Whilst the taste of the cake may fade, the champagne hangover is long gone and that first kiss as husband and wife blends into the millions that follow, you will always want to remember how amazing your day was ... this is a photography guide to your big day.
the DAY the MOMENT the MEMORY
Before the day.
Firstly can we talk 'style'? not your wedding dress but your 'style' of photography. Because not all photographers are created equal. Some like us, use a mixture of styles to create the images you want. Some have a very specific style they adhere to. Broadly speaking this can be put into 3 categories, reportage style, creative and traditional and I'm going to break those genres down a little more.
Creative Photography.
A creative photographer is a little like a stage director, they will use lighting, props and an amazing eye for detail to really make your wedding images pop. Note that some work will be done post production but a good photographer won't be photoshopping every image to add a sunset (or implausible meteor shower!) to your wedding day. A creative photographer will scope the venue out and create situations to photograph you and your guests looking a million dollars.
Reportage photography.
A reportage style photographer will capture the 'true' event in all its glory, generally a reportage style or photojournalistic photographer won't influence any images or stage them, they will be inobstrusive (think ninja photographer!) and will capture all the emotions of the day in very naturalistic images. Reportage style photography is very honest and shows real raw emotions. It lends itself beautifully to black and white images very well.
Traditional photography.
This is probably what your great aunt Edna had at her wedding, a traditional photographer will have a tick box of images to take, the cutting of the cake, the family groups etc. These will be posed photos in which the photographer will control the setting and poses to ensure you have everyone in the images.
Once you have decided on your style and photographer (of course it's us right?) we would meet either in our city-centre studio or your home, if you are having pre-wedding photos (also known as engagement photos) this is the ideal time to do them, we will talk about the day and any guests with special requirements, i.e. if an elderly relative needs to sit to be photographed or if a divorced couple needs to be in separate photos. This is your day and the dynamics of the family is something we are very aware of, we want to make sure you are not bothered on the day by questions about photo's - you should be enjoying your wedding day.
On the day.
We will arrive at the bride's house or hotel and photograph the bride and her attendants preparing for the wedding, we aim to capture all the significant moments such as the bride getting into her dress, the bride's party seeing her for the first time in her dress, as well as all the fun moments, (and given that this is the one day when champagne for breakfast is obligatory there will be plenty of these!) If you have chosen two photographers we will also attend the groom's location for the same photos.
We will arrive at the church and capture guests arriving, the groomsmen and ushers and ta da! the bride's arrival.
From this point on our job is to capture all the images you might miss during the ceremony, the look on your face's as you see each other, Great Aunt Edna welling up at the beauty of it all, the children obliviously playing tag... These are the images that will stay with you forever and are the surprises for you when you view the photos after. If you have booked video footage as well rest assured you are in good hands, Richard started his career in Hollywood so you really will feel like a star.
During the ceremony we will be working to photograph all the keys parts of it, afterwards, if you have requested photos at the venue we will take those before proceeding to the reception.
On arrival at the reception, we will capture everything from the newlywed's arrival to the first dance, the speeches, the cake cutting and everything in between. As the day turns into night and the party gets underway that's our cue to leave you and your guests to the party. When we next see you, around a week after the wedding, we will be sitting down with you to view your photos.
Is now may be a good time to mention that we also do the bump and newborn shoots?..........
