Last minute wedding tips.
So your wedding is just around the corner and you may be feeling a little overwhelmed, I totally understand, I am here to help, I have put together loads of tips and information below to help you finalise and finish off the last minute details.
Lets start with….
Your Run Sheet
So by now you should have your run sheet completed with all the timings from hair and makeup right through to the bouquet toss. The run sheet is a vital part of the wedding, that all suppliers will need.
My first tip with the run sheet is keep it short, try not cram to much in or you will not have any time to enjoy your day.
Second tip is to try structure your formalities eg first dance, cake cutting etc close together, having your formalities spaced quite close allows for more dancing time.
Next one is to make sure Dinner wont roll through your speeches, why I think this is important because you don’t want your guests having a cold dinner as they are listing to speeches, also your vendors need to be fed and unfortunately if the speeches are going through dinner time they will either miss their dinner or miss the speeches. All vendors generally get fed last so if dinner is scheduled for 6:30pm generally the vendors would get it anywhere from 6:45-7:00pm
So how long do we need for our portraits?
I totally understand you don’t want to be away from your family and friends for hours on end, but in saying that, allowing a good amount of time for our photoshoot is not just for photos its scheduling time to be together. I have done weddings before when we have only had 15min for our photos and by the time we get set up the times done and now your back into formalities and have barley said “Hi” each other.
I have also done weddings where the couple have scheduled 3 hours for the photos, yes 3 hours is heaps but what this time allows, time together, new locations and time to travel to some awesome places. Generally most weddings allow a minimum of one hour which is efficient but don’t think it will feel like ages it fly’s then your back into formalities.
Another option could possibly be to do a after wedding creative shoot where we have more time, new locations and full reign of creativity. (if this is something your interested in, please let us know)
Lighting
So lighting, something you may not even thought about and why should you, well you shouldn't thats what I am here for. As we spoke about in the bride preparation part, lighting is key in photography. I totally understand you may want to create a dark, dim elegantly lit reception with fairy lights and candles, but lets be honest unless you want a flash on the camera firing off all night, fairy lights and candles probably wont give off enough light to avoid this.
A great idea is to hire a lighting team or speak with the venue about possibly adding a few key lights, just to give the room a little lift in lighting.
As I say to all my couples "if its dark thats how I shoot it" and sometimes, it is that dark I cant even see anyone in the camera, feel free to reach out if your worried about your reception lighting and I am happy to help.
So your not really into doing the normal…
Do you sometimes feel your doing things for others, planning a wedding can be like this. Are you not that hung up on the formalities. Don’t feel weird your not the only one, I have done plenty of weddings where the bride and groom walk down the aisle together, where there are no formalities in the reception, where we go to 3 different epic locations for photos, just remember my saying “Your wedding, your way”
How to get the best wedding photos?
This one is important, from the start of the day, hair and makeup generally arrive super early to get started and they set up, in a dark corner or right next to the kitchen, generally because there is a bench for all the makeup and power, but don’t be fooled this is not the best option.
Light is key when it comes to photography so when the makeup artist arrives, ask them to set up close to the brightest window in the house or somewhere with the most natural light.
Never feel like your restricted by what your wedding venue has to offer. If your getting married on the beach thats awesome and not a problem at all there is beauty everywhere, but if you have always dreamt of photos at a waterfall, hill, mountains etc don’t think it cant be done, lets get in the car and get adventurous.
Working with Videographers
There have been a number of times when we have worked with videographers who have a total lack of care for discreetness at a wedding. Many of the so called "budget" wedding videographers do not completely understand the concept of working together to produce each an amazing product for the client. Unfortunately if the videographers you may have chosen do not understand working together they can get in front of some very important photos which no photoshop can fix.
We do our best to communicate with the videographer to ensure these problems do not arise, as you can see in the below picture a video team completely ruining any chance of a great photo. (Image not ours)
Photoshop
I get asked alot, "can you just photoshop that out, or remove this and change this", dont get me wrong I am going to make your wedding photos amazing but I am not their to make you diffrent I am there to help you be yourself.
What happens after the wedding?
When do we get all of our photos and how are they delivered?
I guarantee my clients within 30 days from the wedding all your images will be finished. You will then be invited to pop into the studio to watch you slideshow or if it is more convienent I will email you through your gallery link.
Do we get all the images and how many will we get?
I do not give unedited RAW negatives, your photos go through a few different processes from culling down to the top images that tell your story to the first draft edits then to final edits and delivery. The images that are delivered have been picked for a reason and will tell your wedding story.
Your edited files are kept for a total of 30 days, the responsibility to back up and keep the images safe is the clients responsibility. I keep the files for a maximum of 30 days, so a great tip is once you have your online gallery or usb link to go purchased a few more usbs and make some back up copys to give to your freinds and keep away from the house just in case you missplace urs.