YOUR WEDDING DAY GUIDE

You’ve set the date. You’ve booked your photographers (thank you). Now what?

A few months before your wedding day, we will send you an email to arrange a Pre-Wedding Consultation via video-call or in person subject to convenience. This is a very important part of the planning stage for us both. It allows us to discuss your plans and your day in more detail so that on your wedding day itself, you can relax and focus on living the moment in the full knowledge that we have you fully covered.

In preparation for our Pre-Wedding Consultation, you will received an online questionnaire asking more detailed information about your wedding.

The online questionnaire (which should be completed by our meeting) will include questions about the schedules and locations, it will also give you the opportunity to list which shots are important to you and allow you to highlight anything out of the ordinary we might need to know.

There’s no need to send us Pinterest boards or things like that, rest assured that whatever happens around you we will shoot it.

We know that the idea of having two photographers shadow you can feel a bit daunting and unnatural. However, we can guarantee you that after the first 20 minutes or so we get there, you will begin to forget we are even there and before you know it you will not even notice us.

But the time your wedding day comes, we will have had time to talk and meet and get to know one another a little more, so by the time we show up we will be two friends with cameras rather than stranger paparazzi 🙂

 

 

ENGAGEMENT SHOOT:

this is a great way to meet and break the ice a little pre-wedding. If you haven’t booked a session together already and are interested, let me us know.

If you have already booked a session together, then we will be in touch separately to arrange for a time and place which works for both of us. If you already have some dates in mind, then please feel free to send them our way already. Please note that during the height of the wedding season, most of my engagement shoots are done during week days as we are often really busy during weekends with weddings.

 

“Plugged or unplugged? That is the question.”

Okay, not quite the same ring to the famous lines Shakespeare wrote but we’re pretty sure that if William would be alive today, he would have scripted Hamlet different, with him picking up a phone instead of a skull while uttering these two lines.

Unplugged Weddings are a growing trend and perhaps for some good reasons too. In practical terms, unplugged weddings mean guests are to switch off their phones for the day, disconnect, and enjoy the moment fully, unfiltered and as humans have done for million of years before.

It’s a personal choice and one you have to make as a couple when planning your wedding. It’s not an easy choice in today’s world, but one that needs to be considered.

So, what will you do?

You don’t have to have an entirely unplugged wedding from start to finish.

Personally, we believe that not everything in life needs to be recorded, filmed, and lived through the screen of a mobile phone. It is ok to disconnect and experience a beautiful moment first hand, phone in pocket.

Your ceremony is the perfect time to ask guests to put their phones away and enjoy the moment. I always think it is a shame when a bride walks down the aisle, shadowed by numerous mobile phones held in front of guests faces or protruding into the aisle. These moments and emotions are unrepeatable, so why spoil them?

Unfortunately, we get a lot of amazing ceremony moments photobombed by a guest with a phone (see above), and this is a real shame for the couple, because certain things cannot be re-done.

If you wish to have an unplugged ceremony, the the best way is to ask whoever is celebrating your wedding to make an announcement for guests to turn off and put away their phones until after the ceremony.

 

Weddings are organic, fluid, live events with so many different factors and people. This means that the potential for unique moments to unfold is huge.

Because of this, no one wedding is the same. The same goes for moments. As a couple planning your wedding, it is easy to look at pictures and want to recreate moments. There will be a time during your wedding for more planned out photographs (I will discuss this later on in the guide), but if we can give you some advice as a photographer who has seen a lot of weddings, the best moments come from letting go of the pressure to preform in front of the camera or to re-enact a particular picture which you might have seen on social media. Just let loose and have fun on your day. Be yourself and the moments will come naturally. Those are the pictures that define you and hold the most emotional impact, and these will become the memories which you will cherish the most.

Our passion and mission is to tell the story of your wedding, of you as a couple, and of the events that unfold around you in a creative way. We do this by capturing and curating real life moments as they unfold so that you can have, at the end of it all, beautiful pictures which allow you to relive treasured memories and pass them down to future generations.

The way we work reflects this. We work in an organic way, shadowing the bride and groom and shooting constantly throughout the day to make sure we capture your wedding fully in the best way I know how.

We are not photographers that hide in the sidelines with a big zoom lens paparazzi style. Our job needs us to be close up and be in the middle of the action. We do this in the most discrete way as we can and with the outmost respect for your guests.

As you go through this guide, you will see how the day is broken up into different sections. In each, we will give you a little bit more insight on how we work.

