As a wedding photographer that has been capturing weddings for almost a decade now, I’m acutely aware of the importance of having good wedding photography done. Everyone has their own idea of what the most important wedding photos you should have captured, but it takes a keen idea and a creative mindset to really think about when and where these situations are going to occur. These are the sorts of shots that evoke emotion in the viewer after the day has ended, the shots you smile and laugh at, or cry thinking about and they happen all day long. The most important wedding photos to capture in my mind are the memories you’ll cherish forever and even look back on, so I’ve decided to put together a little bit of a list to answer the question of ‘What are the most important wedding photos on a wedding day?’ starting right from the beginning of the day.
What are the most important wedding photos on a wedding day?
There are dozens of lists of wedding photos you ‘need’ to have done around the internet, titled like ’87 Wedding Photo Ideas You Definitely Need to Capture’ or ’20 Must-Have Photos on Your Wedding Day’ but really having a list like them and then meticulously ticking each one off on a wedding day just increases tension and stress when it should be a moment in your life where you can be youself with the person you love. I feel as though wedding photography is more about the showcasing of the coming together of two separate personalities into one union, and I capture this by considering all the moments on a day I know is going to happen through experience. I have made a list of some general photos I know will always be treasured, written and explaied in a way that doesnt force you to ‘do this’ or ‘take a shot of the sunset through the veil so that you can see the hairs on the tip of your nose prickup when you kiss’. More moments in time that I’m considering as a natural wedding photographer – not something you should worry about 🙂
My list of most important wedding photos on a wedding day
The invitations and other homemade knickknacks
If there’s anything that would cause you stress like nothing else, only to forget about what you were stressing about the day after your wedding – it’s all the personal and handmade details you came up with for your decor on your wedding day. All the more reason why to capture them in photographs for you to actually remember what you were stressing about leading up to the day!
Accessories
Similar to the made made knickknacks, the accessories you’ve picked out for both yourself and your partner are items you spent painstaking time stressing over – but are perhaps the ones you won’t forget, but are pretty anyway so deserve a photo 😛
Getting ready
Leading up to your wedding ceremony is a time of day you’re likely to completely forget if it werent for your wedding photos due to the emotions you’re feeling and simply because it’s just before the biggest moment of your life, soyour mind will completely wipe the part before it in your memory. It’s als the last moments of time you aren’t ‘connected’ to your spouse, so it’s a nice way to remember the last moments you’re not married 🙂
Moments showing personality
Capturing the essence of the personalities of the couple in front of me is the absolute essence of what modern wedding photography is all about to me. If I can show an album of a wedding they hadn’t attended to someone, and they can tell me a little about the people involved, that means I’ve done my job in capturing the emotion and ‘story’ of a wedding day in my photography.
The portraits
Weddings are full of traditions. One of these is having a portrait done – they don’t have to look like you’re manniquins, but they are expected in a wedding album, just as a nice simple photo documenting what you and everyone involved looked like on your wedding day. These photos are often the ones people keep as hairlooms, so they may be the most important wedding photos on a wedding day.
Items that wont last
Often you’ll have items at a wedding that are used only once and after that they are discarded. Just as you stressed over your accessories, homeae things, etc. These items need to be documented too.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen
Probably the most important people in your life – as you’d want them right next to you for support as you make the biggest desicion of your life. Of course you’d want photos of them!
Parent’s first look
This is always a fun part of the day – perhaps geared more towards the bridal side of things, but it’s always nice to see the reaction on the faces of you parents once you’ve been dressed and are ready to make the plunge. It’s traditional for the father of the bride to not see the dress fitted on the bride until her wedding day, so it’s nice to get that reaction 🙂
Bridal approach
Running on from the father of the bride first seeing the bride once she’s fully dressed, it’s then tradition for them to walk together down the aisle towards the wedding ceremony. While weddings have evolved over the years and everyone does their own thing, this is possibly still the most followed tradition.
