For many couples, choosing the right wedding photographer is just as important as the rings, the dress, the venue and what you serve to your guests at dinner. Choosing the wrong wedding photographer can be the difference between cherishing your photos for decades to come and never wanting to look at your wedding photos again. 

In fact, some couples have had such bad results from their chosen photographer that they’ve gone so far as to stage the wedding again and reshoot the images to get results that they’re happy with; a move which is both costly and time consuming. 

If you don’t want to have to find time to get all of your wedding guests back so that you can recreate your special day, just for the photos, we’ve put together some tips on exactly how to communicate with your wedding photographer to ensure that you get a whole album of images that you will love. 

Event Order/Agenda

Probably the single most important information that you can give to your photographer is the agenda for the day. Any photographer worth their salt will not just be there on time, they’ll be everywhere as early as possible. 

This means being enough steps ahead of you on the day so that they can capture crucial shots like you getting out of your chosen vehicle when you get to the place where you’re getting married. Knowing exactly where you’ll be throughout the day is also vital if you want to have candid shots, as well as the posed ones. 

Another reason for letting them know where you are and when is because of the technical aspects of photography. If you’re getting married in November and want to have outdoor shots at 4pm (weather permitting!) there’s a good chance that there won’t be enough natural light for a photographer to get clear shots. They’ll need time to set up any lights and additional equipment they may need, and without a schedule for the day, they simply may not have the required tools to hand. 

Family Shots And Face Logs

Let’s be real, there is a definite hierarchy of who you want photos of on your wedding day. Everyone in the bridal party; bride, groom, parents and grandparents of the bride and groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen for instance, are always going to be up there in terms of importance. Then there will be cousins and friends who are closer to you than others. 

Those who will be WAY further down the list will be plus ones who came with your extended family, or people who are there by association, rather than because of their importance to you and your future spouse. This may sound slightly harsh, but do you want to be looking at your photos in a decade’s time and trying to remember who half of the images are of?!

One way to ensure that you get the shots including the people you really want to remember on the day is to provide your photographer with a face log. This is a simple sheet of photos of all of the most important people who will be there on the day, and the people that you really want your photographer to focus on. 

Of course, there are likely to be lots of candid shots containing people whose faces aren’t in your log, but by communicating with your wedding photographer about who to concentrate on, you’re likely to end up with photos which are much more relevant to you and your day.

There’s another angle to giving your photographer this type of guidance. If you have family or friends who don’t like one another, parents who’ve gone through a messy divorce, or any other potentially awkward relationships between your guests, the last thing you want is your wedding photographer corralling them into pictures where everyone looks tight-lipped and slightly peeved! If Aunty Maureen can’t bear to be near Uncle Charles, let your photographer know and save some red faces.

Specific Photos And Poses

Many people have a VERY specific idea of what they want their wedding photos to look like. They’ll have spent hours trawling Pinterest to find inspiration for fun or romantic poses with their spouse, ways to hold their hand during shots of the wedding rings and quirky group shots including their bridesmaids. Wearing a backless dress? You’re going to want to get that into shot, too. 

There are a couple of very good reasons for discussing this with your photographer. 

Firstly, they’ll be able to tell you if these shots are possible, considering your bridal party size, venue and other constraints. Your photographer is a professional and getting their creative input should be invaluable. 

And on this note, the second reason for talking this through with your photographer, in advance, is that they may well have some fabulous ideas which will allow you to build on your own and give you an even better end product! Wedding photography is a VERY competitive field, and if you’ve managed to book a photographer for your wedding who is highly recommended, you can be sure that they’ve earned that reputation through hard work and strong creative vision.

As you’re probably aware, wedding photography is about so much more than just having someone at your wedding who can work a fancy camera. There is logistics, equipment and even diplomacy to factor in, which is why you will want to make the right choice. 

For a no-obligation consultation on how we can enhance your special day, get in touch via our contact page. We look forward to working with you to create memories which will last a lifetime.