Wedding Day Advice From Photographers

It seems that once you announce your engagement, you get advice from well meaning friends and family.  Well, we have some advice too!  Here are some tips from Mike Staff Productions designers and photographers for your wedding day.

Get fitted.  A properly fitted dress can make all the difference.  Not only will you look great, but you’ll feel confident when you can move without worrying about a “wardrobe malfunction”.

Hire a professional make up artist.  You’re spending a great deal of effort and money on your wedding day and you want to look your best in your wedding photos.  A make up artist can help you do just that.  Just be sure to do a trial run in advance.

Create a workable timeline and photography plan.  Delays will occur on your wedding day (hair and makeup often causing the most) so creating a time line with flexibility can help reduce the stress on your wedding day.  Work with your photographer to establish a photography plan with your priority shots to make sure those are the first captured.  Allow time to create additional images throughout the day.

Minimize travel time.  You don’t want to spend your entire wedding day traveling between locations.  Getting ready close to your ceremony site and choosing a Romantics location on the way to your reception venue help you best utilize your time.

Ask parents for input.  Your parents have probably been thinking of your wedding day since you were a small child.  Ask them what images they want captured on your wedding day.  Whether it’s a large family formal, a specific bridal portrait or a picture of special friends getting their input in advance and sharing it with your photographer will help to capture their memories as well.

Pre-ceremony photos.  Keep the area as free from clutter as possible so it doesn’t appear in your getting ready photos.  Start the coverage with the bride and bridesmaids after hair and makeup are done, but before putting on the dress for the best use of your time.  Having the flowers, invitation and other details available allow your photographer to capture these important images.  The same is true for the groom and groomsmen if you want to capture his getting ready moments.  If you will be giving gifts to the attendants or each other, this is a good time to do so.

Consider a First Look.  More couples are choosing to meet in private before the ceremony, allowing for some beautiful and intimate photographs and videography to be captured. It can be a private event for the couple or shared with close friends and family. This time is a low pressure, yet highly emotional, way to spend a few special moments as a couple before walking down the aisle. If your wedding day timeline is tight a first look session can allow you to create amazing images, without sacrificing time with your guests.

Be ready.  Your wedding day is a countdown clock.  If you or people you want in images aren’t ready for their photographs at the designated time, you are losing great picture opportunities by the minute.  Be sure to communicate with the bridal party and family members that you need their cooperation for wedding photos.  Most churches allow 20-30 minutes to capture family formals.  Someone leaving the ceremony will lose your chance for these family history shots.

Practice bustling.  Bring a bridesmaid to your final fitting.  Lacing and bustling dresses can be a difficult task.  Make sure that the person bustling yours has practiced and can do so quickly.

Relax.  You have planned this day for months, sometimes years.  Be sure to take a few moments to relax and reflect upon how special this day really is.  If you are stressing about every detail, it will show in your wedding photos.

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Wedding Planning In Under 6 Months

Military deployments, job relocations and family situations can have couples shortening their engagements and wedding planning timeline.  Wedding planning can seem like a huge task, especially if you are working with a short timeline, but not when you do it in small, manageable pieces.  Here are some tips to get you from “yes” to “I do” in under 6 months.

As soon as possible

1. Sit down with both families to formulate a budget. Remember, parents who planned their wedding twenty or thirty years ago can be surprised by today’s costs. Expect to be flexible.
2. Decide on a date that works for both families and your work schedules.  Be aware of family birthdays, anniversaries or annual events that may cause a conflict.
3. Begin visiting venues!  If planning with little lead time, be flexible.  Consider a weekday, brunch or Sunday wedding.
4. Hire the photographer, caterer, videographer, officiant, and DJ. Companies with large talent pools will likely have better availability than single operators.
5. Begin looking at wedding dresses.  Ask about samples or what can be altered from off the rack.  Special order dresses can take several months.  Remember to allow time for fittings and adjustments.
6. Bridal party attire should be ordered.  If time is very limited, again ask about samples and off the rack options.  You may need to flexible about color or style.
7. Order your wedding cake, flowers and transportation for the wedding and reception.

4 to 6 Months Prior

1. Reserve rehearsal dinner location, establish bridal registries, rent tuxedos, order wedding invitations, reserve necessary rental equipment.

2 to 4 Months Prior

1. Book your honeymoon and secure arrangements for wedding night accommodations.
2. Schedule appointments for hair, makeup, facials, massages and spa treatments.
3. Order reception favors.
4. Begin dance lessons if you want a choreographed first dance.

2 Months Prior

1. Mail wedding invitations.
2. Verify requirement for marriage license.
3. Purchase bridal party gifts.
4. Create ceremony program.

Final 6 Weeks 

1. Confirm all vendors.
2. Finalize food and beverage choices with your caterer or reception site.
3. Schedule a final dress fitting (tuxes for the gentlemen).
4. Plan seating arrangements for your reception.
5. Establish a timeline for the wedding day.
6. Select songs for your ceremony and special dances
7. Schedule a consultation for your hair and makeup.  Many brides do a “dress rehearsal” to make sure they like the look.

Week of Your Wedding 

1. Confirm timeline and desired shot list with your photographer and videographer.
2. Discuss song selections with your DJ.
3. Get plenty of sleep and practice good nutrition.
4. Relax!  It’s almost time for the big day!