Groom’s first look
Just as the father of the bride gets to see her all dressed up for the first time, then it’s the groom’s turn as they walk down the aisle. It’s always great fun to see how the groom will react! Sometimes they are smiling, others in tears, and occasionally they can only look everywhere BUT their bride! 😀
The venue
The venue is the backdrop to your entire day, and you’ve probably spent a fortune getting it to look exactly how you dreamed it would. It’s important to capture it just as it is on your day. WHo knows? perhaps you’ll revisit the spot in 50 years with your great grandkids and reminice with that photo in your hand?
Emotion during the ceremony
Weddings are an emotional time in your life – the laughter, the tears and smiles are all moments pure of your feelings on the day, and during the ceremony you’re probably only thinking about the person you’re holding hands with! These photos are the type of shots that make you remember that moment in a way that you simply would not be able to otherwise.
The first kiss
Perhaps the most traditional of traditional wedding photography – the first kiss. The first kiss symbolises your union as a married couple and marks the beginning of your life together. Although this doesnt happen at all ceremonies – in particular the Catholic tradition.
Emotion after the ceremony
These are the hugs and kisses, along with the exchanging of gift horse-shoes and knickknacks that guests would place on your arm, or your dress depending on your tradition. Your guests are these as you deemed them important enough in your life for you to invite, so having a photo of them showing actual emotion I feel is more imporatant than the usual ‘stare at the camera’ group shots you might usually get from your guests.
The exit
The exit of the bride and groom as they walk back down the aisle can be one of the most iconic shots from your day, and it can also be a disaster 😛 It’s one of those shots on a wedding day everyone expects to get, but circumstances mean that it’s just not possible unless you make plans for it. Often it’s the case that guests will be swamping the bride and groom for hugs, which means that they are separated from one another when they should be together walking down the aisle. But all that being said, when it is planned and the flower petals are flowing, the shot can be spectacular.
The ‘pin ups’
These are the shots you print and frame on your wall. The ‘money’ shots, or pinups – the reason why you chose your venue!
The bridal party
Usually around the same time as the ‘pin up’ shot we’d also do a nice bridal party shot with both sides of the aisle now together in a big group shot.
The elderly
The elderly members of your wedding congregation have seen you and your family members grow up – they know the hardships and challenges you’ve gone through to get to this point in life, and they would be feeling emotions within that simply cannot be explained unless you’re a grandparent or elderly youself. Weddings are about families coming together, and remembering who was there with you on your day. When you think about it that way, photos of your elderly guests can be most important wedding photos on a wedding day. The elderly with on on your day may not reach your 20th anniversary, so it’s really nice to have a nice photo of them happy to be at your wedding.
The young ones
Similar to the elderly, the young ones probably wont remember that well what hapopened on your day, and from your perspective, it’s nice to have photos of them while they were still little and cute. Kids can really make a wedding day that much more special with them running about doing kids stuff, it’s nice to have them involved.
The decor at the reception
Much like all the other stuff you’ve stressed over for the last 6 months, the decor at your reception is only going to be set up like this for your night, then will never look as good again – so I need a photo!
The cake
The design of your wedding cake, and it’s topper represents your combined personalities and taste. It’s a beacon to your guests about how you guys see yourselves as a couple. And they also look amazing, so I need a photo 🙂
First Dance
The tradition of the first dance at a wedding dates back to the 16th century when aristocats of Europe would begin their party with a display of their finery by starting the dance before their guests. These days it’s because a romantic notion that the first dance represents the first steps along the life together as a married couple.
Parents
Your parents have seen you grow up from a little baby to the person you are standing with your loved one on your day. The emotion they are feeling watching you get married can be overwhelming and having that captured in a photo is a treasure that cannot be reproduced.
Silly photos
The silly photos are the ones you might have interspersed within your wedding albums simply to make you smile and remind yourself on why you married this wierd person sitting next to you. Weddings arent all about the formalities, it’s about fun, personality and making memories that last forever.
