ok, so i have to write a bit on what i prefer that brides and grooms think about before the wedding day. it is not that i expect any of you to do this (i highly encourage them). these are just ideas for you to think about and maybe it will change your mind to see your groom prior too the “i do’s”. i have been shooting weddings for over 5 years now and during these years i have seen lots of weddings and have though of some ways to make the day run more smoothly. it is not bad if you choose not to do these tips, i just feel that there are some ways to make your day easier and most people don’t think about these things while planning the wedding. it also helps for wonderful photos for the ceremony, formals and the bride and groom shots!

1. plan your wedding ceremony time according to the time of year it is. the reason i want you to look closely into this is because during the fall the time changes and it gets dark really early in the day. when it is dark this only leads us to shoot lots indoors. it is really hard to capture the amazing bride and groom shots when we don’t have any natural light. i love natural light and it makes for some great photos. take advantage of the god given sun!

2. if you see each other before the wedding then this will help reduce the time that you have to spend taking pictures after the ceremony. also, the churches these days only allow for 15 minutes of photos after the ceremony. it is really difficult to get everyone together in that amount of time. it can be done but most of the time the bride is frustrated because the family is slow getting together. also, couples are anxious to get to the reception! i don’t blame them…but this cuts down on the time that we could be taking pictures of you to and making memories for a life time. it also is nice because you do not keep hungry guests waiting for you to arrive to eat. you could save money and not have a cocktail hour! if we arrive and have time to shoot for one hour with the bride and groom that will leave us to be relaxed and ready to capture the action of the reception and not worry about all of the formals and making sure we catch the bride and groom alone after the ceremony. really, all you want to do is relax and not worry about more photos!

3. you will not have to run around screaming for uncle joe and aunt sue for family photos. it is a lot easier to give people an exact time for family photos. here is what happens most of the time: after the vows are said and the people exit the church, half of the family honestly forgets that there are pictures to be taken. they are so excited to see friends that they simply forgot that they were on call for family photos. make it easy on the guests and everyone meet before the wedding!

4. know that you don’t want to see each other before the wedding. lets take pictures soon after the wedding all dressed up again! this will be fun and you will not have to stress out about the day at all! and who wants to worry about getting your dress dirty. there is a option to do a shoot after the wedding.

5. getting married outside: this is fun! just make sure that you don’t plan for a sunset service if you are not seeing each other before. most weddings run slightly behind and you would not want to have a dark wedding! no one would see you unless you brought in tons of lights. it is hard to take pictures in the dark…and we love the bride and groom shots!

6. schedule more than 20 minutes with the photographer to shoot the bride and groom photos. you will be happy you did in the long run.

all of this said, your wedding day is special and the easier it is to capture great photos the better! we want you to have the best day ever and to capture that on film in the best way possible. here are some photos from a wedding shot last month. sarah and james chose to get married in a wonderful place called the alden hotel and they chose to see each other before the wedding! it was really fun to take photos of them before hand and i don’t think it took away from the two seeing each other at the ceremony. here are a few vendors: belles and beaux bridal consulting, and events in bloom.