I have photographed enough weddings to know that there are two distinct brands of wedding photo tips.

1. The stuff that literally every wedding photographer ever tells you: drink water, eat breakfast, create a solid timeline, blah blah blah!!! (All of it very important, but none of it especially groundbreaking.)
2. The suuuuper unsuspecting stuff that nobody tells you because you would never think to ask about it in the first place. 

Lucky for you, I am not nobody. I am somebody—a luxury wedding photographer and professional tear wiper/champagne refiller, to be exact—who is always going to shoot you straight and divulge the oddly specific, secret little logistical bottlenecks that might not seem significant until you’re standing in the middle of your wedding day wondering why no one told you.

While every wedding photographer has their own list of wedding photo tips, I’ve accumulated a relatively alarming number of observations after years of documenting love stories through my wedding photography and videography packages. 

I mean, when you spend your weekends documenting one of the most holy-WOW-how-is-this-real-life days of two people’s entire lives, you can’t help but notice the things that make a day flow especially seamlessly… along with the tiny things that make a day feel WAY harder than it ever should.

So, consider this my contribution to the wedding planning industrial complex: the wedding photo tips that make me internally scream “WAIT, NOBODY TOLD YOU THAT?!”

Wedding Photo Tips No One Thinks About Until The Day’s Already in Motion

Give Yourself A Longer Aisle And A Wider Aisle Than You Think You Need

If there is one wedding photo tips hill I will gladly perish on, it’s this one.

Wedding aisles should be LONG. And wedding aisles should be WIDE. The end. (Okay, not the end. But close.)

Most couples think about their ceremony aisle exclusively from a design perspective. Will it fit the florals? Will it fit the chairs? Will it look balanced?

Meanwhile, I’m over here advocating for aisle real estate like I personally have stake in the game.

Let me put this in a way that will probably pull at your heartstrings a little bit: that walk down the aisle only happens once. ONCE.

And it’s pretty much the moment to end all moments. The moment your husband-to-be-in-like-twenty-minutes sees you. The moment you see him and your knees start knocking together. The moment your dad realizes he doesn’t have the backbone he seems to think he has. The moment every wedding guest collectively loses their MINDS at you, in that dress, with that hair. 

The moment everything you’ve been planning for the better part of a year finally becomes real.

And if the aisle at your wedding venue of choice is a grand total of twelve feet long, it’s over before anybody has a chance to even process what just happened.

A longer aisle not only impacts your wedding photography and videography packages by giving all of those moments the space to happen, but it gives YOU more time to look at the love of your actual life instead of low-key speedwalking your way to the altar in seven seconds flat.

And selfishly, it also gives me (assuming I’m your wedding photographer, of course) more time to run around like my backside is on fire so I can capture every possible angle of every possible moment.

To name a few? His reaction. Your weak attempt to stop the tears. Your dad holding you steady. The wide shot. The close-up. The perspective from behind. The perspective from the front. The perspective through the GORGEOUS hydrangea bushes at Redeemed Farm. (Did I say I was going to be oddly specific, or did I say it?!) 

(And while you’re at it, make the aisle wide, too. Aisles have a way of shrinking once you add florals, chairs, and a decorative something-or-other. You’re trying to get to the end of the aisle to say “I do,” not navigate your dress, your bouquet, and your father around a corner like you’re parallel parking.)

Give yourself room.

Speaking of ‘Room’: Leave Plenty of It Between Your Wedding Party And The First Row

This feels incredibly niche until you realize how many important moments happen in that tiny little pocket of space: parents crying, grandparents beaming, your maid of honor trying to keep from ugly-crying, your brother pretending he’s not emotional and failing miserably.

If everybody is stacked directly on top of each other, those reactions become much harder to see, experience, and photograph. 

What’s more: your wedding party has nowhere to stand comfortably, your parents are trying to see around bouquets and elbows, your grandma is doing that polite little lean because she wants to see your face, the train of your dress doesn’t have the space it deserves, and I’m over here trying to capture actual human emotion without getting sixteen shoulders and half a boutonniere in the frame.

It’s one of those tiny setup choices that feels like nothing on paper and makes a massive difference in real life.

Be Intentional About Who Gets The Front Row

This one has almost nothing to do with photography and everything to do with humanity.

The people in the front row seats are going to experience your ceremony differently than everyone else. They’re going to see the nuances of every single facial expression. They’re going to hear your vows (and maybe even what you whisper to each other out of earshot of the microphone). 