This list is of course not an exhaustive list of the most important wedding photos on a wedding day, in fact while writing this blog I’ve thought of so many more and every wedding is different and other important photos can be taken! But hopefully this gives you a little idea on what are the most important wedding photos on a wedding day that I have experienced as a wedding photographer over the years!
Why you should bring your photographer
As some of you may know, I’ve just got back from Greece to cover a destination wedding on the lovely island of Santorini, complete with iconic blue domed churches and blindingly white architecture on the top of cliffs surrounding a caldera of an anciently erupted volcano.
It’s obvious why the bridal couple selected such a spot for their wedding ceremony, despite the fact they had to travel halfway around the globe to hold it! Hosting a destination wedding like this simply allows you to hold your wedding in your perfect location, and not having to settle for something mediocre by comparison.
It’s usually not a cheap exercise however and should only be contemplated by those super keen on hosting the most perfect wedding ever! Which is why I’m writing this article about why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding.
Think about it, you’re hoping to host the wedding of the century in such a stunning location, and you’re willing to trust your photos and/or video to someone your wedding venue sorted for you? One of the drawbacks of hosting a destination wedding is that many venues or local wedding planners would bundle people like your wedding photographer or videographer in with the package deals they present you, meaning they are looking to make as much profit as possible.
It’s sometimes the case that they will find local ‘friends with a camera’ or cheap photographers to save themselves as much money as possible when sorting out your wedding.
If you can’t control other aspects of your wedding, at the very least try to control the one thing that will remain after the day is over – your photography and/or video, which is why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding!
No wedding ever goes off without some small hitch or problem. There’s just so many things being organised and planned, it’s only natural for some small issue to arise. This is magnified when you’re hosting a destination wedding where you’ll be placing your faith in the venue or wedding planner to handle all of your vendors and set up for the most part.
Some things are definitely minor and able to get over them quickly – like the flowers being the wrong shade, or the chairs being a few short, but your photography? That’s not getting done again and is why you should use someone you trust, despite having to fly them around the world to your destination wedding!
Why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding
Bringing your own photographer to your destination wedding offers you assurance of being able to research and select the exact photographer you want! You can perfectly link their style, personality, experience and packages to what you like, rather than relying on what your venue or planner say you want 🙂 Then the photos you that they capture from your day will be as memorable as you hope them to be.
As you probably know, your photographer and videographer (if you choose to have one) will be spending more time with you on your big day than anyone else; it’s important to select someone you know will do a good job on your day. This is true for any wedding, but especially true for a destination wedding – any wedding photographer that travels for destination weddings are super passionate in what they do and will go above and beyond to capture the day in a way they are sure you’ll enjoy while also being a huge opportunity for them to travel and see the world – which as being a photographer that’s pretty much our thing!
Photographers that you bring with you will most likely offer an uninterrupted full days coverage (not so with most resort photo packages) – although I do this anyway.
You may be reading this and agreeing with my points, but also in the back of your mind you’d be thinking the cost of bringing someone with you would include airfares, accomodation and then the usual rate your photographer charges so wouldn’t be overly cost effective – which to be honest would be mostly true, but hopefully the understanding and trust you have with the photographer you’ve brought would stretch beyond the cost.
Selecting a photographer for your dream wedding shouldn’t be able cost, and cutting costs on a photographer is one of the most common regrets from couples after their day.
That said however, if you love a photographer you have found and what them, and only them to travel with you to cover your wedding, much of the time they will cut a deal just for the opportunity.
For example in my case, the recent wedding I covered in Santorini, I covered in exchange for a lovely holiday – and yet another wedding I’m covering in Fiji next year I wanted to have in my portfolio, so I made my rates similar to what a local photographer would charge. Chances are bringing your own photographer could be more cost effective than you think! Another reason why you should bring your photographer with you to your destination wedding.
