Hire a Professional Photographer
I know what you're thinking, "of course a photographer would say that" but it's true, professionals spend countless hours honing their craft. Now I'm not saying an amateur photographer doesn't have what it takes but on a wedding day there is a lot going on and a professional photographer has the experience and expertise to capture these fleeting moments. There is also the admin side of things. A professional will have insurance, the right equipment and storage solutions for all your wonderful photos.
Hire a professional Hair and Make up Artist
Just like hiring a pro photographer to ensure you get the best wedding photos, hair and makeup have a major impact on your images so hire the best hair and make up artist your budget allows.
Allocate time during the evening for Golden Hour Photos
When you see these beautifully lit, golden looking portraits on Pinterest, they are taken in the gold hour. That is one hour before sunset when the light like its name turns to a nice golden colour. This lighting has a beautifully flattering effect and will make your images stand out. The tricky part is this type of light generally falls during the dinner, so I recommend allocating a 30min break in between courses to go out and capture some of these gorgeous golden hour portraits.
Hire a second photographer
You will be sure to have different angles covered and moments captured. For example while the formal photographs are happening a second photographer can capture candid moments during the cocktail hour. Your key moments will have different angles like your first kiss or cutting the cake.
Do an engagement shoot
Once you hire a photographer try and organise a pre wedding photo shoot with them.. It's a the perfect chance to get comfortable with your photographer and being in front of the camera. You'll get a gorgeous save-the-date and wedding website photo out of it too. And you'll be able to give your photographer feedback on what photos, poses and cues you liked (and didn't) before your wedding day along with the fact that you'll have some beautiful couple photos not in wedding day attire.
Consider a first look
If you don't want to miss a minute of your cocktail hour, schedule your couple, wedding party and family portrait photos for before the ceremony. Besides being incredibly sweet and emotional, first look photos are a great way to calm your nerves and have a quiet moment with your partner before you say "I do" in front of a crowd.
Add time buffers to your timeline
Things on the wedding day can generally run late, so by building buffer times into your timeline will alleviate stress if anything does go over.
Consider Lighting
The word photography comes from greek terminology meaning "painting with light" so understandably light is one of the most important part of any photograph. Knowing this when planning your day think about where the sun will be during the ceremony, if you are having your ceremony outdoors of course. For your preparation photographs try book a large north facing room to have the beautiful Northern light. Also consider up lighting for the reception, the room will look gorgeous and because the room won't be so dark the quality of images will be better.
Create a mood board
For a mood board I recommend choosing 10 photographs, 8 from my website and 2 from another photographer. This is not a shot list but a way for me to see what style of photography appeals to you.
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