Think intentionally about who you want into those chairs. They’re the best seats in the house—and the ones most likely to land in the shot.

Make Sure Your Wedding Photographer Has Somewhere To Hide

I recognize that this sounds mildly concerning out of context, but I promise I’m not a stalker. (I mean, I WILL absolutely obsess over the two of you and your love story… but I swear I’ll be chill-ish about it.)

Wedding ceremony photos feel especially immersive and emotional when your photographer can move without being distracting or making your guests wonder why she’s army-crawling through the hydrangeas.

Having a little room behind your officiant and wedding party gives your wedding photographer plenty of opportunities to photograph reactions, emotions, and perspectives that simply aren’t visible otherwise. 

As much as we love the front view, wait until you get a load of the back view. Or the side view. Or the shot of your hands wrapped together during the vows. Or the photo of your parents crying from behind the florals and your partner’s face while you’re reading the line that absolutely wrecks them. 

In other words: I would very much like to disappear behind a shrub for three seconds and come back with one of your favorite images ever. 

Thank you for your time.

Stuff That Has Nothing To Do With Photos Really But Still Affects the Photos

Have Mother of the Bride Finished With Hair And Makeup Before You Get Into Your Wedding Dress

If there’s one wedding day scheduling mishap I see over and over (and over again), it’s this one:

Everybody is trucking right along. Hair is happening. Makeup is happening. The vibes are immaculate. Somebody’s blasting Chapell Roan from a speaker. Somebody else is trying to steam a dress without burning their fingerprints off.

And then it’s time for the bride to get dressed.

Except… the mother of the bride is still in the makeup chair, blissfully talking the makeup artist’s ear off about the day you brought your fiancé home to meet her and entirely unaware that panic is about to ensue.

Now there’s a decision to make. Do we wait? Do we rush? Do we pull mom out halfway through her mascara? Do we pretend nobody’s stressed while everybody is very clearly stressed?!!!

One of my very FAVORITE moments on a wedding day is watching a mom help her daughter into her dress. And it usually ends up being one of your favorite moments, too. Let’s not accidentally schedule that memory out of existence because mom was still having her lashes curled.

(Trust me on this one.)

Put Someone Else In Charge Of Cleaning The Bridal Suite

Hey bride, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you should not be cleaning or organizing on the most important day of your life, okay? And that includes moving water bottles, empty coffee cups, and rogue Panera bags five minutes before getting into your dress.

Before you start your day, assign one person the incredibly glamorous role of Bridal Suite Captain. That’s it—one trusted human who loves you enough to spend ten minutes making sure the room doesn’t look like the aftermath of a small natural disaster.

When it’s time to get into your dress, I don’t want you worrying about clutter. I want you fully present—laughing with your friends, hugging your mom, soaking in the fact that YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!

The Starbucks cups can handle themselves.

For the Love of All Things Lovey-Dovey: Do The First Look!!!

I know, I know. Every wedding photographer has opinions… and I’m certainly not about to withhold mine.

But first, before I receive any strongly worded emails: if you’ve dreamed of seeing each other for the first time at the altar since you were seven years old, please ignore everything I’m about to say and go live your best life.

BUT. If the only reason you’re skipping a first look is because someone on the internet said it would ruin The Moment™, I would like to kindly submit the following:

That is absolute nonsense.

Some of the most emotional moments I’ve ever documented through my wedding photography and videography packages have happened during first looks.

It’s often the first (and maybe, only) moment all day where you get to be 100% yourselves, together. You’re not hosting. You’re not greeting people or answering questions or managing logistics. 

You’re simply… being together, in private.

I’ve watched couples go from visibly anxious to completely settled in about thirty seconds flat. I’ve watched grooms forget every single thing they planned to say. I’ve watched brides laugh so hard they snorted a little bit. I’ve watched two humans wildly in love stand there staring at each other in total silence because the reality of becoming a whole husband and wife hit them like a ton of bricks.

It’s not less emotional than seeing each other at the ceremony. It’s just different.

And frankly, I think getting TWO once-in-a-lifetime moments instead of one is a pretty sweet deal.

If you’re aiming for maximum romance, maximum presence, and maximum opportunity to ugly cry in private before the ceremony, a first look is tough to beat.

For more of my unsolicited thoughts on the whole first look thing, here’s a whole blog post about it. Bring tissues.

