This is a guide for planning your wedding with an emphasis around your photos. This is an ideal guide for those planning a wedding in which your photos are one of the most important elements to you and your partner. Photos will remain long after us and stand the test of time. We at The Frenchs believe that you should feel the emotions of the day through your photos and video as you will notice in our portfolio of work. So! All this said let’s begin planning your wedding!
To start
Make a list of what’s the most important things to you and your partner.
Why are you having a wedding? And why is it important for you to have the wedding you are envisioning? Marriage is different from a wedding. It’s possible to get married without a wedding so why do you want it to be the way you are picturing it? It’s important that these whys are your own. Planning weddings can be stressful and opinions will come from everywhere….everywhere! You need a clear why to refer back to.
Some examples could be. It was your childhood dream to have a wedding. It’s important to you to have your families together. You want to party to celebrate your love. You are religious and want that to be apart of your day.
Next on your list what things are most important to you in material items? Flowers, cake, photos, video, venue and so on.
Then look at your budget. What’s your over all budget? Throw out the idea that you need to spend certain percentages of your budget on one thing or another based on someone else’s opinion or what you’ve read and instead refer back to your lists. What’s most important to you. If you really care about flowers then it deserves to go to the top of the list and get a high percentage of the over all budget. That goes for anything. Photos, videos, cake. It’s your list you prioritize it by what you want.
It’s our opinion that a talented photographer and videographer can make great photos and videos no matter the circumstances but we can’t make your cake taste sweeter. We want you as a client if you value photos and video. We will make everything look it’s best but if you value something else more prioritize it first. It’s your day. This also puts your wants more inline with your vendors and creates relationships with your vendors that you will remember. It’s simple if you value the same things as someone else a bond is formed. What could be more special for the specifics of your wedding day?
Engagements
First thing before the wedding. Do you want engagement photos? You don’t “need” an engagement photoshoot. However, a big reason you’ll probably hear that you need to have an engagement session is for ‘save the dates’ while this is true that you can use your photos for this, but it isn’t a requirement for save the dates. We believe the main reason to do an engagement photoshoot is to allow you an intimate time for you and your partner. Weddings, though it is a beautiful celebration of your love it is also the coming together of two families and doesn’t allow the same one on one intimacy that only being with your partner will allow. That said your relationship and personalities are unique. If you believe you would value the time with your partner you may want to consider it. However, if you believe it would add stress to plan out another day for photos you should consider skipping it.
So you decided you want an engagement photoshoot? Now, what to wear? (Skip ahead, if you decided not to do engagement photos)
We recommend solids over patterns and complimenting colors over matching. We also recommend shopping in your closet first. You want to feel comfortable with what you look like. If you already have a favorite outfit consider wearing it. It’s also an option that you can dress up the outfit with accessories. Some times shopping for the right thing can add stress. If it makes you happy, then go shopping, but if it’s going to stress you out, then arrive in your favorite outfit you already own. We want your engagement photos to be fun, not stressful. Lastly, for the dress wearer if you are considering a dress vs pants look then think about the kinds of photos you want. If you want to be active, piggyback riding or something else pants will work just as well and allow you to move. On the other hand looking for more ‘wow’ maybe a dress is for you.
These are your photos so keep your personality and your relationship in mind. If you have something that’s special to your relationship tell us and we can work together to incorporate it whether it’s themes, locations, or something else.
Checklists
Behind the scenes details
Guest List
Vows
Wedding license
Fitting for your dress
Selecting songs for dances
Seating charts
Money for your vendors- Have someone in charge of this if you don’t have a wedding planner. We personally invoice you ahead of time so you won’t have to worry about this with us on your wedding day.
Dinner for appropriate vendors- photographers, videographers, wedding planner, DJ or band, officiant, venue representative. Generally you want to provide food to vendors that are going to be with you for longer hours. When it comes to photographers and videographers ideally you will want them to be eating when you do so that we’re finished eating at the same time and able to get back to photos and video.
Essentials
Save the dates
Invites
Bouquets
Boutonnieres
The dress/veil/shoes
The grooms clothes & shoes
The wedding parties clothes
The rings
The Look
Decorations
Placement cards
Flowers
Chairs & Tables
Table Cloths
Guest Book
Extras you’ll probably want
Clean your Jewelry
Steamer for dresses day of
Bag of personal items you may want
Water bottle
Hotel rooms (night before/night after)
Detail Box (discussed more below)
Vendors
Rehearsal Dinner Venue
Venue
Wedding Planner
Photographer(s)
Videographer(s)
DJ/musicians
Officiant
Caterers
Florist
Hair and Makeup Artist
Rides / party bus / limo / carriage
Gifts
For your wedding party
For your parents
For your guests
For yourself- Your registry
Traditions
Something Old
Something New
Something Blue
You have an idea of everything you need off the check list. So how do we fit it all together.
