John Kuppens Photography - Wedding Photography Tips

General Wedding Day Tips

Make the time on the invitations should be 15 minutes ahead of your actual ceremony start time. This will ensure that the "last minute' guests are actually there 10 minutes early! It also allows guests who a "directionally challenged" to find their way to the venue.
Choose an experienced local Celebrant - they play a very important part in your day.
Try to have a few days off just prior to your wedding day. That way you can wind down, check on last minute details and be fully chilled for your wedding day.

A few tips for great wedding photography.....

The one service you should not cut corners on is your wedding photography, after all, when your wonderful wedding day is over, the guests have left, and your flowers wilted you will no doubt turn to your photographs to rekindle your treasured memories. Not only immediately after your wedding but in 5, 10, 20 years time and beyond.
Wedding photography is not a skill you should entrust to a friend or part time wedding photographer looking to supplement their weekly wage. I have photographed hundreds of weddings and still learn something with each one I shoot.
Timing, timing, timing.... You will be amazed at how fast your wedding day goes! Talk to your photographer before you book a ceremony time with your celebrant, minister or priest. If you are getting married at a winery you may not have too much choice in terms of your ceremony time so it is even more important to talk with your photographer and plan how to make the most of the time available.
Ask your photographer if copyright is issued to you with your photographs. If it is not you could be paying a considerable sum of money to get hard copies of your photographs. All of my packages include copyright transfer to you.
Book early. Good photographers are often booked 9 to 12 months in advance. Some wedding dates are much more popular than others so your choices can be limited if you leave it too late.
Who will be shooting your wedding? Larger studios may send a photographer you have have never heard of and probably never met.
Do you want a candid, journalistic style of photography or posed and semi-posed shots? We shoot a combination of all three because we think this gives you better coverage of your day.
Choose someone local, who knows the area and has a good rapport with your celebrant and venue operators. Local photographers will have better knowledge of the intricacies and features of the area, you won't be paying for their accommodation and travel time either!
Check out sunset times. The absolute best time for wedding photography is about an hour before sunset and 15 - 30 minutes after. This link will help you with sunset times : http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=1500
Get to know your photographer. If funds allow, book a pre-shoot in the days before. If not, try to meet your photographer before booking him or her, and be mindful of some that tell you what you want to hear, "all style but no substance". After all, you want a photographer that takes great photographs, not a fantastic salesman.
Take some time off during the week to prepare for your "down south" wedding. Make it a relaxing short break. Most wedding service providers are quite busy on the weekends with weddings, and love to meet with clients during the week.
Consider whether you want a "group shot" of everyone who attends your wedding. If you do let your celebrant know and she or he can make a short announcement after your ceremony which will help keep all of your guests close. It takes about 10 - 15 minutes to get this shot.
A period of "congratulations" usually happens immediately after the ceremony. Depending on the number of guests you have, this can take up to 1/2 hour. Some lovely emotion packed pictures can be taken during this time.
Family photographs are usually taken after the "congratulations". I have a number of tips for making this process easy, stress free and timely and discuss this at the pre-wedding meeting.

The Ceremony

If using a public place for your wedding ceremony try to avoid locations near paths or access ways where passers by may want to stop and watch your wedding. You would be amazed by the antics of some outsiders, especially if they know they are being videoed or photographed!
Ensure your celebrant strongly encourages your guests to sit in the seats provided, as empty seats do not look good in photographs.

When choosing the location for your ceremony be mindful of elderley guests, who may have difficulty getting onto and off a beach. Include a map with your invitation, or perhaps send a Google Maps link in an email.

Ask your parents if they mind not wearing their sunglasses during the ceremony. Emotion is mainly exhibited through the eyes and if they shed a tear or two, we'd like to see it and capture it!

If your bridal party is looking up and around at your guests and yourselves (rather than looking down at the ground - guys at their hands and girls at their bouquets) the bridal party photographs will be that much better!

Endeavor not to spread your bridal party too far apart during the ceremony, that way we can get the whole bridal party in one photograph without including the knees of your front row guests in the foreground.

If at all possible, do your rehearsal at the same time your actual ceremony will take place. Have a look at bridal party - are some in full sun and some in shade? If you can, position all members of the bridal party in either full sun or full shade.