Jill Christine Design & Photography » Blog

I like to think of the wedding day as a short story or a chapter in the larger book of your marriage. And just as all good stories have a beginning, middle and end, so does your wedding day. For me, that means the story begins with the quiet details of the day — your wedding dress hanging before you step into it, the pearls your grandmother wore on her wedding day and passed on to you, or the handkerchief your best friend lent you for your something borrowed. These details have meaning and should be recorded in the same manner that all of the other important moments of your wedding day are.

So how can you make sure these details are captured? Here are a few things you can do to assist your photographer in documenting everything from the dress to the rings.

1. Choose one person — a family member or bridesmaid perhaps — to be in charge of collecting all of the items to be photographed and placing them in one area. Once you’re photographer arrives, he/she can go straight to work staging these items for photographs and won’t have to disrupt you while getting ready to locate anything.

2. In addition to your engagement ring, make sure you have both wedding rings with you. This will save time tracking down the location of the other ring if it’s in the best man’s possession. Sometimes it’s not possible to even get the ring beforehand if he’s at another location. You can assign someone to return them to the best man if needed once the photographs are complete.

3. Arrange for your bouquet, bridesmaids’ bouquets and corsages to be delivered to the location where you are getting ready. If the flowers are at the ceremony location and you’re somewhere else, the opportunity to photograph them may be missed. And, if you choose to do any formals at your getting ready location, the flowers won’t be included in these photographs either.

4. Ask one of your bridesmaids to remove the tags from your dress and other packaging from jewelry that you may have purchased. This ensures that not only are the items ready for photographs, but that you won’t be left searching for scissors when you’re ready to get dressed.

5. Set aside a copy of your invitation with the other details you would like to have photographed. If you’re worried you’ll forget this one, mail a copy of your invitation to your photographer when you send out all of the guests’ invitations and ask him/her to bring it on the wedding day.

6. And finally, here’s a list of all of the items you should gather for photographs during this time: the dress, special hanger if you have one, shoes, handkerchief, engagement ring, wedding rings, other jewelry, perfume, bouquets, corsages, invitation, garter and ring bearer’s pillow or box for rings. If you can think of any details that I’ve missed, please share in the comments below!

There are lots of external factors at a wedding that can take away from the beauty of a photograph. During the toast, the biggest of these, in my opinion, is a speaker in the background. Imagine a father giving a tearful toast to his daughter with a large black box next to him. Chances are because of the size of the speaker, you’ll focus more on it than the tear rolling down the dad’s cheek.

While I will work every angle possible to exclude this from the image, there are a few simple things that you can do beforehand to help your photographer capture only the people and emotion involved in this moment.

First, ask the DJ or band to bring a portable microphone so that the person giving the toast has free range of the floor. As a bonus, it’s always nice when they’re able to speak near the bride and groom’s table allowing for some wide shots that include both the speaker and couple’s reaction in the same image. If your DJ doesn’t have a portable microphone available, ask your maid of honor, best man and any other family members giving a toast to step away from the DJ’s table and equipment, as far as the cord will allow before beginning their speech. And remember to do the same, if you speak yourself. If you’re having a smaller wedding in an intimate setting, forgo the microphone altogether.

When looking back through your photographs, you’ll want to remember the events of the day and not the logistics that made it possible!

In last week’s tip, I referenced an article I’d written for Southern Maryland Weddings about unplugging your wedding and received a couple of questions about how to implement this idea and tell your guests not to use their phones, cameras, etc. on your wedding day. In addition to re-posting the original article below, I’ve included a link to a Pinterest board that may give you some ideas for how to put this idea into practice and to politely word your request.

Consider Unplugging Your Wedding

Living in a high-tech society has its benefits. We’re able to connect with people and be a part of their daily lives even when we are miles apart. And, we’re able to record and preserve moments to one day show our children and grandchildren. Most of the time, it can be pretty amazing.

But after recently photographing a wedding where the bride was seen in her wedding dress on Facebook before walking down the aisle, I have to wonder if in certain situations we should take a step back from technology.

What does that mean for a wedding? What does “unplugging your wedding” mean, and should you consider it?

Having an unplugged wedding means asking your guests to turn off their phones and put away their cameras. And it means asking them to sit back and relax. In doing so, you allow them to be fully present in the moments unfolding before them.

I believe that you and your guests will enjoy the day more if you follow this simple plan. I also believe that this will ultimately produce better wedding photos for the reasons below.

1. Guests will not distract you from important, once in a lifetime moments.Consider a guest who leans into the aisle with his/her iPad to photograph you walking toward your groom, thus obstructing your view of him and his reaction. Their intentions are good. They’re excited and want to preserve this moment, but often guests do not realize what is going on around them. Professional photographers have lots of experience with photographing moments like these discreetly so as not to become a part of the moment themselves.

2. Guests will not interfere in the photographs your wedding photographer is capturing. For example, you kiss your new husband for the first time and a guest stands up to photograph the moment, either blocking or becoming part of the professional photographer’s photograph. And it’s very likely that it would be a handful of guests all after the same photo. Again, their intentions are good, but they’re not always aware of how they’re affecting the larger scene.

3. This is the one I feel is most important. The candid photographs captured by your professional photographer will show more genuine emotion. It’s hard to show emotion in a photograph when the subject is busy texting or posting images to Facebook. They’re not making eye contact with anyone; they’re not laughing; they’re not crying. Photographers are looking for authentic interactions between wedding guests that simply don’t exist when they are buried in their phones and cameras. Whenever I photograph a first dance, I will also turn to photograph the guests watching the couple, but if they too are busy taking photographs, I can’t see the tears and smiles that this sweet moment would otherwise produce.

If you have hired a professional photographer, one who has not only talent, but a hard work ethic and experience with weddings, then you are in good hands. Trust that person to do their job and give them the most ideal circumstances to make it happen.

If you do this, your memory of your day won’t include a sea of cameras and phones snapping away at you like the paparazzi, but rather lots of laughter, tears, hugs and all of the wonderful emotions that occur when people simply let themselves be present in the moment.