Wedding Planning Tips Archives

How to Get Great Wedding Photos when You Hate Being Photographed

March 16, 2018 by Lara Eichhorn

Do you hide when a camera is pointed at you? Are you constantly untagging photos of yourself on Facebook? If you feel like you’re unphotogenic, but still want some great photos to remember your wedding, check out the following tips.

1. Find the right photographer

There are a few things you can look for in a photographer that will make your portrait session easier on your wedding day:

meet with them and make sure you’re comfortable with their personality and share a similar approach to photography;
try to find someone with a diverse portfolio that isn’t just full of people who look like models and shows that they know how to make regular people look good; and
choose someone who is ok with putting the amount of focus on portraits that you want. For example, if you want to just spend twenty minutes getting a few relaxed photos of yourselves, don’t choose someone who wants to spend three hours getting epic portraits.

2. Focus on the candids

Not a big fan of posing for portraits? Don’t spend your wedding day doing it. You’ve worked hard at putting together a fun day for your guests – you should get to enjoy it with them. Most of my wedding clients prefer a short portrait session because they want to spend time with their guests, so we take about an hour to do all portraits (family, wedding party, and couple portraits). This time can even be shortened if you don’t want a lot of variety.

Focusing on the candid photos can also get you some gorgeous, genuine photos of the two of you interacting with each other, all without you having to do anything for the camera. Sometimes my favourite photos of the couple from a wedding are from the first dance, the recessional, or even the couple cuddling or dancing late into the night. Plus, you’ll get great photos of your loved ones enjoying your wedding and just being themselves.

3. Do an engagement session

The best way to get good at something is to practice and that’s why I love doing an engagement session with my wedding clients. I know it seems counter-intuitive to do an extra portrait session if you hate having your photos taken, but it can really help you feel more comfortable in front of the camera. You’ll get a chance to learn how to work with your photographer and they’ll learn how to get the best from you. Seeing some great photos of yourselves from the session will also boost your confidence in advance of the wedding day.

4. Remember that the wedding is a whole different ballgame

You’ll be a mix of extreme emotions on your wedding day and the portrait session likely won’t be on your mind much. Couples tend to get nervous before the ceremony, especially if they don’t like being the center of attention. Once that’s over with, they generally feel relieved and joy is the overwhelming emotion during a post-ceremony portrait session.

If you’re even more nervous about the ceremony, then doing a first look and the portraits beforehand can make you feel more relaxed for the wedding. Some couples feel more comfortable seeing each other early in the day, because they know how to calm each others’ nerves.

5. Get away from the crowd (or don’t)

When you do head out for some portraits during the wedding day, make sure you get away from the crowd. Don’t bring your families or wedding party with you, because they’ll just distract you and make you feel more self conscious. It can feel really awkward to be affectionate in front of people you know well, especially if they’ve been drinking and are teasing you.

On the other hand, if you don’t care about getting intimate portraits and just want to get it over with, bringing your closest friends can make it seem more casual and fun.

6. Focus on each other and let the nervous laughter out

I try to get my couples to focus on each other during the portrait session, rather than focusing on the camera. Some couples feel awkward and aren’t sure what to do with themselves. I let them do their own thing for a while, before posing them when needed. Remember that nervous laughter tends to look like smiling, so don’t be afraid to let it out.

Remember that most people feel awkward posing for photos and everyone feels unphotogenic sometimes. Think about what you want from your photos and which photos are most important to you, then use the above tips to make wedding photography a great part of your day.

How to Tip Your Wedding Photographer

April 8, 2016 by Lara Eichhorn

A common question I see on wedding planning message boards is how much to tip your vendors. I’m not an expert on tipping etiquette, so I’m just going to give you a photographer’s view on tipping photographers.

