Tips for getting beautiful wedding pictures

Photography is a big part of your day, but it is not 100% of your day. Trying to get beautiful wedding pictures and have your day flow smoothly is important and these tips will help make your day everything you dreamed of and your wedding pictures too.  Below are tips for getting beautiful wedding pictures.

Decorating for an Indoor Ceremony

There is nothing worse for a photographer than to walk into a church and see a blank wall behind the ceremony area. No matter how great the lighting, there is going to be a “blah” feeling to the pictures because of the “blah” background. Dress up the background with pillars decorated elegantly, trees or plants, floral arrangements, candle ab bras, curtains…you get the idea. Incorporate your wedding colors to create a rich background full of color. Remember, most churches are not designed as wedding venues.  Think creatively what you could do to decorate to get the most of out of your professional wedding pictures.

Outdoor Locations

If your wedding pictures are going to be outside… great! Outdoor locations don’t really need decorations, but location is king. The key to amazing pictures is location. Pick a spot or two that is beautiful or offers some unique quality that will add to the pictures. Parks are usually great places, but depending on where you get married that may or may not be an option. Think about what is in the area. Maybe some cool buildings, stairs, riverfront, pathways, streets. The location for your pictures is going to impact the “feeling” you get when you look at the picture. As your photographer I will give suggestions and that is usually enough, but if you have ideas about where you want pictures, then by all means share.

The best time of day for pictures

The best time of day for pictures is in the first two hours after sunrise or the couple hours of the day before sunset. If it is cloudy, anytime of the day will usually be fine. As a photographer, I love it when it is a bright, overcast day because it gives off a soft light that makes wedding pictures beautiful. No one can control the weather, but there are some things that can be controlled. If you are able to work it out, I recommend doing the bride & groom wedding pictures in the early part of the day or in the evening. If that is not an option, and let’s say, you have to do pictures in the middle of the day when the sun is directly overhead you want to plan the pictures in an area where there is lots of shade. The sun has a way of casting harsh light in the middle of the day. At all costs we want to avoid these situations.