Wedding Photography Tip #1

The massive tidal surge of weddings and portraits has slowed slightly, so I thought I would start something new for the summer. As spring 2008 brides are now booking their vendors, I thought it would be a great opportunity to put out a series of wedding photography tips for brides. After more than 100 weddings, Olyn and I have pretty much seen and heard everything, so we thought we would give back a little and share some hopefully sage advice!

Wedding Photography Tip #1 Manage Your Time

Your wedding day will pass by faster than any other day in your life. There is no getting around it, so you need to have reasonable expectations for your time. Many of your vendors- photographer, caterer, dj, etc. will work with you to develop a timeline for your day. Staying on time with a wedding is a rarity, so the best piece of advice I can give you is to fib. That's right, just lie to your bridal party and family! Tell them they have to be dressed for photos at 3, when they actually don't have to be ready until 3:30. This gives them a half hour to be late (you hurry when you're late) and it won't affect your wedding day schedule at all.

I also recommend building in extra time for the unexpected. If your stylist says you will be finished at 1:00, just plan to be finished at 1:30. The worst that happens? You are early and you have time to sit, relax and check out all the details that you so meticulously planned! Or you have extra portrait time with your photographer and you get some really awesome shots! (YIPPEE!)

Weddings can be very stressful events and being in a time crunch magnifies the stress. Do you want to be a bride that is running ragged because she is late, or do you want to be a calm, serene bride who can take her time and enjoy her day?

www.LongsPhotography.com