Our day will begin when you start to get ready. Typically, Andrea will be shadowing the bride as she gets ready in the morning and Eloise will shadow the groom, and we will remain with our subject up until the until the ceremony itself.

Arriving early gives us a chance to get to know everyone and for you to acclimatise yourself to our presence and get over the ‘there’s a photographer in the room’ syndrome.

It might feel a little strange to have us there with cameras at first. It’s totally natural to feel this way. The best advice we can give you is what we said before: ignore us and be yourself and don’t feel you even need to look at our cameras at all. Just relax and focus on having a great time and getting on with enjoying your morning. We guarantee you that the feeling of awkwardness passes incredibly quickly.

Things sometime get a bit messy in the morning. That too totally normal, don’t worry about tidying up or hiding the chaos from us if you don;t want to, but if you do want things to look neat and minimal then just be mindful of the fact that the camera will capture what we see.

 

This is the big moment.

If you are getting married in a church, it’s worth checking with the Priest/Vicar on any rules or photographic restrictions in advance of the wedding day and to gain any permissions you may need for photography.

We always keep an unobtrusive presence during the ceremony, even more so in churches. We don’t use flash and we don’t tend to move around a great deal as often these two things are frowned upon and would spoil the mood of the occasion anyway.

Usually, one of us will cover the Fremont form the front usually Eloise), and the other from the back (usually Andrea).

However, some churches do not allow the photographer to be anywhere but the back. Although we see this as very saddening, we have to respect the rules, so it’s important you are aware of this in advance. If this is the case perhaps some negotiation on you walking down the aisle and seeing each other for the first time (a beautiful moment) can be had.

If you are having a civil ceremony, usually the rules are a little more relaxed, but likewise it is worth checking with the Registrar on any restrictions as they have the final say in the matter.

On the day of your wedding, we will always have a quick word with whoever is marrying you and make sure we are all happy with our positioning and any rules they have. 

As we are discussing ceremonies, I want to also mention a little side tangent, and that is the topic of what I like to call special rituals. Often the ceremony concludes with things like confetti throwing or similar things. These are really fun and great moments, so let us know if you are planning to have anything like this in your wedding so we can discuss it during your Pre-Wedding Consultation.

It’s important to get some nice photos of special people who are genuinely close to you. Depending on your schedule and the weather, a good time to do this is usually between the end of the ceremony and before you sit down for your wedding breakfast meal.

We can finalise these shots during our consultation and on the questionnaire we will send out you will have a section where you can write your list, but please be aware that on average a group photo could take 3-4 minutes or more to arrange. So if you have 10 different group shots then you need to factor at least 40 minutes for this. For this reason, we reckoned being minimal and really thinking about special groups like close family and wedding party.

We will also also ask you to nominate two ‘Minions’: in other words members of the wedding party (not the bride or groom) who will be our helpers for the group shots. This should be someone who is familiar with the guests and has the authority to gather people promptly (so usually loud bossy people make the best Minions!). This is to make sure we can shoot this part of the day as quickly and seamlessly as possible, to allow everyone to go back and enjoy themselves at your wedding.

We will have a list of shots for the Minions to have on the day, but if you could kindly let your two nominees know their role that would be great! This is often a pinch point during the wedding day so tasking this person to gather the individuals, two shots ahead of what we are shooting, really helps.

Please also make sure you let us know if you are planning to have a receiving line, as we will need to plan an adequate time for this too. Like with group and family photos, keep in mind that a well organise receiving line will still mean about 2 minutes per photo, as usually people step in for a photo and spend a little time chatting with the bride and groom.

When we have the pleasure of working a wedding, we give it our absolute all. We work hard on a wedding day both physically and mentally, covering a lot of ground, and don’t like to take breaks during the day because we have major FOMO and want to capture everything!

The wedding reception is usually a time when guests don’t really want two photographer around shooting as they relax and socialise over a meal. It can be a little off-putting having us there shooting someone as they are eating.

for this reason, we usually take a technical break synchronised to when you are easting. This gives us a change to get our gear ready for the evening and to have our meal.

Having said that, rest assured that that doesn’t mean we will not document your reception. We always find time to photograph the reception area and details of the event before the reception starts and the guests come in.

We know a lot of photographers demand to be fed by their clients. We don’t feel it’s our right to impose and will always leave the option up to my clients. Either way, if you could kindly let us know that would be great so I can come prepared.

