I got married.
This was my view of weddings from the side of the couple. The day was intense. I think I had the happiest bride in the world. I had quiet moments to rest and talk, but otherwise the day went fast and was somewhat stressful.
I asked my second shooters and a friend to do the photos. It was interesting as I had to rely on others and had essentially no control over what was shot when. This is the only thing I didn’t like about the wedding, since I am a wedding photographer myself, was my lack of control over the photos.
The reason for writing is that my wedding showed me that there is a lot that people don’t consider about the day that can be alleviated by simple communication. I see it this way. The bride and groom are to be served and supported 100% and making sure that they know you know what they want beforehand is important. My attitude to the photgraphers was: get the main shots and then do whatever else you can. I didn’t want them to stress. They are truly great photographers but not first shooters for weddings. This is my job, because I can deal with people and requests more easily. I try to always have a make it work attitude as this is essential with people, especially on the special day.
As a wedding service provider it is my goal to make the experience as stress free and easy as possible for the bride and groom.
Rule 1 for any wedding service person: help where you can and do all you can to make sure the bride and groom can enjoy their time.
During my wedding I had several instances of people coming to me with issues, which were not relevant but added to my stress levels. All the service people were great. They knew what to do, that everything went smoothly.
If the building is not burning down, there should be someone else to deal with all issues. Wedding personnel, please ask the bride and groom beforehand for a go-to person. They help you if you have questions or need family gathered. Guests… Go see the best man if you need something. It is his job, not the groom’s. Wedding couple, delegate a few people, who the people working for your wedding can talk to if there is an issue.
As a groom my objective is to keep the bride smiling and to survive the day (so many people to be in a photo with). I did this quite well and the bride was beautiful and happy. I’m not always great at being the central figure of a gathering.
My observations…. My other friend, who is an amateur (but good) photographer, had my camera and he was excited. He took 500 or so photos, some really great ones. The other photographers are normally my second shooters. Their style is more discreet and this led to many awesome and interesting photos. The mix taught me how much the couple simply cannot observe. The day taught me that communication and coordination done at the start as I have done, leave the bride and groom free not to have to think about who is doing what.
I could not remember half the photos. I didn’t notice many of them being taken. This is to be expected.
What I did notice is the reason I advocate hiring a good wedding photographer. Every time something key was happening the photographers were there. I didn’t have to think. They knew the plan even before I did in some situations. They were awesome. They were my team.
I also noticed many mobile phones being used for photos. This is fine and the photos are nice but they are not anything I could put in a wedding album. The quality simply doesn’t and can’t compare, not even in good light.
What I’m trying to say is that I’ve done it. I’ve tied the knot and I now know from experience the stress of the day, including the continuous line of people wanting a photo. The photographer has it easy. The poor bride and groom must smile on queue whenever their friends want a photo. Sometimes it was easy. Other times the photographers could see I was getting moody. They made me laugh until I could get coffee.
Anyway, you get the point. Weddings are awesome but also tough (especially on the feet). As wedding service people we are there to make your day as special as possible. I’ll be writing more on this subject soon and will introduce you to the site currently being built http://weddingguys.de
So keep watching this space.
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