So you’ve booked your wedding photographer(If not, read the wedding photographer checklist) and now it’s time to meet up, get acquainted and discuss some of the finer details of your wedding day. The photographer is one of the most significant vendors present on your wedding day and we can’t understate their role in proceedings. Therefore, meeting them before the day is very important to clarify everything.
If your photographer is based further away(some photographers travel worldwide), a pre-wedding meeting may not be possible……but there’s always Skype!
If possible, try to arrange to meet up at the venue. This will allow you to walk around the building and grounds and look for good photo opportunities and decide on where you would like photos to be taken. This has the double advantage of making your day go more smoothly and also increases the chances that you will be happy with the results.
You will have questions of your own so we won’t bore you with a massive list here. We’ll just highlight what we consider to be the 5 most important questions.
1. Arrival time and departure time
Find out when they will arrive on the wedding morning and add this to your vendor spreadsheet. It’s also useful to find out what time they will leave at the end of the night, just so you have an idea. It tends to be after the first dance but they may be willing to stay later upon request.
2. Key group shots you want – setting
Discuss the different group shots you would like captured. For example, immediate family only, bridesmaids only, groomsmen only etc. If you are at the venue, take a walk around the grounds to find a good location for the group shots. Do the same inside the venue as a backup in case the weather is poor on your wedding day.
3. Key couple shots you want(setting, pose, style)
At some point on your wedding day, there will be an opportunity to get some pictures taken of just the 2 of you. Find out when they would plan to do this? Normally, this would be soon after the ceremony, either before or after group shots. Some couples prefer to do a traditional portrait type shot while others prefer to go for a romantic walk and let the photographer be a “fly on the wall”. Photographers have their own style and may specialise in the formal approach or the fly-on-the-wall approach so discuss their suggestions and give them your input on what you are looking for. When discussing the couple shots, the key things you want to talk about are setting, pose and style. This is the location of the shoot on the wedding day, the poses you plan to do(e.g. looking at camera, no-poses-just-natural, kissing, quirky jump etc.) and the style of the photography(have you seen a particular style of shot you like? Ideally have an example image to show).
4. Specific shots
If you have any specific shots in mind that you want to capture, discuss these also. This could be a simple romantic shot, or it could be something very specific…..such as using props or an aerial drone shot(if they can provide that). Read this guide from Buzzfeed on drone photography
5. Key people you want captured(show a picture)
Finally, let your photographer know if you want them to capture images of specific people during the course of your wedding day. If you have 100+ guests, it could be difficult for them to capture a picture of everyone. If there is somebody you want to make sure isn’t missed, you need to let them know because they don’t know your friends and family and don’t know who the important people are. Show them an image if you can.
Those 5 little questions should cover most of the important things that need to be addressed. Add your own as you see fit.