During our break, we tend to be very close by, so we will be ready in the event there are any special surprises which we don;t want to miss on camera and of course, speeches!

 

Weddings are 90% reactive shooting – meaning that most of the time we shoot what we see in what is called documentary or photojournalistic style. That’s just the nature of weddings. The remaining 10% is what we like to call ‘Active Shooting’ because personally we hate the term ‘Posed Formals’… it makes it sound stuffy, forced, boring, stale and generally puts people off.

That 10% can be a whole lot of fun and create incredibly beautiful, powerful and iconic shots.

I am a huge advocate of transparency and honesty, so let me share a secret about what happens to me all the time. Most of the shots I showcase on my website are examples of Active Shooting, in other words what other people would call more posed, less documentary moments. All of my enquiries and bookings come because people who have seen those shots, like what they see (hopefully), and book me because they like my style, but the first thing they tell me is always the same: I am not a show off, I’m not a model, I don’t like the idea of posing in front of the camera, I’m not that type of person. I find this totally fascinating, because what they are really saying is: “I would like to have some photographs like these but I don’t think I can”. There is a fear factor there, and that is totally justifiable and acceptable.

For the majority of people, and surely for the majority of my clients, cameras are scary things. Cameras are awkward generator machines. They are like mirrors, and being our own worst critic, we don’t want to see the reflection a lot of the time. I completely get it as I challenge you to find a more camera shy and camera awkward person than myself. But let me tell you, precisely because I have always felt so uneasy about being the focus of an image, I can make even the most camera shy person at ease in front of my lens. It’s my job and what I do for a living. And yes at the start it may feel a little awkward, but my advice to you is embrace the awkwardness and roll with it, keep positive, have some fun with it, and you will see that after a few moments of working together you will relax into it, it will feel good and – dare I say it – it may even be a lot of…. fun? (And if the worse comes to the worse there is always a double shot of tequila at the ready.)

Now, as this part of the day is usually the bit clients are a little bit more apprehensive about, let’s get to the behind the scenes of Active Shooting and why I don’t like to call it Formal Posing. That is because I don’t class this type of shoot as posing. To me posing is me directing you like a rag doll. That’s not my intention. That may produce a great shot, sure, but is it really a photograph which you can relate to and see yourself in? Instead, my goal is to highlight what makes you you as an individual and as a couple, bring it out in a way that makes you feel and look great, and get some incredible show-stopping images which you can look back at with pride and feel gorgeous in.

So I’m asking from you to trust in the process and dive in.

If you can give me a little bit of time (around 45 minutes), together we can create some beautiful and unique wedding day images.

All I ask is for you trust me and let me guide you into the best light and get you into the most flattering pose which suits you. No awkward kissing, cliche poses, or props. Simply elegant, well lit and stunning wedding portraits that complement your documentary images from the day and deliver superstar soul factor.

I prefer to capture your portrait photographs when the light is at it’s best, usually an hour before sunset but this varies from wedding to wedding and location to location. If I feel the weather or logistics of the day will make this difficult I may schedule them at an alternative time and we can work things out together.

If this part of the day is important to you and you would like to take more time, or leave the venue to travel a short distance to make some great pictures, then do let me know so we can organise it. I’m more than happy to do this.

Finally, a note about Videography and tag-along guests during this part of the day.

I am very easygoing and I always get on well with everyone. I want you all, including suppliers,  to have a fantastic time on your day and I fully respect both your guests experience and the hard work all the suppliers are putting into making your wedding day special. However, the time I arrange with you for your portraits is very important to me as I want to make sure you get what you deserve and invested so much in already. I have a general feeling about guests tagging along during our shoot, and that is that they add distraction and awkwardness. I strongly beleve that there is a time and a place for guests interacting with the bride and groom throughout the wedding, but this is not it. So my only rule is no guests for this little time we have together.

In regards to suppliers, I don’t mind sharing this moment with your professional videographer if that’s what you really want, but I do feel the need to stress that I need this time under my leadership alone – and not shared with others – so I can create some fantastic images for you. It’s rarely a problem, but it is very important to make you aware of this so that you can have a great experience and nobody steps on each other toes, which ultimately only results in more time wasted for you guys and less potential for great shots.

With all of the more emotionally charged parts of the day over, it is now time to let your hair down.

Have an amazing party, go crazy, throw everything at it and get those dance shoes working.

I’ll be right there in amongst you on the dance floor capturing everyone having an amazing time and, with some luck, a little bit of dad dancing.

