Congrats!

After having consulted with your lead, your couple has decided to proceed with you. You’re now shooting your first wedding! You should be proud of yourself. Your dreamy photography is exactly why they chose you!

I’m guessing, however, you might be a little nervous, and that is ok!

Let me guide you and give you some tips!

1. Get in touch with the wedding planner!

While weddings are a happy celebration for the couple and their families, everyone is going to be extremely busy including yourself. Under such circumstances, you want to be alert and have a plan to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Oftentimes, couples will have a wedding planner in order for everything to go according to schedule –This will help get you that timeless photo along with many others that your couple is hoping to frame in their home. As a couples photographer, communication is key here! Trust the wedding planner and they will reciprocate.

If your couple does not have a wedding planner, make sure you ask them for a written itinerary of the wedding!

2: Sessions outside the wedding

Traditionally, the groom doesn’t see the bride until the ceremony takes place. However, given the hectic nature of wedding days, many couples have opted for a bridal session or a formals session that takes place before the wedding day especially in Utah County. Consult with your couple to see if they are interested in doing bridal portraits as part of your wedding photo package.

I give some reasons why couples should have either a bridal session or a formals session in this post

3. Become familiar with the location and the venue setting

This step is extremely important.

You need to make sure you are familiar with how light will be distributed during the ceremony and reception. More often than not, you will have very little control of your lighting situation. You also won’t be able to set up any fancy lighting equipment! There simply won’t be any time.

Here are some questions to ask:

• Will the venue take place indoors or outdoors?
• What time of day will the venue take place?
• How much space does the venue have?

This leads into my next point.

4. Have the right equipment

Keep in mind, you do not need to have everything. In fact, no photographer seems to ever have enough equipment. However, knowing how to use these tools will help you capture that timeless photo!

Flashes

Having weddings take place in the summer is great! Longer hours of sunlight gives you flexibility with natural light.

But, what about when you are indoors and there is little window light? Flashes will be your friend under these circumstances.

Tip: Instead of using direct flash, angle your flash towards the ceiling, wall, or other reflective surface to create a bounce flash that will nicely fill your shadows.

The great thing is you don’t have to buy anything fancy; in fact, this is the bounce flash I use when shooting indoors.

Lenses

It’s ok if you don’t have many lenses! If you are based in Utah County, you can always rent some at Red Finch Rental. If not, Borrow Lenses works great too!

Here are some good lenses for a wedding day (I shoot with a Sony a7iii)

• Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 for Sony Mirrorless Full Frame E Mount
  • Allows you to zoom and get a wide angle for group photos without causing too much distortion.
• Sony SEL85F18 85mm F/1.8-22
  • Its sharp focus and nice compression gives crisp and stunning bokeh.
• Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens
  • This telephoto lens will let you get candid shots without getting in the way while capturing crisp shots.

SD Cards

Not all SD cards are created equally! You need to make sure you have cards that have fast speeds for burst shooting, so you don’t have to wait for your camera to record your image risking a lost moment.

I have found the SanDisk Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Card to be reliable and fast.

Camera

I am going to be honest; the brand does not matter too much. Just make sure you get a mirrorless camera that has dual SD card slots. Their autofocusing capabilities will help make sure you’re focusing on exactly what you want to capture. Weddings are fun, but you need to understand the magnitude of the responsibility you bear which means being as prepared as possible (have a backup storage system in place too)!

5. Get the right poses

Consult with the couple beforehand and make sure you have a written list of the poses

• Group Photos
  • Whole group
  • Bride’s family
  • Groom’s family
  • Groom and groomsmen
  • Brides and bridesmaids
  • Siblings and newlyweds
  • Parents and newlyweds
  • Grandparents and newlyweds
  • Close friends and newlyweds
• Wedding details
  • Flowers
  • Rings
  • Décor
  • Venue
  • Food
• Moments
  • Dancing
  • Sparklers
  • Exit tunnel
  • Send off
  • Cake

7. Nutrition

Make sure you are hydrated and have eaten! Bring water, snacks, and make sure to include in your contract that you require to be fed if you plan on spending the entire day with the couple. It’s hard to focus when you haven’t eaten!

I hope these tips help!