Helpful Hints for Great Wedding Day Pictures:

  Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials! Your wedding day marks one of the happiest times in a person’s life. We are excited that you have chosen us to capture your special day.

  We know how much time, love, and expense goes into the planning of each wedding. Long after the guests have gone home and the flowers have faded, the record that is left to remember your special day are your wedding photographs. Cherished wedding images require careful planning. Over the years we have developed a sense of what factors contribute to creating successful wedding portraits.

  It is important to communicate your wants and expectations with us to ensure that we are working together toward a common goal. Each wedding is unique and can be customized to fit your needs.

  We understand that this is your wedding day, not a day just for taking pictures. With that in mind, we strive to provide the best coverage of your day while still being as unobtrusive as possible. If you have hired a videographer to capture your wedding, please let them know that we are happy to work with them to stay out of their view of the ceremony and would appreciate it if they would show the same courtesy to us. (We have experienced different videographers who have stood at the front, center of the aisle during the ceremony and prevented us from capturing critical moments in the service.)

  Weddings are a celebration of love that is shared between the two people it is joining together. At the same time, two families are uniting. Those you have invited to share this wonderful day with; are those that you would like to spend time with on your day. The most common thing that we hear from Brides after the wedding; is that the day goes by very fast! I’m sure that you have already found that just about everyone has a limit on time – ceremony, reception, DJ, etc. Your photography package is no different. The package you have chosen has a set amount of time that we will be there to record your special day. To make the most of your time with us here are a few suggestions:

1. Make a list of the different groups that you would like portraits of after the ceremony.
   1. List out who are to be in those groups.
   2. Let them know that they need to stay for pictures after the ceremony.
   3. Designate someone to be in charge of “rounding up” people for pictures.
   4. Let us know if someone has to leave early so that we can photograph him or her right away.
   5. We try to start with the larger groups first so that those who are not in a lot of the groupings can leave as quickly as possible.
2. It is very important that you inform your guests before the wedding day that they are not to take pictures while we are doing the formal portraits.
   1. This is the biggest time waster and possible added expense for you!
   2. Guests who photograph while we are, slow down the photographic process and can cost you to either have to purchase more time ($125.00 per hour) or worse – keep you from getting all the groups that you want to be photographed!
   3. Most churches have a limit to the amount of time for portraits – let your guests know this.
   4. Guests who photograph will almost always sit in the pews next to the aisle and get in the picture. If we see they are in the picture, asking them to move takes away from the time we have to photograph. If they sneak in, the artwork to remove them from your final photographs is expensive. The average cost to remove 1 guest from just 1 image is $65.00!
   5. The contracts that we use are industry standard contracts, and in them it states that we are to be the only photographers capturing your event.
   6. The day of the wedding we will not tell your guests that they cannot photograph. It is up to you or the person you designate, to remind your guests not to be taking pictures during the posed portraits. If you do not do this, you should be aware that it takes away from the quality of your photographs. After your wedding is over, the pictures are all that you will have left to remember the day by!
3. Reception - If you have reception time included in your package here are some tips to help get the most out of your coverage:
   1. Talk with your DJ about the events you want and schedule their timing. Ask your DJ for a copy of the schedule to provide the photographer with it.
   2. Try to schedule your events to happen one right after the other.
   3. Most couples have us arrive at the reception just before the events are to start, after everyone has had a chance to eat.
   4. If you are to include a money dance in your reception, it is best scheduled after the main events as the money dance typically takes up a good deal of time.
   5. The most common highlights covered, not necessarily in this order:

  Our goal is to provide you with the best coverage of your wedding day that we possibly can. These suggestions will help to cut down on your stress level as well as provide you with the highest quality images of your special day while keeping your costs down. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know. We are here to serve you on your special day!