November 20, 2019
Being a Canberra Wedding Photographer, I’ve seen my fair share of moments, but also mistakes that couples far too often can make.
I’m going to tell you about three of the most common and biggest mistakes that couples make when it comes to wedding planning.
The couples shown in this post are all awesome and all followed the below!
An early ceremony may be one of the most frequent problems I see at so many weddings.
It’s summer, and you want a great summer wedding down on the beach. It’s tempting to think that you want that beautiful mid-day celebration to kick-off so that the rest of the day can be filled with cheer. However, there are quite a few problems with having your wedding anywhere near midday:
The solution
Instead of having a mid-day ceremony, don’t be afraid to have a later ceremony. In terms of timing, your photographer should be able to help you out with the specific timing. Still, as a good rule of thumb, you should have the ceremony around 3-4 hours before the sun sets.
Why?
Here’s an example Canberra Wedding Photographer timeline, with the sun setting at 8 pm:
4.00pm – Ceremony
4.30 pm – Ceremony concludes – Family photos start
4.45 pm – Family photos finished – Couples and bridal party photos start
6.00 pm – Couples and bridal party photos finish
6.15 pm – Bridal party enter reception
7.30 pm – Couples sunset photos start
8.15 pm – Couples sunset photos finish
Do you see how easy that flows? And your guests won’t be roasting like chickens either. This means you’ll still have plenty of time for partying as well.
A small detail that is frequently overlooked but one which can make the biggest of differences when it comes to capturing your day.
There are three big mistakes that I see people fall into for weddings here:
The solution
When it comes to finding places to get ready, your best friend is AirBNB. I do encourage my couples to find excellent and unusual places to get ready in and stay for their night. Give that ‘standard hotel penthouse’ room a miss, and go for something a bit more special and unique! AirBNB is full of beautiful places, and they are surprisingly affordable!
You’re going to be drawn to a wedding photographer’s work because of what you’ve seen from them. No doubt part of their work will have those elusive and ever-popular sunset images in them, right?
Of course, they will, and for a good reason. The colours and light at sunset are like nothing else and can create the most intense and dramatic portraits out there.
However, far too often, I see couples who don’t include sunset photos as part of their initial timeline. I’ve spoken to couples who had their wedding and revealed their disappointment when the importance of sunset images wasn’t even highlighted to them.
This is frequently missed off of the list because sunset sessions will usually happen when the party is in full swing in the evening. There’s nothing wrong with a good party at all. Still, I love to show my couples why taking a 30-minute break from the festivities will get them most likely some of their favourite images from the day. These images end up being the front and centre of the wedding album, and on the wall.
Living in Canberra, the sunsets we get here are insane, and being a Canberra Wedding Photographer means working with our gorgeous sunsets is so important!
The solution
Talk to your photographer and ascertain when the sunset will be, and what times would be best to allocate for sunset photos. You have to accept that you’ll be leaving your mates for a short time, but in return, you’re going to get some bomb images of yourselves.
Now the critical caveat to mention with this is that the sunset may not be as intense as other days on your wedding day. Like with rain, it’s impossible to predict months and months in advance what a day will be like. So equally please don’t be too disappointed if the cloud cover is a bit much and you won’t get super intense rays. Either way, you’ll have another mini-portrait session when you can kick back and have a great time!
If you found this list helpful, and are looking for more advice with your wedding, let’s have a chat today and I’ll see how I can help you! I love being a Canberra Wedding Photographer and love to help however I can.