Your wedding
timeline
How many hours of photo & video coverage do you need for your wedding?
6 hours- You might consider shorter wedding coverage if detail shots aren’t that important to you, if you don’t have a wedding party, or if you skip the dinner at the reception.
8 hours- Most weddings will fit into this time frame. These are weddings including getting ready, details, your wedding party, and a full reception.
10 hours or added hours- If you have a longer ceremony (1hr+) and need more time to cover, or if you are traveling between places, map out the travel times and always leave a larger window than you think you’ll need to account for running behind and other variables.
After you have a time frame. A good starter for planning your timeline is to look up your date and figure out what time sunset is for that day and then work backwards from there. An hour before sunset is the best time for cinematic natural lighting. We refer to this time as golden hour. This is when we personally would prefer to photograph the couple, but it is your wedding so you plan your time around what you value.
You’re marrying your partner not your timeline. On the wedding day things usually get off track and this is the nature of weddings. Remember why you are there, what is important and don’t stress over things getting off track. Help yourself to not stress by creating larger windows for things.
Things to consider for your timeline, when do you want your family pictures to be taken. Often a good time is right after the ceremony. The most time effective way to do photos is to start with the largest combination of people and subtract from there, working your way from extended family, to immediate family, to the couple alone. This allows people to be able to break away and go sit down rather than wait for their turn. We recommend putting one person from each partners family that knows everyone to be in charge of getting people together for the combinations. We provide you with a checklist before the wedding so we will know who you want but we don’t know all these people personally that’s why this is helpful to keep things flowing.
Getting Ready
When it comes to getting ready, keep in mind who you want to be there when you’re getting dressed. You want whoever you choose whether it be mom, bridesmaid, whoever to be ready before you so that you can have the photos of them helping you get ready.
Reveals
Reveals, who do you want to do a reveal with, grandparents, parents, wedding party members, partner. You’ll need to allot time for each reveal.
Just you two
Time for the couple, though there will be pockets of time that you will be alone together we recommend that if photos of you two together are a priority that time is made for them while your guests are busy. The best time frame that we have found for this is when the guests are eating. After your entrance into the venue it is recommended that you eat then, so you aren’t hungry (do not skip eating) and then slip out for sometime alone with your partner and us. Your guests will be occupied by their food and give you time freed from the crowd without worry that they are getting bored. We will have you back before your guests have finished eating and we can move on to your next activity from there.
The Dress
If you want a picture of your dress by itself then when you are getting ready is also when this photo is taken. Often the room that you are getting ready in can get chatioc this is why the detail box can come in handy. Another tip is to keep an area clear for photos. Areas tend to fill up in the getting ready rooms, so its often a good idea to keep an area clear so that you aren’t having to move so much stuff in order to get the photos you want. We recommend the cleared area to be near windows, natural lighting makes for some of the best photos
The Details
Detail Box, if detail photos are important to you the best time for us to get them is while you’re getting ready for the day and they aren’t in use ie: Rings. It’s a good idea to have a box for the things you want photographed. This can include shoes, rings, programs, photos, or whatever is important to you.
Cake Cutting
A tip for cake cutting, cut the cake at a time that allows your guests to be able to see you cut the cake without distraction and allows for the cake to be taken away and brought back out during dinner. What this does is makes sure that your guests see you cut your cake and that they aren’t up to get a piece of cake during your next activity. You don’t want people in line for cake during your first dance.
Send Off
Send off, often it’s better to do a mock send off rather than a real one. This allows you more control over it and to make sure it’s done before too many guests have left or you run out of time and so you can enjoy the remainder of the party care-free. We recommend doing a mock send off with your wedding party. If you bring all your guests out for your send off they are more than likely to leave even if it is for a mock send off because they have left the building. Doing a mock send off with your wedding party allows your guests to continue with the party inside.
Bubbles, if you are doing a bubble send off we recommend having a bubble machine for behind the crowd to get the most photos for your send off.
Sparklers, you’ll want to look for sparklers that are made for weddings or photos. Specialty made sparklers for weddings are meant to burn longer than Fourth of July sparklers so you’ll get more sparkler action for your send off instead of them going out too soon.
Timeline planning beyond photos. Throughout the day you want to keep things flowing and give your guests something to do. We recommend keeping activities moving by the time you get to your reception, avoiding too much time between activities. Doing this will keep your guests entertained and prevent guest from leaving before the festivities are over.
Regardless of any of our recommendations this is your day. It’s important to keep in mind why you’re having your wedding and what is most important to you. If you ever struggle with any of your planning always go back to your why. We care about what is important to you and are here to help.
-The Frenchs
