The Wedding Photography Checklist
As wedding photographers, we have heard about “wedding photo checklists” before. The concept is simple: brides, think of a handful of critical photos that you are definitely expecting to have from your wedding day, write these photos down in a list, and send it to your wedding photographer before the wedding day.
Of course things like “first kiss during the ceremony”, and / or “first dance photos” are pretty self-explanatory to any wedding photographer. In fact in our opinion, if your photographer needs to be reminded to capture your first dance at your wedding reception, then that doesn’t reflect well on their intelligence, nor on your confidence in them! 😉
So instead of creating a generic list of photos that every wedding photographer probably already has memorized, consider making a list of more specific thoughts and ideas that strike you. For example, a creative angle that you’ve seen before at your own wedding venue, or other inspirational types of wedding pictures.
The Best Wedding Photography Shot List
I tell all my client that what I want to get two things from them:
- Tips about how their wedding day will be unique.
A family heirloom that will be present, a special relative / VIP guest, or anything personalized that the couple may have invested a lot of time into creating themselves. Basically, items that I may not otherwise emphasize in my already comprehensive coverage of a day. - A select few creative ideas related to style, posing, or a particular venue.
Even if I have already been to a wedding venue a dozen times, it is still awesome to get a little input from the bride and groom. My favorite question to ask a bride and groom is, “what is it about this venue that made you fall in love with it, and decide to get married here?” That is of course what I want to emphasize in their wedding photos, but surprisingly many photographers don’t think to ask this specific, direct question.
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