Your wedding is the most important day of your life– I totally get that.  But the part where you are confusing me is where you decide to skimp on the on service that will help you relive the day: the emotions, the laughter, the tears, and the love through film.

So here is the question…If your wedding isn’t covered (and properly), did it really happen?

Where else can you see yourself evolve from a beautiful, independent woman into the woman who will now spend the rest of her life being a part of an everlasting couple with the love of her life?

Where else will you see your father kissing your mother and looking on nostalgically as you exchange vows?

Where else will you see your fiance’s grandmother wiping her tears away during your first dance?

Photography does so much more than just capture your day, it also captures the moments you didn’t see.  Like your groomsmen playing around with your future husband, your mother getting ready or having a loving moment with your father, or those special moments where your fiance and his mother enjoy the day prior to the ceremony.  Skimping on the photography is like virtually erasing your memory after the wedding.  No one is saying that you  have to have a celebrity photographer with the largest package.  What I am saying, is that after the dress has been cleaned and pressed and the honeymoon is over, how will you look back on your wedding day?  Most importantly, will it be favorably?  Is it worth risking to an amateur?  When you’re painting a house, you can hire a friend or someone just getting started because you know in the back of your head, if worse comes to worst, you can do it over.  You don’t have that luxury with weddings– you can’t reassemble your family and friends and reenact all of the important moments.  This is something that you must get right, the first time.

Here are some tips on doing just that:

• Think about the type of photography would you like– are you more photojournalistic or traditional?
• Think about how long your would like your coverage to be– keep in mind, it is far easier to choose from a large selection of pictures than it is to choose from fewer. More coverage, more pictures, more memories.
• Do a test run with your photographer by doing a love story or engagement shoot.  This will help you get acclimated to your photographer’s shooting style.
• Take good care of your photographers– be sure to account for them in your guest count. Like your planner, they are the ones that will be with you for a majority of the day working extremely hard. You can’t expect great art if the artist is starving.
• Respect your photographers’ artistic and professional ability– Some photographers love “must shoot” lists, others can live without them.  If you have some pictures that you definitely want, be sure to discuss this with your photographer beforehand.  They will get it in, and if it is really important, make sure that you stress the point.  If you  have select people that you want in images, please make it easy for these people to be located so that the photographers can do their job effectively, and not chase down Aunt Sarah.

Wedding Planner Tip:  Please tell your planner or day of coordinator who these people are so that they can be located easily or even kept on hand.  If you choose not to get a wedding planner, be sure to point these people out to your photographer’s assistant or second shooter.  But your work is not done at that point.  Then designate a relative not in the wedding as the official relative and special person finder.  (You like that title, don’t you. Yes, you can use it. No copyright.) Make sure that this person stops these people at the end of the ceremony and keeps them at bay until they are needed for photos. Afterwards, they can return to the cocktail hour.

Photography is important– it is important today, and it will be important to you years from now.  I can’t tell you much my children enjoy looking at photos from our vow renewal. It means a lot for them to share in that moment of their parents, and I am sure that it will mean more later down the line as they get older.

{Photo Source :: Mark Eric}