5 Lies people will tell you on your wedding day.
I will preface this by saying, I am 100% an optimist and someone who loves to live in the moment rather than planning too far ahead, I believe that if you go into a wedding day with fewer expectations and with the mentality that you are going to have an awesome time, marry your best friend and cut loose on the dance floor not too much can go wrong from there.
There however are some things that people will tell you or misconceptions about your wedding day that I plan to debunk but also ways you can see the positives in them.
Overcast/rainy weather is amazing for photography.
Every time there is a look of clouds on a wedding day, without a doubt you will hear from a bridesmaid “overcast weather is meant to be amazing for photos right?” Being put in that awkward moment will force your poor photographer to sell overcast weather like a used car salesman.
The truth is overcast weather is flat (lacking contrast), which is awesome for your ceremony, it means you will have some beautiful soft light at a time in the day you are usually expecting really hard uncontrollable light.
So, your ceremony photos are going to look awesome and you should be stoked about that.
Now, what are my thoughts on rain on a wedding day?
As someone who attends a lot of weddings and an opportunist, this allows for unpredictability and a new variety in your photos that you wouldn’t usually get and something unique and fun that can stand out.
Quick tip: ask your photographer if they have clear umbrellas, this is something a lot of brides will buy and most photographers already have in their car.
Saving money on your celebrant or having a friend do it.
I find this very interesting, over the past 10 years there has been a massive increase in awesome, young, and fun celebrants.
you can almost always find someone who is going to match the vibe/niche you are going for on your wedding day.
Putting this responsibility onto someone cheaper or a friend is a lot of pressure on them and slightly risky.
Think about it, this is your guest’s first impression of your wedding day and will set a trend for what they expect for the rest of the evening, so make sure you start it off right.
(You can definitely have a friend tell a story or do a reading, but putting that pressure on a professional extrovert is a lot of the time, the best way to go.)
Your wedding has to be a big princess moment.
I feel this one is becoming more understood, but you can do whatever the hell you want on your wedding day, there are absolutely no rules!
Do you like tacos? hire a Mexican food truck for the reception.
If you and your partner met over coffee, force everyone to have a shot of Patron before the first kiss to set a vibe for the remainder of the evening.
Love snowboarding? get married in Thredbo during winter and get photos out in the snow is some amazing landscapes for something more unique.
You get where I am going with this right? the sky is the limit and the only limitations of what your wedding can be are the ones you put on it.
The Ceremony & After
Awesome, we have made it to the main part of the day, the I do’s.
Most secular (non-religious) weddings only tend to last between 20-30 minutes including signing all the documents however if you are religious please allow adequate time and set a timer at your rehearsal if you plan to have one.
Directly after all ceremony, there will be lots of hugs and congratulations, this is the time to get a group photo as no one has snuck off to the bar.
As soon as the group shot is done we would suggest using this time for Family Photos if you plan to have them.
When Planning your Family photos we suggest the following method (allow 20 minutes for the below)
Partner 1: Entire Family with Partners (immediate only)
Partner 1: Entire Family without Partners (immediate only)
Partner 1: Grandparents (So they can go and take a seat)
Partner 1: Parents
Partner 1: Individual shot with each parent and their child (If we didn’t have time for this in the morning)
Partner 1: Siblings & their partners and children
Partner 1: Each sibling with their Brother/Sister
Repeat this with both sides of the family and we are good! if you do wish to add cousins/ uncles and aunties here you can but this does tend to eat into time and you can tend to do this at the reception.
So in theory, if you were having a non-religious wedding and your ceremony was planned for 3:30 pm for example you should have all the formal bits of the ceremony done by 4:30 pm which should be enough time for a Photoshoot (if you allow an hour for this).
Photoshoot
In an ideal world, It would be awesome to have 1 hour and 15 minutes of actual shooting time (not driving) with the bridal party & the bride and groom.
This amount of time allows us to relax into it, take some drinks with us get a bit silly, the photoshoot is one of the only bits of time you will actually have to wind down a little bit on your wedding day so I ask that if you can please don’t skimp on this.
Usually, during the photoshoot, we will try and get through the bridal party photos quickly to allow as much time with the couple as possible and send off the bridal party to continue drinking/eating.
Reception & Wrap up
Okay so this one we kind of have to abide by what the venue suggests for the wrap-up time, noise complaints are real and can cripple a business.
Find out what your venue’s wrap-up time is and work out how long your package is then adjust from this.
Vendor Meals: Okay so generally caterers & venues want to feed vendors last, this is usually due to them wanting to ensure no issues with your guest’s meals and being able to shift things around.
There are two reasons why this is an issue.
1) When people are eating we tend not to be taking photos & videos of people stuffing their faces so it makes sense to have us eating during this time as it is not a great use of our time.
2) If we are fed last it tends to be 10 minutes after all guests have been served and this tends to cause problems with your finely curated running order meanwhile I am shoveling your beautifully cooked chicken down my throat so I can capture the second half of speeches.
Photos at the reception: once all the formalities are done for both photo & video we only really require about 20-30 minutes for dance floor photos & video.