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Planning A Wedding On A Budget

More brides and grooms are paying for or contributing to the cost of their wedding than any time before, meaning they have to stick to a budget while still having the wedding of their dreams.   So how can you have the wedding you want while sticking to a wedding budget?

Plan Your Budget.  The most important thing you can do for your wedding budget is plan early.   Review your financial situation to determine how much you can realistically save between now and your wedding date. If your family will gift wedding funds, discuss how much they will be contributing, what they will contribute to and when you can expect the financial support.  Knowing their timeline for contribution will help you to manage the cash flow required for deposits and payments of wedding services.

Prioritize.  One of the biggest mistakes brides make, is not prioritizing their wedding budgets.  If you have your heart set on great wedding pictures.  This allows you to cut other expenses as necessary to keep that element.  (Click here to learn about other top wedding mistakes.)  You should also consider other elements that are low priority and cut them immediately.  Most people won’t notice if you don’t offer personalized cocktail napkins and matchbooks, but your budget will be better off.

Choose one location.  There are multiple benefits of combining your ceremony and reception location.  In addition to the convenience, you can reduce the cost of multiple venues, transportation and decor.

Be selective with invitations.  It’s a difficult task to decide who makes the guest list “cut”.  With the average wedding reception cost per person of $100, this can be a budget saver though.  Most couples have a “B list” to add as the responses come in.

Reduce the number of attendants.  Each person standing up in your bridal party is a dear friend – and an expense.  While you may not be paying for their attire, you will purchase their flowers, attendant gift, transportation and more.  Consider limiting your bridal party to siblings and closest friends.

Bundle services.  It can be a huge savings to bundle multiple services with a single company.  Centerpieces, attendant’s flowers and ceremony decorations with one florist.  Invitations, wedding programs, and personalized stationary with one printer.  (Click here to learn about bundling DJ, Photography and Videography with Mike Staff Productions.)

So where can you make more affordable choices that go unnoticed by guests?

Reception

• Cut the guest list. This will save money on catering, invitations, guest favors and centerpieces.
• Think off-peak season and save thousands!
• Consider a Friday wedding – or Sunday for even bigger savings.
• Have bigger tables so you need fewer centerpieces and tablecloths.
• Shop the off-season for extra decor — get red vases on sale after Christmas and pretty pink ones after Valentine’s Day.

Flowers

• Use more greenery than flowers.
• Swap out costly flowers
• Stick to just one or two kinds of flowers.
• Buy flowers that are in season.
• Include non-florals, like lanterns, mirrors and candles in your centerpieces.

Food & Drink

• Skip midnight snacks.
• Shorten your cocktail hour to a half-hour.
• Offer beer, wine, and a signature cocktail instead of a full bar.
• Skip the champagne toast.

Cakes

• Order a small one or two-tiered cake and then supplement cake with a larger sheet cake (hidden back in the kitchen).
• Keep the add-ons simple.
• Use fresh flowers, not sugar ones.
• Reuse ceremony flowers for the cake table.
• Skip exotic fillings like guava and mango.

Stationery & Favors

• Get single-page invites to save on postage.
• Give out one favor per couple.
• Make your cake the favors.
• Have favors double as escort cards.
• Make your own menu cards, escort cards, and wedding favor packaging.

Photo, Video & Music

• Hire a photographer who will give you a copyright release which will save printing costs.
• Hire a single maned camera videography team.
• Hire a DJ who can do both the ceremony and the reception.

 We can create a custom package that fits within your wedding budget.  Click here to learn more.

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What budget friendly ideas would you add?  Leave a comment below or on our Facebook fan page.

Questions To Ask Before Getting Married

Wedding planning is full of questions that must be answered; cake or cupcakes, limo or bus, candles or flowers, the list is endless.  Before you get too far answering those questions, relationship experts recommend tackling some big questions about how your marriage will work after the wedding.  Here are some to start with:

On Friends & Family

• Do we want children?  When?  How many?
• How will we handle disagreements between a spouse and in-law?
• Whose family will we spend holidays with?  Which ones?
• Will we continue Guys/Girls Night Out after we are married?  Does that worry you?
• How much time will we spend with other couples?
• What faith will the children be raised in?
• What traditions are important to add to our family?

On Finances

• Will we combine income and expenses or set up a household account?
• Is it okay to accept or borrow money from our parents?
• What is your credit history?  Liabilities?  Assets?
• Whose bank will we use?
• Will we combine credit cards or continue to have our own accounts?
• Are you willing to relocate to support each other’s careers or educational goals?
• Are you a saver or spender?
• Who will keep track of household bills and payments?
• How will we decide on large purchases?  Small ones?

On Household 

• Where will we live: City?  Apartment or home?
• How will we divide household chores?
• Will we have pets?  How many?  What type?

Other Questions

• Is it ever okay to remove your wedding ring?  If so, when?
• Whose insurance will we use?
• What church will we attend?
• What in the future are you most excited about?  Worried about?
• Where do you like to vacation?
• How do we handle political differences?
• What habits annoy you?
• How do you define a happy marriage?
• How do you communicate and receive love?

For tips on wedding planning for a happy marriage, click here.

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