Wedding Photo Tips You’ll Thank Me For Approximately Six Months From Now

Don’t Treat Your Wedding Detail Photos Like They’re The Warm-Up Act

Somewhere between the first wedding ever and now, wedding detail photos became something your wedding photographer does to warm up her shutter finger.

Respectfully, we don’t need a warmup and also: your wedding details deserve better. 

They are the opening chapter of your story, the pieces of evidence that tell the story before you’ve even entered the frame.

I’m telling you: don’t sleep on the details.

You didn’t think I’d have such a bold opinion and not dedicate an entire blog post to it, did you?! Give ‘In Defense of Wedding Details’ a read!

Do The Bridal Boudoir Session

Every time I hear somebody talk about bridal boudoir like it’s exclusively a confidence-building exercise, I feel compelled to raise my hand and say, “Okay, but can we PLEASE talk about the fact that you’re only a bride for, like, five seconds?!”

No, really, stay with me here—

One minute you’re planning your wedding. You’re ordering invitations, texting your maid of honor screenshots of about one bajillion tablescapes, trying to prove the merits of upgraded linens to your fiancé, and generally existing in this little limbo where your entire life revolves around becoming somebody’s wife.

And then… you’re married. That’s it.

Maybe this is the wedding photographer in me talking, but I think that’s worth documenting.

Not because you’ll never look this good again. (Please. You’ll continue being hot.) Not because your future husband will lose his mind over the photos. (He will.)

But because the woman standing on the edge of her wedding day deserves to be remembered on her own, too.

(I said what I said.)

Add the Videography

It’s no secret that you’re already making approximately 4,123 decisions and spending an astounding number of your waking hours looking at spreadsheets.

So when someone says, “You should add videography!” it can start to feel a little bit like wedding planning’s version of, “Would you like fries with that?”

But hear me out here: one of the weirdest things about weddings is how much of the day happens without making it into your memory exactly as it occurred.

You’ll remember snippets and flashes, but there are things that might slip your mind. 

You’ll remember sobbing through your dad’s speech, but you might not remember how his voice cracked halfway through. Unless you have the video.

You’ll remember laughing during your vows, but you might not remember which line of your husband’s vows specifically got you giggling. Unless you have the video. 

You’ll remember the dance floor being a good time, but you might not remember (or have even seen) the ring bearer absolutely annihilating the Macarena. Unless—say it with me now—you have the video.

Photographs and films are doing two completely different things: photography preserves the moment; videography preserves the part of the moments that photographs can’t physically hold.

Years from now, I don’t think you’re going to be sitting on your couch wishing you had LESS ways to revisit your wedding day. I think you’re going to be incredibly grateful that you can still play it back.

That’s why Hunter and I offer videography as an add-on to all of our wedding photography and videography packages: Soirée, Rendezvous, and Voyage. (You can give them a look here).

While I obviously adore a photograph (one would HOPE!), there are some parts of a wedding day that deserve motion, sound, and to be experienced the way they actually happened. 

Observations and Wedding Photography Tips from Your Professional Third Wheels

It surprises me sometimes how many wedding opinions I’ve accidentally developed over the years.

I didn’t set out to become somebody who feels passionately about ceremony layouts. I certainly didn’t anticipate having strong feelings about who should sit in the front row, or how much room should exist between the wedding party and the first row of chairs.

And yet, here we are.

But they’re not opinions for the sake of having opinions. 

Wedding days are one of the few things in life that are simultaneously a huge deal (as in, the BIGGEST) and over in the blink of an eye. You spend months—sometimes years—planning them. You think about them constantly. Some of you have been thinking of them since you were five years old.

Then suddenly it’s wedding morning, and before you know it, you’re on the dance floor at 10:47 p.m. wondering how on earth the whole thing went by so quickly.

Maybe that’s why I care so much about all of these seemingly random little things.

Not because I think a longer aisle is going to magically transform your entire wedding day, or that assigning somebody to clean the bridal suite is the key to marital bliss, or even that videography is required or that every single person should do a first look.

I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect wedding day, either (although certain ones come pretty darn close). I don’t think there’s a perfect timeline, a perfect ceremony layout, or a perfect set of decisions that’s going to guarantee some magical outcome. 

But I do think there are opportunities to make it easier for yourself to actually experience the thing you’ve spent so much time creating.

And after spending years as a professional third wheel to some truly incredible love stories, that feels like a pretty worthwhile thing to care about.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go continue my lifelong campaign for longer and wider aisles.