HOW TO PLAN AN AWESOME WEDDING
And get killer wedding photos.

We want you and everyone at your wedding to have the best freaking day ever. Great weddings are about everyone having a blast, and the better your day is, the better your photos are gonna be.

So here’s a list of wedding tips and things we dig. It’s like an alternative version of a wedding planning guide. We’ve photographed 200+ weddings and we’ve seen some great things – things we really liked, things that worked awesome, and things we wished we’d done at our own wedding.

The main thing is to do whatever you want. It’s your day. You don’t have to let everyone tell you what you should do, and that includes us. So feel free to ignore anything we’ve written below. This is just our guide to things we like and we reckon are important.

Plan a party, not a wedding
A wedding is a party. Most likely the biggest party you’ve thrown, plus everyone is dressed extra nice.
 
Everyone wants to celebrate with you. Think about the things you like when you go out, great events you’ve been to and combine the best elements and build them into your day.
 
Don’t get crazy hung up on all the “wedding” details. What you want to remember from your wedding is all your friends going nuts and being over the moon for you. Create that vibe. Pump great tunes. Spend heaps of time with your guests. Get loony at your own party.
 
There’s also a lot of wedding traditions that might make no sense to you – feel free to scrap them and do your own thing.  Just think about how fun your day should be and go from there.
Do your own thing

Which is another way of saying – you don’t need to listen to everyone’s advice. Your friends and family will have some awesome suggestions and ideas for your wedding. They will also have some less than awesome ideas and suggestions. Filter them out and don’t worry about trying to please everyone.

Do something different if you want. Maybe you want to get ready in the same house. Or rock up together and hang with your guests before your ceremony (that’s what we did). Maybe you want your mum or both parents walk you down the aisle. Maybe you don’t want to wear a white dress. Or cut a cake. Or have a first dance.

Do something because you want to do it, and not because you think you should do it.

Get a dress you can walk in

Obviously, this one’s for the brides. Choose a wedding dress that you’ll be comfortable in, and one that you can move freely in. Because you’re going to want to dance, hug your friends, sit down, move around and enjoy your party.

Plus you want to actually be able to get close to your husband or wife and be able to hold and hug them. Which ain’t easy if you can’t move without a gaggle of people holding up your skirt behind you.

Bonus points if you’re happy walk through the bush and hop on some rocks so we can nail some killer photos. Don’t worry about getting your dress dirty. That’s what dry-cleaning is for.

Have an unplugged ceremony

Just do it. No guest has ever taken an amazing photo of a ceremony on their iPhone. And it is really quite nice when everyone just stops looking at their screens for 20 minutes and enjoys being in the moment.

When you walk down the aisle, you’ll be able to see each other and not be blocked by your aunts sticking an iPad in front of you. Your guests can pay attention to whats actually going on, and when you look out at them you’ll be able to see their faces and not their phones. Your photos will be better because we can capture your guests faces too.

Right up to the start of the ceremony, and as soon as it has finished, go nuts with technology. Snap away! But just give yourself this awesome, wonderful unplugged window.

Write your own vows

Make your ceremony funny, touching, and heartfelt. Tears (happy or sad) are good. Laughs are even better.

Choose an awesome celebrant and they’ll help you with all of this.

Ceremonies don’t have to be serious and all the same. Make it your own and have some fun.

Flower petals and confetti

Have people throw things at you as you walk back up the aisle. It’s an awesome exclamation point at the end of your ceremony.

Everyone gets into it and has a ton of fun. Your photos look epic. It’s a win-win.

Get a box of flower petals from your florist or use some paper or bio-degradable confetti (ask your venue what you’re allowed to use).

While you’re signing your marriage certificate, ask a couple of guests to make sure that everyone in the aisles has a handful of stuff to throw at you for when you walk back up the aisle. Trust us. It’s great.

Spend time with your guests after your ceremony

Hugs and congrats are important. Stick around and celebrate with your guests, because that’s why you invited them. Everyone always looks at this part of the timeline and thinks they can cut it out, or chop it in half…

But you can’t. Your guests are psyched up and it’s one of the best bits of the day. There’s so much joy in the air and we get to capture moments with everyone crazy stoked for you.

It’s a buzzkill when you bail for photos straight after your ceremony. People have made a big effort to be there for you, and they wanna give you a mad hug and say hi. So hang, revel in your congratulations, have a couple of drinks and enjoy your party!

