to the right. Nevertheless, don’t sweat it! Your photographer is a professional who will take the necessary steps to ensure that you are feeling comfortable and confident in front of the camera. Just focus on loving your partner, and the rest will fall into place. 

3. Consider Doing First Look Wedding Photos

There are two options after you are fully dressed and ready. Option one is to depart to the ceremony location to get married, and option two is to do a first look with your love. The first look is the process of seeing each other for the first time before you walk down the aisle. It is usually done in privacy with just the two of you, and it can be very emotional and sweet.

Besides getting some beautiful wedding photos, there are some excellent benefits of doing a first look. During the wedding ceremony, the pressure is on. Everyone will be looking at you and judging what you do right and wrong. A first look reduces this pressure and allows both of you to just immerse yourself into the ceremony and enjoy it. 

If you are having a late evening ceremony in the winter, the first look maybe your best option. A 4 p.m. ceremony will not leave you with enough daylight for creating beautiful newlywed pictures that you will love in the winter. Remember, beautiful photography is all about lighting. 

4. Bridal Party & Family Photos

In general, wedding party and family photos are usually created immediately after the first look and couples photo session. However, in some cassis, these photos may be completed after the ceremony. Regardless of when the wedding party and family photos are created, here are some essential things that can make the process smooth and enjoyable:

1. Create a family shot list and submit it to your photographer before your wedding. The family shot list should have the name and relations of the family members you want to photograph—for example, the bride’s mother – Emily, bride’s grandmother – Silvia, etc. 
2. Designate someone to be in charge of the bridal party and another person to be in charge of family members. Their responsibilities are to ensure that everyone is at the location and ready to be photographed. Whoever you designate to be in charge of your family members for the photos, they should know your family members and know who you want to have photographed. 
3. Ensure that all the bouquets are available. Often, the bridesmaids are eager to get rid of the bouquets and toss them or leave them behind.

5. Ceremony Wedding Photos

To get some good wedding photos at the ceremony, consider the following:

1. If at all possible, consider having an Unplug Wedding Ceremony. An Unplug Wedding Ceremony is when your guest are asked to refrain from taking photos at your ceremony. The reason for this is because guests can and will block your professional photographer to get a shot of you. Believe me, it does happen! It can be frustrating for your photographer, who you paid a lot of money to create some beautiful wedding day photos.  
2. Set a dress code and ensure that all your guest is informed of the dress code well in advance. I have photographed too many wedding ceremonies where some guests were dressed so inappropriately that the bride actually cries when she sees the photos. 
3. When you are at the altar, give your bouquet to your maid of honor (MOH). 
4. At the altar, stand and face each other so that your photographer and your guest can see your faces. If you are having a catholic wedding, that may not be possible. 
5. When you exchange rings, do it very slowly with your hands tilted towards your photographer and guests. 
6. For the first kiss, hold it a little longer than usual so that your photographer can get a couple of shots. 

That’s about it for your ceremony wedding photos. Just make sure that you tell your photographer every little detail you have planned for the ceremony so that they can be prepared to capture it. 

6. Post Ceremony

The ceremony is over, and I’m ready to party! Rock on, I’m with you, but before we can get to the party, let’s wrap up a few things before moving on. 

From my experience of over eight years of photographing weddings, typically, the officiant will want to have a portrait with the newlywed. Furthermore, you will need to set aside ten to fifteen minutes for signing the marriage license. This is usually a good wedding photo opportunity. 

I generally try to get a couple of shots with each person signing the license. If possible, try to select a place to sign the license that is well lit and away from family and guests. 

After the ceremony, the wedding party and family photos are next. If you did a fist look and these photos were already created, then it’s off to the cocktail hour. The cocktail hour is where I would stand back and let you mingled with your family and friends while I get some candid shots. However, suppose you didn’t do the first look. In that case, you will need to do the wedding party and family photos right after the ceremony. Once the wedding party and family photos are done, it’s time for the couple’s photo session. 

My advice for the couple’s session is to ensure that when you create your wedding day timeline, include adequate time for the couple’s session. The photos taken of the two of you during the couple’s session are the photos you will put in your family heirloom album and used as wall prints for your home. Therefore you must give it some thought and plan fittingly to ensure that your photographer will have enough lighting and time. 

7. Wedding Reception Photos

By the time we finish with the couple’s session, it will be time to get ready for the grand entrance. At the grand entrance, you will be introduced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. so and so or Mr. and Mr. so and so. Some couples go all out in making this event a spectacular fun event with music and dancing etc.

For the grand entrance, your photographer will be positioned to get the best shots of you and your wedding party as you enter the reception area. If possible, try to slow it down as you enter so that the photographer can get some good shots of you entering. 

Often times the grand entrance is followed by the first dance. This is the first time dancing as a newlywed. Your first dance is usually followed by mother and son dance, and father and daughter dance. For your wedding, you may skip some of these events. Just remember that you have to let your photographer know exactly what will happen before your wedding. 

Sometimes not everything is on the wedding day timeline, and your photographer has to respond on the fly. You don’t want this to happen to your photographer. The more information you can give your photographer, the better prepared your photographer will be to capture all the significant moments and everything else.

In the end, if you get nothing else from this post, and if having beautiful wedding photos is a must for you, don’t skimp on hiring a professional wedding photographer. I promise you will not regret it. Better yet, I know a fantastic wedding photographer who is just dying to talk to you too! 

Have questions? Let’s connect here.

If you like this post, you may also be interested in these other posts:

First Look Wedding Photos | What Every Bride Need to Know

4 Wedding Photography Style Every Bride Should Know

More About Me Antonio Crutchley Your Miami Wedding Photographer

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