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After shooting dozens and dozens of weddings over the past few years, I’ve noticed a great deal of tiny commonalities between weddings. Today I’m sharing my top 5 most interesting wedding observations that you may or may not have noticed before.
1. The Couple Doesn’t Enjoy Their Cake
Because I have a huge sweet tooth, I’m all about couples enjoying their wedding cake. Unfortunately, at nearly every single wedding I shoot, the couple only eats the bite or two they have during the cake cutting. Even if a plate of cake makes its way to the bride and groom’s table, it usually sits uneaten all night.
If you’re really excited about your wedding cake, plan to slip away for a few minutes to enjoy the gorgeous and tasty work of art you commissioned. It’s well worth it! Another alternative is to have the wait staff box up two slices for you to enjoy in your hotel, or in the car ride to the hotel if you can’t stand to wait!
2. Best Photos Without Shot Lists
Browsing Pinterest, I always come across lengthy shot lists written by blogs (not photographers) with dozens of staged photos that are “must have.” Hands down, the best wedding photos that you’ll love the most won’t come from a shot list. Shot lists kill the creativity and artistry that attracted you to your photographer. When your wedding photographer can simply do the job you trust them to do, they’ll capture gorgeous, one of a kind images that other brides will want to copy!
3. Guests & Reception Details
Something about an empty, beautiful reception becomes like a magnet to guests when the photographer is trying their best to capture detail images before people enter the space. I’ve seen guests take their escort cards off of a table before the ceremony even begins. Unfortunately, when guests tamper with the reception space too early, this really causes the photos of the decor to suffer either a little or a lot.
Things like jackets, purses, and other accessories often get thrown on the reception table during cocktail hour, unless your venue or planner has wisely sectioned off the tables from the intended cocktail hour space. Next time you’re a wedding guest, be patient with your accessories and taking decor pieces off the tables. The couple (and the vendors) will be so happy to have photos that show the space as originally designed and free of clutter :)
4. Bridal Party Not Always On Board with Photos
When one or more members of a group photo either aren’t paying attention to the photographer or have a negative attitude about taking photos, the images often take longer to shoot and typically aren’t as pretty. I’ve had my fair share of difficult bridal parties and the unfortunate fact is that the photos often suffer because not everyone is a team player.
Mishaps I often witness are a collection of photos where one or two people are never looking at the camera (despite instruction to do so), the photos run late (causing the bride and groom photos to be shortened), or the couple receives less bridal party images because uncooperative bridesmaids or groomsmen caused me to run out of time for additional images.
Out of respect for my couples and consideration for the bridal party consisting of adults, all I can do is be kind and assertive and do the best I can with a rowdy crowd. If you anticipate this being an issue with your wedding, email your bridal party and request that they have a positive attitude and pay attention to the photographer during group photos. By doing so, you’ll ensure that your images will be diverse, beautiful, and fun and that the amount of time required for the photos is shorter, which means the bridal party can get to partying that much faster!
5. Groom Getting Used to His Ring
One absolutely adorable thing I’ve noticed at many weddings is that the groom will fiddle with his ring. Not used to wearing rings, he usually plays with it for a few hours before forgetting it’s there. I love seeing it!
