1.  Hire a Professional Wedding Photographer (and then trust them)

This may sound really biased because I am a professional wedding photographer, but I’ve either heard or read stories from too many brides wherein they recount how they totally regret their wedding day images.  The images deeply upset them because in no way do they meet the expectations they had set for the images.  If you expect professionalism, then you need to hire a professional.  In most of these cases, they selected a photographer based on price alone.

There are many different styles of wedding photography.  Window shop a lot.  When you find a photographer with a style that matches your vision, follow them on social media and read their blog. Check out their profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr or Vine (visible only from an Iphone for Vine users).  If you still like what you see, schedule a consultation to see if your personalities complement each other. Since you will be spending a lot of time with them, it is important that you enjoy their company.  When you discover the wedding photographer of your dreams… hire them immediately. Then, trust them.

2.  Pick the Collection that Meets Your Expectations

Wedding packages and collections vary from one extreme to another.  Again, don’t let price alone determine which package you choose.  Pick the package that will provide the coverage you are looking for.  If you want images of you and your groom getting dressed, then most likely a two-hour coverage will not work.  Don’t think that a photographer can capture all the details from the day in a very short period.  Getting dressed shots are done when the makeup artist is present.  Details shots have to be set up when the reception hall is empty, but after the flowers and cake have been delivered.  First looks require good, even lighting so it’s best to do them prior to sunset.  Church images look better when the parking lot is empty.  Rather than booking separate engagement and bridal sessions, choose an all-inclusive package.  This will provide even another opportunity to develop a relationship with your photographer.

3.  Book an Engagement Session

If you didn’t choose a collection with an engagement session built in, book one at least ten months prior to your wedding date (no later than six months prior).  Not only will this give you ample time for the newspaper announcement and save the date cards, it will also give you a very good idea of what it will be like to work with your wedding photographer on your big day.  Also, either try to select a location that means something to your and/or your groom, or incorporate items that showcase your personalities.

4.  Show Your Love

On your big day, just relax and show your love.  Avoid looking at the camera unless the photographer asks for your attention.  Just have fun and interact with your groom as usual.  Wedding photographers love getting lots of images that are testament to the couple’s admiration.  Spend as much time together as possible.  Eat together.  Dance together.  Laugh together.  Visit with family and friends at the reception together.  Smile.  Hold hands.  Bat your eyelashes.

5.  First Look

A first look is extremely romantic; it’s a private moment, a very private moment that the bride and groom share prior to the wedding… completely alone—well, except for a few photographers.  In addition to all the emotional qualities a first look provides, it also serves as a time for the formal wedding day portraits.  After the ceremony has ended and as most of the guests are making their way to the reception, the bridal party and the bride and groom’s families are hurrying through the formal poses.  The guests are waiting.  There’s parents, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, maid of honor, best man, ring bearer, flower girl, officiant, ushers, and many, many combinations of these people with the bride and/or groom.  Some guests have defiantly stayed behind to get their own images on their iPads or compact cameras.  Flashes are firing from all directions and no one knows which camera to look at.  Uncle Bob has gone missing and now the photographer must halt the group shots until someone finds Uncle Bob.  It’s pure pandemonium.  Usually left for last are what should be the intimate portraits which memorialize the deep connection between the bride and groom—the images that will most likely hang in the living room or be framed in the office.  Wouldn’t it be nice if most of the images had been captured PRIOR to the pandemonium… erh, I mean wedding?  A first look not only provides an opportunity for stress-free formals, it also frees up a lot of time after the ceremony to get on with important things… like cocktail hour.  (There’s also usually better light prior to the ceremony which makes for more flattering images!)

6.  Second Shooter

A second shooter not only allows images of both the bride and groom getting ready, a second shooter will allow for two different perspectives.  Imagine.  You’ve spent all morning getting your hair and makeup done.  You look absolutely stunning!  You’ve made the very SMART decision to have a first look.  Your groom is patiently waiting on the terrace for your arrival.  The smell of Jasmine fills the air.  You steadily walk up behind him to a distance of about three feet and he slowly turns to see you.  He cries because you are so beautiful.  You rush to embrace him and answer his cries with tears of your own—but only a few because you don’t want to mess up your makeup.  Wouldn’t you love it if both of your reactions were captured and preserved to look at over and over?  Imagine your great-grandchildren looking at both of your reactions 50 years from now.  Having a second shooter on your wedding day will allow this.

7.  No Trendy Shots

Trending this year and unbelievably so, (this may be the weirdest trend I’ve ever seen), are pictures of the bridal party running from an gigantic dinosaur.  In case you haven’t been on the Earth for a while, dinosaurs have been extinct for about 65 million years.  Being that your wedding day is already cramped for ample coverage, I wouldn’t suggest taking any time from your wedding day timeline to capture any silly image.  Chances are, it will never make it to the wedding day album and it will never be enlarged to hang on your wall, so leave it be… unless of course, you’re a paleontologist.

8.  Introduce your Family and Good Friends

It’s imperative that your photographer know who people are.  Your photographer may not be able to tell your neighbor’s Aunt Edith from your husband’s grandmother.  To ensure the informal/journalistic keepsake images are captured, document who is important to you.  Make a list of family members and close friends who are important to you.  If your kindergarten teacher will be at your wedding, make sure your photographer knows.  Specify a go-to person (usually the maid of honor or first cousin) who can identify key people during the day if the photographer has questions.  When the photographer has a clear understanding of all the people who are considerably important, they are better prepared to capture their images.

9.  Have Fun