Tip Them

The most common advice seems to be that you don’t have to tip a business owner, and most photographers own their own business. I think this makes sense. Business owners should be charging enough that they don’t need tips to earn a living, so you don’t have to tip them. However, many small business owners are struggling and tips are definitely appreciated. If you feel like your photographer went above and beyond and would like to tip them for it, then please do. I don’t think the amount matters. Most people tip me $100-$300, but tipping at all is rare and not expected.

Tip The Second Photographer

I’ve seen some people say to not tip the business owner, but to tip the second shooter since they’re an employee. Most second shooters are not actually employees. They’re usually a partner or subcontractor and are typically paid well. Second shooters are usually paid $20-$50 per hour and up, depending on skill level and how much the main photographer is getting paid. If someone just tipped my second shooter and not me, I’d feel pretty insulted, since they often make more per hour than I do. If you tip the primary photographer, then tipping the second shooter is extra sweet of you. Most primaries will share their tip with the second anyway.

Since tipping isn’t financially necessary or generally expected, here are some other ways to thank your photographer if you think they did an amazing job.

Leave a Review

Online reviews help with booking new clients, which is important to keep our businesses running. Reading a great review about my business makes me feel really good too. Ask them what the best sites are to leave a review or just leave one at one or more of these popular places: Facebook page, Google, Wedding Wire, or Yelp.

Talk about Them

Just as helpful as reviews, or more, is sharing their work and name with your friends. Post some of the photos on your social media and give credit to your photographer (tag their account or leave a link to their website). Whenever your friends are planning a wedding, recommend your photographer to them. Word of mouth is extremely important to our businesses.

Send a Gift or Card

As an alternative to a monetary tip, you can send them a small gift in the mail or even just a heartfelt handwritten card. These don’t have to be expensive, but the gesture itself is sweet and meaningful. By the way, everyone loves gifts of food. Ok, at least I do.

Buy Something

Buy an album or some prints. Let your photos live on outside your computer. They’ll be great to pass down to your children and grandchildren. The profit from prints and products is just as good as a tip, even if they require more work from the photographer. I love to know that people are enjoying their photos in tangible form. You can also share a link to the online gallery, if your photographer provides you with one, so that your guests can buy some prints for themselves.

As wedding vendors, we know that weddings are expensive and we don’t expect anything beyond our usual fees. All of the above things are a huge bonus and I’m always grateful for clients that show their appreciation in any way.

Yes, I Do Take Family Portraits at Weddings

March 24, 2016 by Lara Eichhorn

My portfolio is heavily skewed towards candid photos from the wedding day, with a few favourite couple portraits thrown into the mix. It’s distinctly lacking in detail photos, family portraits, and wedding party photos. Sometimes potential clients ask me if I take those photos at all.

Yes, I do take family portraits at weddings and yes, I think they’re important.

I just don’t tend to show these photos because they’re more much meaningful to the clients than to random people looking at my website. I don’t spend a lot of time on family portraits during the wedding day, because I think most people just want to get back to the party and spending time with their loved ones. I don’t heavily pose these portraits either. I tend to put people in a group, in a good location with flattering lighting, and let them be themselves. I think photos of everyone together are important as a record of your family history and these photos increase in value over time. I don’t think they need to be particularly artistic. They’re about the people, not the photography.

This is what my family portraits tend to look like. Nothing special, except for the people in them.

I love this typical family portrait because Eric and his mom naturally held hands and I think that just shows their relationship so well.

Even when they don’t make it onto the list, I often try to do a photo of the bride and groom with each of their parents. Some sweet moments tend to come about when you put parents together with their kids in an emotionally charged moment, right after the ceremony.

A lot of people choose to do a photo of all of their guests. These can be challenging to pull off, with everyone in the same light and making sure you can see everyone’s face, but I think they’re awesome for the couple to have.

I love it when people get silly.

It’s also fun when the unexpected happens. Usually kids cause some chaos, but here the bride’s veil kept blowing around, like it did during the ceremony, creating some cute moments with her dad.

