Be yourself, embrace your people, and enjoy the heck out of your wedding day! That’s the beauty of documentary photography. I want you guys to focus on squeezing every moment of joy out of your wedding… and your pictures (and wedding day experience) will be better for it.

There are no rules. Spend your wedding day exactly the way you want to spend it.

Last year one of my couples chose a unique way to greet all of their guests… the groom got in a dunk tank and the bride handed the balls to the guests to try to dunk him. Case in point. There are no rules.

Every wedding is different and spending your wedding day exactly how you want to spend it is something that’s very important to me. So, if you KNOW that you don’t want to see each other before the wedding, then disregard this!

That being said, I just wanted to share a couple of the benefits of seeing each other before the wedding.

1) You get to spend more time together on your wedding day. This is a day that famously GOES BY FAST and seeing each other earlier on will give you more time to drink in the magic of the day together.

2) This also allows us to get any formal photos out of the way before the ceremony, which frees you up to spend the rest of your day leaning in to your wedding and celebrating with your family and friends. THIS is what it’s all about, folks.

If you’d prefer not to see each other before the ceremony, that’s totally fine. We’ll just be sure to build in enough time between the ceremony and reception for family photos, newlywed photos, etc.

There are so many formalities on your wedding day… ceremony, speeches, first dances. The cocktail hour is one of the only freeform parts of the day when you can mingle and celebrate with all of the special people in your life that you’ve surrounded yourself with on your wedding day. If it works out with your timeline I highly recommend attending!

This is also one of the best parts of the day for us to capture meaningful candid images as well, which is our bread and butter.

The more natural light, the better. If your wedding venue’s bridal suite and/or hotel room is poorly lit, then consider checking air bnb! They are generally affordable and can offer a more comfortable space to get ready for the big day.

All that being said, I’d take a dimly lit family cottage with history and meaning over a trendy rental any day. Truly, whatever works best for you… I’m in.

Keep it simple. The more efficient the list is, the easier it will be to get some really nice pictures with your families in a timely manner. Over the years I’ve seen many large photo lists lead to bride and groom burnout. It can get frustrating when your uncle Jim is needed for photo and can’t be found (he’s at the bar already!). We typically do family photos immediately after the ceremony, but you can schedule them before the ceremony as well if you’d prefer to get them done beforehand. Remember, there are no rules!

Hot tip: Equip a member from each side of the family with a copy of the list, so they can make sure everyone who is needed knows when and where to be. I will send a family photo list form over when your wedding day gets closer.