Hello Couples!
We understand wedding planning is stressful, and we know you want to make everything perfect. We are here for you during the whole planning process to answer any questions or help you with anything you need. With that being said - wouldn't you love to know any planning "mistakes" previous couples made in the past, so that you don't have to to make them for your wedding?
Well you came to the right place! Coming from the professionals, we've seen a lot of "I Wish We Had" and "We Should Haves" that brides have talked about from their weddings.
SO... I've put together a list from previous couples so that you won't make the same mistakes for your wedding day.
8 Common Wedding Planning Mistakes to Avoid:
1. Not Having an Unplugged Ceremony
This is a super big decision when considering your ceremony photos and video. If you want your guest to be in the moment, we recommend an "unplugged" ceremony, or a ceremony where you ask your guests to refrain from holding up their phones and filming everyone in the middle of your ceremony. It's respectful towards the photographers/videographers capturing you walking down the aisle, and it doesn't create a giant eye-sore in your photos of you walking down the aisle. It always creates a better atmosphere when you have the guests in the moment during the ceremony instead of crouching out in the middle of the aisle while you're walking down, trying to get the perfect shot. That's what we are there for!
2. Hiring A Family Member or Friend as their Photographer
I can't tell you how many times a photographer has heard "I'm just going to have my friend (or family member) to photograph my wedding and engagement session." And hearing from those couples afterwards - every single one of them had wished they had hired a professional. If you hire your cousin or good friend from high school that say they "do photography", most likely they don't have the professional experience level of a wedding photographer. They may take nice portraits, but hiring a professional, they will have expert experience in lighting, posing, composition, and capturing your moments versus a friend that snaps portraits for fun on the weekend. You want your friends/family to enjoy your big day, and NOT to work on it. Hiring a professional will allow you to enjoy your day with your people instead of creating tension at your next family reunion since your cousin didn't take the "dream" wedding photos you were hoping for.
3. Getting a day-of coordinator instead of hiring a full-time planner
This is a biggie. A venue coordinator and a wedding planner may seem like the same thing, but they have very different roles. I highly recommend a full-time planner or a month-of planner. Always make sure to clarify their duties, and expectations of their planning timeline with you. This allows your wedding day to run seamlessly and stress-free. I've seem too many brides that entrusted a family member or venue coordinator to handle all of their wedding day, and I recommend not asking your aunt or mother-in-law to handle your wedding day planning, but to allow your family member to enjoy your wedding day. Allocate other duties to those family members if they insist on partaking in the planning process. Wedding Planners are a photographer's best friend - AND YOURS! You will always thank yourself for spending money on an amazing quality wedding planning team. They will make your wedding day stress-free and flawless!
4. Rushing Couple Portraits to Attend Cocktail Hour
Cocktail hour is a great idea to keep your guests busy while you are doing formal portraits. This is the time to capture all the remaining photos on your shot list so that you can join your guests for cocktails before the reception. I tend to spend a little more time on the couple portraits after everyone for formals has been sent off to cocktail hour. This gives me the creative freedom to capture those epic portraits with breathtaking backgrounds or those romantic moments between couples. Most couples I've worked with have NEVER passed up on spending a few extra minutes to get a variety of shots. This is the time you and your fiancé take those breath-taking portraits that will be hanging on your walls for years to come so don't rush it! I promise you, we work diligently so that we get you where you need to be, when you need to be there. You won't regret taking photos at that spiral staircase or spontaneously kissing under a double rainbow in the rain so that we can capture those magazine-worthy photos!
5. Not Planning for Sunset portraits in your Schedule
You WILL want to do this! I've offered sunset portraits or night portraits (depending on location and weather) to couples and those have turned out to be some of their favorite portraits from their entire wedding day. I recommend planning for sunset photos about 20-30 minutes before the sun actually sets to ensure we are at the location to capture the perfect sunset in the background. You can work with your wedding planner on allocating some time before the speeches, or at an opportune moment to sneak away for some jaw-dropping sunset portraits! Don't care about the sunset? We can do a night portrait at your wedding venue or on-site with beautiful and creative lighting.
6. Doing ALL of your Family Formals Before the Ceremony
We don't recommend squeezing all of your family portraits in before the ceremony. Most couples will do a first look so they can take majority of their immediate formal photos before the ceremony. It's best if we are able to break up your shot list into groups and not one big long session. You don't have to require you grandparents or aunts to arrive 2 hours earlier than the ceremony start time just to take a few photos that we can tackle after the ceremony. A lot of couples will do a lot of their bridal party and immediate family photos before the ceremony, and then finish the larger family photos afterwards. This allows us to conquer your entire shot list with ease and not feel rushed on gathering everyone for group photos after the ceremony.
7. Not Doing A First Look
Totally optional - but the First Look seems to be a non-traditional theme now a days that turns out to be some couples favorite moment of the day. Those who have opted in for doing a first-look have approached it in many ways. Most people do first looks to calm their nerves before the "big moment" at the altar. I've had couples do first looks to get all their emotions out before the ceremony, or to have a private emotional moment with their fiancé before they stand in front of everyone. It's even a perfect opportunity to have a private vow reading with each other, as I've seen before. Whatever your reason may be, First-Looks always make for beautiful moments between the couple and they never regret doing so. It's all about what you are comfortable with on your wedding day and if you want to have that special moment with your fiancé, then this is the perfect opportunity for you.
8. Having a Large Wedding Party
Deciding on your wedding party can be one of the hardest decisions you make, but it can also be the most important in regards to photos. The larger the party you have, the more time we will need to take when photographing the wedding party. I understand wanting to include your closest friends or family members can be hard to narrow down, but once you have a bakers dozen worth of members in the wedding party, it can get a little crowded. Smaller wedding parties means more opportunities to take more variety of photos with your party, wedding guests or fiancé. Plus - the less people in your party, means the less chances of people running late or having a hard time gathering everyone up for photos. BUT - if you have a large wedding party there's nothing wrong with that because we'll still be able to conquer all your desired shots quickly and efficiently!
We hope this list of common wedding planning mistakes to avoid helps you in your wedding planning journey. We always want to help our couples as best as we can and providing you with feedback from our past couples, allows you to not make the same mistakes.
Happy Wedding Planning!
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