When it comes right down to it, planning and pulling off a destination wedding takes a lot of time, effort, money and stress – much like any wedding really, but when you hold it overseas or someplace your guests usually can’t access easily, it makes it even more so! It makes sense to surround yourself with vendors you trust, however the cake, flowers, DJ etc. will be gone… great photographs will always be there offering you a return to that special time in that amazing setting!
Odorgraphy – A new way to experience your wedding photography
I’m super pleased to announce – exclusive to SvenStudios – a new paradigm in wedding photography immersion! Odorgraphy is a patented approach to recording your photography on your wedding day while also, simultaneously recording the smell of the moment! This means you’re able to relive that moment the photograph was taken while also experiencing the most intense sensation from your sense of smell!
Experts agree that when combining your sense of smell with a visual stimuli, the memory of that moment is enhanced several fold, allowing you to relive your day in the most remarkable way! When combined with the SvenStudios guest360 virtual reality service, you’re able to relive your day using all 5 of your senses – aside from touch. The sense of smell is possibly the most underused of senses when used to record and relive an event such as a wedding, so we felt it was high time that trend was reversed. Having the odor of your day wafting from the pages of your wedding album, or from framed prints on your walls will transport you back to the time the photograph was taken and bring a flood of memories back to brighten your day!
At SvenStudios we pride ourselves in our ability to transport you back to the most important moments in your lives through our imagery, and with the development of odorgraphy, this is just another step to better fulfill that goal. In the past we have developed wedding satellite imagery, and wedding x-ray photography, and when combined with our drone and virtual reality services, you’d be hard pressed in finding another wedding photographer that is this dedicated in bringing technology to your wedding day with the sole goal of allowing you to relive your day in the most incredible way!
Preparation wedding Photography
One of my favourite times of day on a wedding day is the preparation time, the time of day when the bride and groom are getting ready for their big moment in front of family and friends, which allows for some incredible moments of emotion and nerves to show through, painting a story of the personalities of the couple through Preparation Wedding Photography. Capturing the individual moments of personality of the bride and groom before they become an ‘item’ so to speak is a primary goal of taking photos during this time of day. This is the last moments of their lives where they aren’t sharing a family with a significant other. I feel it’s important to make use of this time to paint a portrait with my photography of the lives and personality traits the bride and groom exhibit as an individual. The lovey dovey moments when they are together come later.
If you consider a wedding album as a photographic story, then the preparation photos are the beginning of the story, the coming together of these two individuals would be the ceremony, and the happily ever after the glamour photos and reception.
Groom preparation wedding photography
When photographing the preparation of the groom and his groomsmen, it’s important to recognise the atmosphere of the situation, by gauging the nerves, and/or playful (or lack of) nature of the party getting ready. One is able as a photographer to guide the party through a series of unposed photos while getting dressed, while also focussing on small things like wedding rings and shoes. When having as many weddings as I do under my belt, I’m able to read when would be appropriate to also transition into a more traditional, formal shoot after the more photojournalistic scenes.
Bridal preparation wedding photography
When heading over to the girls and the bridal party, the approach to preparation photos is largely similar. There are still nerves, emotions and drama occurring all around, with the difference being that there’s an additional process (usually) considering makeup and putting on much more complicated clothing (bridal dresses). Once again it’s important to capture the small things, like jewellery and shoes while also being photojournalistic leading up to the point where the ladies are putting on their dresses. Preparation wedding photography also tends to become highly traditional in parts with the bridal party, with shots of the bridal party fussing around the bride, and other scenes such as putting on the garter which are very traditional scenes.
I strongly believe however, particularly with preparation wedding photography that it’s far better to be as invisible as possible when being a wedding photographer as I feel that there would be nothing worse than having someone with a huge camera taking shots of you while you’re getting dresses on the most emotionally charged day of your life. As a result, I tend to stay primarily photojournalistic in having the bridal parties get ready as usual and take photos of that,m and then once they’re used to me being there, join in a little for more constructed photos. I tend to hate turning people into mannequins 😀
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