1. Make sure you feel comfortable with your wedding photographer.
You'll spend more time with them than anyone else on your wedding day so make sure you like them!
2. Identify and communicate your wedding priorities and
needs to your photographer.
They should consider going through an exercise that we call the WAVE (The Wall Art Vision Exercise). In this process, I ask clients to envision a space on the walls of their homes where they might hang a large print from their wedding. I ask them to "describe that photo to us." I ask follow-up questions to help them dig deep into their visualization. Through this, I gain a full understanding of their style preferences, their priorities, and their overall needs/desires from our photography services. This exercise allows us to better plan my shoot time around the best locations and lighting too. I'm able to understand posing preferences, compositional preferences, and more. For example, does their wall art feature an editorial photo of their families in the reception ballroom? Or is it a golden hour, wide-angle sunset photo of the couple kissing in a dipping pose? Whatever their preferences are, I need to plan for it!
3. Remember that it's your day.
I've photographed over 20 weddings over the years, and the majority of brides spend their entire day stressing. The small minority who seem to be relaxed are the brides who've kept everything simple, or rather, have done everything how they WANT to do it not how they think they NEED to do it. Decide what's most important to you and your partner to be. Do you really need all those fancy table decorations just because your last friend who got married had them? Do you really need a trendy donut wall or a gif photo booth? Remember, the more 'accessories' you add to your big day, the more there is for you to worry about. Keep things simple, and remember the reason you're getting married in the first place. It's not a show. It's your day.
