Do We Need A Wedding Photographer For The Whole Day?
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ccasionally I get asked whether I offer half-day coverage in my wedding photography packages. The simple answer is: “No.” The longer, slightly more complicated answer is: “No, I don’t. Because…
It’s like that Aerosmith song goes. No, not ‘Dream On’ (1973). Or ‘Love in an Elevator’ (1989) for that matter. No, the one with Bruce Willis saving the world – ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ (surprise winner of ‘Most Popular First Dance Song’ in 2006 according to this poll!) Your wedding isn’t a half-day affair. Even if you think will be, it probably won’t be. I don’t want to miss any of it, and you will be ‘Crazy’ (1993) – ok I’ll stop with the song titles – if you don’t have the photos from the other important parts of your day. After all, once the confetti has settled, the cake has been eaten and the cards and gifts put away, your photographs will be the one tangible thing that remains which will increase in value over the years to come. As your memories begin to fade, your beautiful photographs will serve as a catalyst to recall all the magical things that happened throughout your wedding day.
I want to provide all of my clients with the very best service I can. And if I offered a half day package, I know that I’d be missing some of those amazing moments which make the day so special. For instance…
“The simple answer is: ‘No.’ The longer, slightly more complicated answer is: ‘No, I don’t.'”
The Morning
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he morning of your wedding is likely to be one of the most exciting, nerve wracking, fun-filled, stressed-out mornings that you will ever spend with your best friends and close family. Seriously, it’s not all about hair and makeup. I’m always left pondering as I drive to the pre-ceremony venue whether the lovely, smiling bride-to-be that I had such a laugh with on her engagement shoot has now morphed into Bridezilla, or whether she’s still calm and relaxed. Invariably it’s the latter; usually thanks to the bridesmaids! Either way, there are always some amazing and beautiful photographs to be taken, capturing moments that will never and can never be recreated.
Fu
rthermore, being around in the morning affords me the opportunity to arrange, photograph and record all of the beautiful details that the bride has selected for her wedding day. The dress and the shoes of course, but also the jewellery, tiara, veil, bouquet, bridesmaids’ dresses – the handwritten note from her fiancé that brings a few happy tears and requires a last minute reapplication of mascara! The gifts that she might give to her bridesmaids, and the glasses of champagne in preparation for a last minute toast. The chaos and the calm, the laughter and the tears.
And I’ll also be there when the bride’s father sees his daughter in her dress for the first time – a moment I find even more poignant and magical since Eleanor was born. 
Often I’m also asked to meet up with the boys too, or my second photographer goes to meet them, and sometimes the groom has decided to do something a little different on the morning of his wedding: perhaps nine holes of golf, or a trip to the driving range; crazy golf maybe, a quick drink in the local, or, as on one memorable occasion, go-karting! These are special moments that should be included in the photographic story of your day.
“…on one memorable occasion, the groom went go-karting!”
Really, the last thing you want on your wedding morning is your photographer turning up at the last minute before you go down the aisle, making you feel even more nervous and self-conscious. I like to be there early, put everyone at ease and disappear seamlessly into the background like a camera-toting ninja. Well, sort of.
Check back next week when I’ll be suggesting why you might want your wedding photographer to stick around for the evening fun too!