And I’m always open to taking suggestions from my clients. Shannon with her mom and grandma are totally adorable in their three wise monkeys pose. Sarica and Mukul wanted a photo with all their family and wedding party, arranged randomly across the beach. We took a few versions of this. Big groups are tough to work with, but make a photo with a lot of interesting points that would look great printed large.

I’ll share some wedding party photos soon, and maybe even some details. And of course, lots of great moments.

Wedding Photography is a Gift to Your Guests

March 11, 2016 by Lara Eichhorn

Wedding favours are overrated. Many of them get left on the tables at the end of the night (though I do love a good food-based favour, like tea or chocolate).

What can you give to your guests to show your appreciation for them celebrating with you? Besides, of course, a fun event with amazing food. How about some beautiful photos that capture their relationship with you and their friends and family?

I try to get a good candid photo of every guest whenever possible – something that shows their personalities and relationships. I think if someone is important enough to invite to your wedding, they’re important enough to be a part of your wedding photos (or at least important enough to someone who’s important to you).

Here are some photos I love that show the relationship between the couple and their guests. One of my favourite times to capture photos of close relationships with the couple is before the ceremony, when the bride and groom are getting ready for the day surrounded by their best friends and closest family.

The celebration after the ceremony is pretty fun too.

And the reception is always full of laughter. It’s the perfect time to reconnect with guests you don’t see often, or just have a fun time with the people you love. Your guests will love having great photos with you.

Many of my favourite photos from the wedding day don’t even have the bride or the groom in them. One of my favourite photos ever is a photo of my boyfriend and I at an event, taken by a pro photographer. There’s also a sweet candid of us from a fellow photographer’s wedding. Here are some of my fave photos of guests with their friends and dates.

Guests can also end up with a photo of themselves looking beautiful or cool. New Facebook profile pic anyone?

Or cute photos of their kids, or them (or their relatives) with their kids. Ok, I take a lot of photos of kids. They’re a lot of fun at weddings.

I love all the action on the dance floor. Who wouldn’t want to remember their killer dance moves?

And, of course, we always take posed photos of guests with the couple or with their families/dates if requested. I believe most of the below images were taken by my second shooters at these weddings, Jesse Holland and Gwen Ewart.

I provide my couples with an online gallery where guests can download web-sized photos from the wedding. In addition, as a wedding favour, you could give your guests a card with a print credit code to get some free prints from your wedding. Your photographer can probably work out a deal for you if you buy a bunch of credits at once.

What to Do for your Engagement Session

February 22, 2016 by Lara Eichhorn

Want to do something different for your engagement session, rather than just take posed photos in pretty places? How about including an activity you both love? Activities can be included as part of a posed session, with just a few minutes spent staging them, or as the basis for a documentary session (see more on documentary sessions here). Having something to do can distract you and make you feel more at ease with the camera. It also makes the photos more personal if you incorporate an activity that means something to you.

Here are some ideas for what to do during your session. I’ve linked to some example shoots in the text.

a sport you both enjoy

Examples: rowing, golfing, bowling, hiking, rock climbing, surfing, swimming, kayaking, skiing, horseback riding. For the record, I would really love to photograph a couple going surfing.

a shared hobby

Examples: gardening, playing board games, making music, going sailing, playing pool.

your everyday routine

Examples: your regular weekend morning, visits for long-distance relationships, watering the lawn, doing chores, making dinner, hanging out at home.

something romantic

Examples: a picnic in the park, star or cloud watching on a mountain top, making and enjoying a fancy dinner at home.

hang out somewhere you frequent

Examples: coffee shop, pub, your home, the theater, a favourite store.

other ideas

Take your pet for a walk.

Go for a road trip or camping.

Visit the county fair and go on the rides or watch the animals. Go to an amusement park or aquarium.

Incorporate your careers, especially if they involve visually interesting activities, props, or uniforms.

Make stuff for the wedding. Document parts of the planning process.

Want to set up an engagement session with me? Get in touch.