Wedding Photography

As you plan for your wedding photo shoot, think back to your experience as a guest at a wedding reception banquet. The bride and groom were not even there yet and you are starved. Not sure how much longer you can fake your way through this conversation, you silently wonder when the food will get here.

You remember that the bride and groom aren’t there yet. The food is probably ready to be served and getting cold while you are sitting there starving to death. You notice that one of the other wedding guests is starting to nibble at her finger nails – probably going to eat herself, you think.

Before long, the conversation turns to “whatever could be keeping the wedding party?”

Fifteen minutes later, a murmer arises near the doorway and you see a fatigued wedding party smile and wave as the guests applaud and hoot. The poor wedding party seems to have smiles permanently etched on their faces — must have froze that way from constantly smiling at the camera for the last hour.

Suddenly, a flash of brilliance and you realize that wedding photos should be taken before the wedding – not sandwiched between the ceremony and the reception dinner.

That way the wedding party will be fresher looking and the guests will not have to wait for the photo shoot to wrap up before celebrating at the reception.

Only two obstacles need to be overcome to have a successful photo shoot before the wedding:

1) The entire wedding party and the family members being photographed need to be able to arrive early at a prearranged time for the photo shoot.

2) The superstition regarding the groom not being allowed to see the wedding dress until the ceremony needs to be dealt with.

We personally had our photo shoot before our wedding and then the reception took place immediately after the wedding. It went very well and, if you can deal with the two obstacles, it is recommended.