Photojournalistic photos are a way to keep the memories of that special day new again, year after year.  But how do you create a set of photographs which is as unique as you are?  That's easy.  By collaborating with your photographer to explore new and imaginative ideas to help you create lively, unique images that are yours and yours alone!

Let's talk about your vision of your wedding day!

A Few Tips to Keep in Mind When Planning Your Day.

Decorate the Bride's Dressing Room whenever possible.  Use some wedding flowers and try to cover any ugly areas.  Use light gauzy fabrics over the windows instead of thick curtains or shutters that cut out the light.  Messes are OK, if they are wedding messes.  Clean up all non-wedding messes like piles of blue jeans or tennis shoes.  Remove any empty boxes or packaging.

Party lights in the reception can make a big difference.  Christmas lights, hanging bulbs or rope lights all look good in the background especially if you hang them just above head high.  If you are having an outdoor reception, placing your dance floor under a tent will make a world of difference to the photos.  A tent also gives you a structure to hang the small lights in the roof which creates a mellow warm background light.  Outdoors - paper lanterns or candles in jars or bags look wonderful.  Moving strobe lights sometimes used by DJ's or Bands can cause huge problems for photos and should be avoided.  The moving lights cause hotspots in the images that can ruin most photos.

We know you've got a lot to think about on your wedding day, but I'm going to ask you to remember one other thing!  During the ceremony I'm usually going to be shooting from the groom's side toward the Bride.  In order to make these very important shots special try to work together to remember a couple of things.  (1)  The Groom should be positioned slightly back from the Bride and try not to lean forward during the ceremony.  This will prevent the Groom from blocking the view to the Bride.  (2)  During the ring exchange take your time and enjoy the moment.  When putting the ring on, hold the ring so that your fingers are on the top and bottom instead of on the sides of the ring.  This turns your hand so that the ring is visible from the sides and now your photographer and your guests can see it go on.

If it is possible to plan your day so that we can slip away for at least 30 minutes during this time, you won't be disappointed.  This is my favorite time to make creative portraits of the Bride and Groom.  I usually scope out places to go earlier in the day or that when the time arrives, we can walk a little loop around your site and be back before your guests ever start missing you.  These can be simple portraits or dramatic environmental shots that take advantage of any beautiful architectural or natural places around your wedding location.

Group Photos are split between Pre Ceremony shots taken of the Bride and Groom separately with members of the Bridal party and family, and secondly After the Ceremony but before the Reception for photos of the Bride and Groom together and with the Bridal party.  Pre Ceremony shots will normally need to start 2 to 3 hours before the Ceremony and will take approx 1 to 2 hours depending on the size of the party.  After ceremony shots will take approx 30 minutes.  To make the process go easily please notify all wedding party members when they need to arrive.  Also arrange a point person, someone who knows everyone, who can work with us to insure everyone is present and available when needed. 

We will work with the videographers to make sure we don't get in each other's shots.  Please have the videographers meet with us during the rehearsal so we can compare our plans for shooting.  Some videographer's use bright spotlights which can cause problems for photo images.  These should be avoided.