What to Expect from your Wedding Photographer
"So, what do wedding photographers do? Just show up for certain wedding day activities and take random photos? Only do posed family portraits? Will we receive our photos two weeks later or two months later?"
I get questions like this all of the time, and they are completely valid! The truth is, there are so many different types of photographers. Not every photographer is for every one! If you're looking for someone to show up the day of, take a few photos and leave, I'm probably not your photographer. We work for the ENTIRE wedding day, instead of hourly. We also get very involved with our couples, and get to know them before the wedding so we can personalize their photos! We may not be everyone's photographer, but if you are picking up our vibe, here's what to expect from us on a wedding day. Click here for our wedding website.
This list does not include what we do before the wedding day for engagements, formals, gear prep, and building a friendship with our couples. That all comes before the big day! Chat with us here.
Getting Ready
We wake up on a wedding day ready to seize the day! We arrive at the bride and groom's hotel rooms or getting ready places. Daylen heads off to the groom's room, and I go to the bride's room. We have a memorized list of every shot we need to get during getting ready photos to ensure every detail is captured. Jewelry, cuff-links, buttoning up the dress, maid of honor and mom photos, vows, etc. We love getting to hang out with our couples when they are so excited for their wedding! We each also have an emergency kit complete with bobby pins, super glue, and more.
Ceremony or Temple Exit
During the ceremony, we each have different positions we move between to capture the whole ceremony without disrupting guests. We laugh at the jokes with you, and won't miss an emotional moment.
At an LDS Temple exit, we arrive early and wait with the family until the doors open. We have photographed weddings at many temples, and know the best spots to stand to see everything! It only happens once!
Family Photos
Family photos can easily be the worst part of the wedding day! We've done so many wedding day family photos that we have a foolproof system to combat this and make it easy and even fun. It can take us as little as 15 minutes to get through photos!
For those wondering, we get the whole group, just family, bride's side, groom's side, parents, grandparents, siblings, individuals with siblings, individuals with wedding party, wedding party, bridesmaids, groomsmen, extra shot the couple requests and just the couple. Yep, 15 minutes! It's all about the systems y'all. And guest cooperation of course. We do this at every wedding, so you don't have to try and remember what shots you're missing. We got this!
Reception
During dinner, we do not photograph guests eating. Usually our couples have dinner for us as well and this gives us a chance to recoup, eat, and get our gear together. We also get to talk to guests which is so fun!
For dancing, cake cutting, bouquet toss, and other reception activities we are back to work! I've helped many brides decide during this time final placement of the cake so guest can see well, what to do during down time, and more. I love having Daylen (or a second shooter if Daylen is on video) there for the reception so we don't miss a detail. Our goal is to capture everything you remember, and everything you missed.
Send Off
Send offs are so fun! Not all couples have one, and some couples have asked me to coordinate their send off which I'm happy to do. After you and your groom are on your way, we clean up our gear and help family clean up the venue if we can!
Editing and Delivery
For the next two weeks after a wedding we edit. Our turn around time is 2 weeks or less for photos, and 3 weeks or less for video. We edit around the clock to make sure your photos are absolutely perfect. It also helps that our posing system makes you look flattering from every angle without any airbrushing or heavy editing! Most of our editing is color correcting, and lighting. We deliver all of your photos and video in password protected online album sites where you can download them to share and keep. Some brides request an add-on personalized USB, which we upload all edited photos too. We do not give out unedited photos since this is against our business policy and copyright law.
There you have it! Our entire wedding day process. Obviously we couldn't include every little detail or it would be a mile long, but if you have any questions or things we may have missed, let me know. We love serving our couples!
For even more (if you can handle it all) make sure to grab a free copy of our Wedding Guide. It has our pricing, and intro from us, a wedding day timeline, wedding vendor recommendations, and much more. You can grab that instantly for free here.
