Continuing our theme of helpful hints when choosing a quality wedding photographer in Perth, I thought we’d offer some helpful hints in planning, to help you get the best out of your wedding photography. Whether you’re getting married in Perth, the south west or Margaret River with 30 or 530 guests, a wedding is a an “event” in anyone’s language and usually a corporate event would have a number of planners working on the event full time along with helpers to whom specific jobs are delegated. However when it comes to a wedding, my experience tells me the majority of the responsibility is shouldered by the bride to be, who usually already has a full time job! Approached with the right mind set organising a wedding can be a real blast! So here are a few tips to keep the day on track with out you going off the rails and resulting in spectacular wedding photographs!
The obvious areas to start with are the essentials for the day, – the venues for the wedding ceremony and reception. To be assured of securing your first choice for these venues you should be booking at least 12 months prior to your wedding date. Once the ceremony and reception venues are secure, next on the list is a specialist wedding photographer. I say “specialist” because you want a wedding photographer that has experience in the area of weddings, as opposed to commercial work or fashion, someone who has excellent communication skills, is used to dealing with what can be emotional situations, can anticipate responses for those wonderful candid wedding photographs and knows how to craft exquisitely styled wedding images. Ask to view some friends’ wedding albums as the wedding album photographs with be a good indication of the post production work the photographer can do on the “raw images”. For more detail in what to look for when choosing a specialist wedding photographer check out our fist blog in this series “What is a Specialist Wedding Photographer?”.
Get on to choosing your dress, nothing worse than arriving at a brides home on the morning of the wedding to find the dressmaker still putting on the finishing touches, we’ve seen it! When trying bridal gowns, take just one or two friends or relatives whose opinion you value and who will tell you honestly if something doesn’t look quite right. It pays to be flexible when you first start looking and try a selection of different styles. If you go to a designer be guided by the professionals’ recommendations. They will have worked with many different shapes and sizes and will suggest styles that will bring out the best in you.
Hair and make up are very personal. Most women feel strongly about how they like to see themselves. Once again, ask around to friends, did they deal with professionals who could adapt to different looks and take on board what the client wanted. The biggest concern we hear is that “I don’t usually wear much make up and I don’t want to feel overly made up”. From a photographers point of view we would always recommend a professional make up artist. You’re in the spot light for many hours on a wedding day and most domestic makeup just doesn’t last the distance, especially after you’ve been hugged and kissed by a hundred people outside the church, not to mention perhaps a day of 30 degrees! The most important thing when choosing a make up artist is to choose a professional and have a trial, if the look you’ve been given is not quite what you expected, ask for the look to be altered, but if the makeup artist’s style just doesn’t suit you at all try another. Most professional makeup artist wont have any trouble adapting to different looks. A professional will bring out your best features and your eyes will be just amazing! Once again when having your hair styled for your wedding day be guided by the professional. Some times your hair just will not do what you’re asking of it! A professional will tell you the truth. Remember Perth’s a very windy city, which is great for those flowing veil shots but not such a great look when hair is strewn across your face.
Fake tan can look fabulous or just plain awful! Most photographers will recommend you go for the natural skin tone look. The base colours in many fake tans can give off yellow or orange tinge to the skin, – not a good look. If you decide you can’t get by without your fake tan, see a professional, talk to them about matching the colour to your natural toning and have it done about one week prior to the wedding so it looks lived in! We’ve seen it all, – from stained hands, blotchy skin to tan stains on the bridal gown.
On a wedding day treat time as your friend, have plenty of it! You’ll find that the day will flash by and the last thing you want to remember is feeling rushed from one moment to the next. Always err on half an hour more rather than half an hour less. Your specialist wedding photographer is a good person to discuss timing with. Your wedding photographer is generally with you from the time you put your wedding dress on to the time you sit down at the reception or sometimes until you wave good by. S/he will be able to advise what time hair and make up need to be finished by, how long the ceremony and family photography are likely to take and how much time you’ll need for photographs between the ceremony and the reception. Be guided by the professionals, they’ve had experience!
When selecting the professionals who will be with you on the day, look at say 3 or 4, too many and you’ll get confused. If you see what you like, book it, it might be gone in a week. Be guided by what the professionals have to say, if a dress designer tells you the strapless number is not for you at least try what they suggest, the same goes with the hair dresser, make up artist and the photographer. If the lighting is going to be unsuitable at your favourite spot, maybe just do a couple of shots there and go to where the professional recommends. In the end it’s how you look in the wedding photograph not the back ground, that will be the reason you love that photo! Ensure you feel at ease with the professionals that you choose to be with you on the day, they’ll be around for quite a while and you want to feel relaxed on your wedding day. Take advantage of the professionals, they’ve done many weddings and can offer all sorts of advise, all true wedding professionals will be wanting to do the best for you on your wedding day.
Check out the stunning gowns and faces below!
