A wedding day can feel like a lot for anyone, especially once the date has been set. There’s the budget to decide, the venue you’d like, the guests (how many, who, and who to seat them next to), dresses and suits, transport, celebrant, music, entertainment, videographer and/or photographers to record everything for posterity. Some of those suppliers can be booked out two years in advance (venues and bands), so you’ll need a back up or two. No arguments, its a lot, and you’ll probably be looking at 12-18 months of stop-start organising of this and that just making sure everything is just right.

And then it’s all over in a day. A very busy day.

A wedding day is often a far less stressful day than many couples imagine it will be. Invariably, most stress happens before the wedding day, and it usually comes from unwanted input from family members rather than suppliers. Remember, it’s your wedding day and all your suppliers will want you to have a great time and will be working hard to make the day go smoothly.

That said, some people can be anxious about being the center of attention or having to ‘perform’ in front of a camera. With nearly every couple we’ve worked with one person has said they don’t like being photographed when we first meet them, so we walk them through their wedding day from our point of view and that seems to help them, perhaps they realise how little we’ll be asking them to pose and that for most of the day we’ll be working away in the background.

Whatever the reason, we can almost guarantee that when couples see each other at the top of the aisle on their wedding day, any anxiety they have will slip away. We’ve photographed hundreds of weddings and nearly all of them follow a similar pattern regardless of whether it’s a bride and groom, two brides, or two grooms. So, here’s a breakdown of a typical bride and groom wedding day from our point of view.

The Preparations
Wedding photography begins approximately two hours before the bride leaves to go to the ceremony. Jill arrives and would begin with a few detail shots of the dresses and flowers, just to get everyone used to her being around. After that she’ll do some hair and make up shots of the bride and bridesmaids. Next, when everyone is dressed, she’ll take a few on the bride on her own and them with the bridesmaids and any family who might be there.

With the groom, Mike would arrive an hour before everyone sets off to the ceremony venue. The grooms usually want to be there 20-30 minutes before it starts, just so they can chat to the celebrant, check everything is in place, and greet the guests as they arrive. An hour with the groom is plenty, there’s far less going on, and most of it just involves photographing whatever is going on with no direction. Perhaps a few quick portraits, and one or two with family. Very simple.

The Ceremony
Jill will arrive at the reception venue at the same time as the bride, go inside and take up position at the top of the aisle next to the groom; when he sees her, he’ll know the bride is not far behind. Mike will meet the bride as she arrives, get a couple of shots of her in the car and before she makes her entrance. That’s it. Ignore us photographers for the rest of the ceremony, we’ll document whatever happens. After the ceremony a couple might choose to have greet-line although, thankfully, these have fallen out of favour outside churches in recent years - with 100+ guests coulples can be spending 30-45 minutes standing outside a church greeting people they’re going to meet at the reception venue again, which might not be the most efficient use of time.

The Reception
When couple arrive at their reception we leave them be for a while so they can get a drink and have a chat with family and friends. We’ll spend the time photographing guests enjoying themselves and capturing some of the atmosphere.

The Wedding Portraits
This is pretty much the only part of the day where we will give couples some direction, and even then it’s very little. Once the couple is ready, we’ll bring them to whatever location we’ve agreed with them beforehand to have their wedding photos taken at - we’d have two cars with us, so if a drive with the bridesmaids and groomsmen is needed we’re always happen to do help out. Once we arrive at the location we’ll spend roughly 30 minutes photographing the couple, together and individually. We’re very easy going, and the most important thing for us is that couples enjoy themselves and have a laugh - which they do. Then we’ll photograph them with bridesmaids and groomsmen, sometimes with their children if they’re there too.

The Group Photos
Honestly, this is the part of wedding day photos everyone least likes doing, but they’re also the photos that end up meaning the most to everyone years later, so it’s worth doing right. Our advice is to keep it simple and with these more formal groups photos just stick to immediate families: parents, siblings, and children. Once you start adding in aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins, the time to find everyone, position them, and take the photo making sure they’re all looking at the camera, it can feel like too much standing and waiting for people to be found. Best to do immediate families formally if that’s what’s wanted, and then everyone else can be photographed much more informally - there’s two of us, so if you’re with a group we can take group photos on the fly which feel more natural, or we can do table runs with the couple once everyone is seated. Think about how you want to spend your time, mixing with guests or standing for too many group photos.

The Call To Meal
Once the call to meal is made couples tend to have 20-30 minutes for themselves while their guests are being seated and having their orders taken. We can leave couples alone and spend the time photographing guests, or we can take couples for a few photos at a different location. Honestly, we play this by ear on the day and we’re equally happy doing either.

The Speeches & Dances
Again, like for most of the day, just ignore us. If the speeches are before the meal we’ll stay and photograph them before grabbing a bite to eat. If they’re after the meal we’ll be close by when it’s finished, and we’ll arrange with you to have one of the bridesmaids or groomsmen check we’re there before they start if we’re not. When the meal and speeches are done it usually takes 30 minutes or so for a space to be cleared and the band/dj to get set up - some venues will have a sections set aside so they can set up earlier. Normally we spend 20-30 minutes photographing the dances, it depends on how busy the dance floor is. We’ll check in with you before we finish up.

So, that’s a wedding day from our point of view. There’s really very little time devoted to having couples pose for the camera, telling them what to do, as most of the work is the straight-forward documenting what happens. We have had so many couples tell us that they almost forgot about us on the day, which is fantastic as we can be with couples from morning until evening. We’re there to help couples have a great time, like all their suppliers on the day, but it’s also nice to know we faded into the background and got a few giggles along the way.