For this part of the wedding I usually set up flashes but will always try to position them in locations which will not obstruct your funky dance moves. The only thing I ask is to please makes sure to respect my equipment and avoid moving or playing with stands and flashes as they are expensive and delicate and can get a little temperamental if tampered with.

Contrary to most people imagine, with all the dance floor lights you will probably not even notice the flashes go off, so don’t worry.

Finally, if you are planning any other nighttime entertainment or activity – such as fireworks, sparklers, performers, etc. – please make sure you let me know in advance. That way I can be prepared for it and get myself ready to capture the event.

I will deliver your fully culled and edited images within 6-8 weeks after your wedding day. I prefer not to rush this process as I want to make sure I spend the right amount of time editing your photos so they are the best they can be.

Don’t worry though, I will always try to get you a sneak peak of some photographs from the collection as soon as I can so you have something to enjoy and look forward to while you wait for your full gallery of images to be delivered.

When the images are ready, I will be in touch to arrange for delivery.

I will not say a lot about this, as it’s a bit of a surprise. All you need to know at the moment is that I will want to make sure you carve a distraction free evening for yourself as a couple as part of the delivery process.

I will deliver your images as high resolution jpegs through your very own bespoke private online gallery. This way, you will have the opportunity to easily share your photographs to family, friends and guests as you like in an effortlessly instant way. Please note that you are in complete control of who you share this gallery with and that before you share, you will have the ability to hide any images you want to keep private for whatever reason. Furthermore, the online gallery is accessible only by password to keep it safe and private to you. So don’t worry, you are in full control.

Roughly two weeks after the online gallery goes live, I will be sending out your USB key, with the full gallery of images as high resolution jpegs. This is your ‘master copy’. Please make sure you make a backup copy of this and keep it safe. If you want to share the gallery, I recommend simply sending the link for your online gallery instead of sharing the USB around.

I’m more than thrilled if you share your favourite images on social media, so feel free to share the love, in fact I encourage it! The only thing I ask is to be tagged into any content featuring my photographs on Facebook and/or Instagram with my official handle @andreavereniniphotography. 

Thank you in advance.

When it comes to photography, I am a little old fashioned. I believe that pictures are there to be printed and not destined to be forgotten in a digital folder on your desktop. This is why I love albums and encourage all fo my couples to consider them as a great way to preserve your favourite photographs.

My job is to tell the story of your day. Therefore the photographs you will receive will be a chronology of snapshots which together – as a collection – paint the full picture of your wedding as a visual story.

This is why I am a huge advocate for albums and I find them incredibly powerful, because they allow you to relive your story for years to come in the best way. Weddings are rare events: once in a lifetime experiences where you are surrounded by all of your favourite, most important people and which are the culmination of a lot of time, effort, and money being spent. Photography is part of that big investment and a very important one – if I can say so myself – because it is through photographs that you will relive your memories for a lifetime. A great photographer and mentor of mine once said, “the pictures I take at a wedding will become the memories which my clients will have of their day”. At the time I was a newbie and found it this quote incredibly arrogant, but as I sunk my teeth into this business more and more, I came to learn that it is so very true.

 

If you don’t know if an album is right for you, then ask yourself two simple questions:

1. How do you expect to enjoy your photographs going forward in the future? I’m not only talking about the next month or the next year, I’m talking about the next 30 to 40 years.

2. Where are your photographs going to appear?

 

I offer all my clients the opportunity to pre-book an album at a great discounted rate before their wedding if this is something they feel they would definitely like. If you do not initially choose to pre-book an album, however, you can always add an album anytime after your wedding of course.

I cannot stress enough how much of a beautiful family heirloom your wedding pictures will become and how treasured they will be to you and generations to come through the power of print. Pictures deserve to be printed and well thumbed, and not just kept on USB’s in the desk drawer or as a screensaver on a social profile.

For more information about albums and prints, please feel free to get in touch with me. It’s a subject I am passionate about and will gladly show you all of the options available and advise you the best way I can.

 

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PRE-BOOKED AN ALBUM: 

When I deliver the edited and culled images to you, I will also arrange for us to have an Album Building Day at a time of your choosing. This can be done directly at my studio over a coffee or a cocktail or online via video call, whatever works best for you. During our meeting we will go through design options, layouts, fonts, etc and, most importantly, get working on selecting images and get the ball rolling towards building an amazing album for you and your family (present and future) to enjoy and treasure.