Once the dust has settled and some time has passed from your wedding, you are going to treasure these photos of your guests.

And open your bar straightaway too

You need drinks straight after your ceremony. When everyone is giving you hugs and congrats, your bar needs to be open too.

If you’re doing your own thing at the beach or a forest, make sure there’s drinks. If your venue says they won’t open the bar for another 45min because of the pricing or whatever, find a way to make it happen. It’s not about getting boozed, it’s just one of those elements which people want at a party.

Give your guests drinks and you’ll get amazing photos of people laughing, relaxing, having a blast. Everyone will love you for it.

Don’t give them drinks and we’ll be trying really hard to get create exciting photos when really it’s just people standing around making small talk and waiting for the bar to open.

I dunno why it is like this, but it just is.

Skip the big group photo
If it’s really super important to you, then sure, we can do it. But if you’re on the fence about it, then definitely scrap it.
 
Everyone is having fun hanging out and then we kill the mood and have to corral everyone into place. Half your guests faces are hidden, and it takes ages to organise. 
 
We’d rather you have more time for you to soak up the good vibes, and we can spend it taking great photos of everyone mingling and enjoying themselves.
The music sounds better with you

It sounds so so obvious, but quite often music is an afterthought. Pump it when you get ready. Choose your fave song as you walk down the aisle (it can be anything, it does’t have to be something off a “wedding” playlist). And tunes straight after your ceremony, even if it is just through the venue’s speakers.

Have an acoustic performer, get a great band or DJ… music keeps things flowing and everyone happy.

Oh yeah, phone reception can be patchy down south – so if you’re running a Spotify playlist, save those songs to your phone and don’t rely on having internet, cos there’s mobile blackspots everywhere.

And you'll want some photos of just the two of you
We do too. This is the most creative part of the day for us, where we can share our vision and style.
 
And all the stuff we’ve mentioned above – hanging with your guests, having some drinks, pumping great music – it all helps to get you relaxed and buzzing. So when its time for some portraits we’re all feeling good.
 
The best photos are a collaboration – walk around with us, let’s chase the good light around. Be happy and have fun and we’ll guide you if you need some help.
 
We’ll find the amazing spots and you’ll laugh your head off when you see how excited we get when we know we’re nailing something magic.
 
If you’ve got a bridal party we’ll want an hour for photos. If it’s just the two of you, 40 minutes at the right time of day is normally pretty good. And after the big build up to your wedding, it’s pretty nice to hang out somewhere beautiful and quiet and have a mini-break from everyone.
Get your dance floor cranking
Straight after your first dance, get your DJ to drop some mad tunes. Loose dance floors where everyone’s going nuts are so awesome.
 
We’ll get some killer photos in half an hour and then get out of everyone’s hair and things can keep getting crazy.
 
You know your crowd and the songs that you all love… your DJ has to save some favourites for later, but get things started right.
 

Should you get a videographer?

Great wedding videos are amazing – so if you’re dead keen on it, look for someone with a similar style to your photographer. You can even ask your photographer for some recommendations.

Have a proper think about it and make sure it is something you both really want. Just be aware that having an extra person or two people filming you can sometimes make your day feel like more of a production, and often couples don’t realise this until it’s actually happening.

If it’s an afterthought or just something that your friend said you should do, my personal opinion is to give it a miss. And yep, I’m friends with some great videographers and I hope they don’t hate me for saying this.

Print your photos
Because actual prints – liked a framed photo or a fine art wedding album – are the best way to enjoy your wedding photos for years to come.
 
Maybe it’s the photographer in us talking, but paper is better than pixels any day of the week. Photos aren’t meant to live on your computer, and you will never regret spending money on your memories.
 
We truly believe that albums are the best way to remember your wedding. And when your kids and grandkids are old enough, they can look through your album and freak out about how hot you looked on your wedding day.

Trust your photographer. Ask them stuff
You like their photos. Make sure they sound like cool enough people that you want to have hanging out with you all day. And then trust them, let them suggest some timings and help plan your afternoon.
 
We want to help make your day be as kick-ass as possible, because that means your photos are going to be extra good.
 
Ask us questions about anything – we’d rather help you out with some proper advice, than have you look at some random online article with weird outdated ideas.
 
There’s some things that you might spend hours researching, and we could just give you some pointers in a couple of minutes. If we can help, we will!
Ready to take the next step?

Awesome!

I’m keen to hear more about your wedding plans and everything you’re excited about – let’s chat about your big day.

get in touch here