7 Tips to Preserve Special Moments On Your Wedding Day

One of the most frustrating things about an otherwise perfect wedding is simply that it all goes by too fast. You’ll feel as if you’ve hardly taken a breath before you are whisked away with your love to begin your life as a married couple. This is why photography is so important. It isn’t to feed some sense of vanity or to brag to the world about your nuptials: your wedding photographer is preserving special moments for you and your spouse, moments which might otherwise get lost in a whirlwind.

Capturing and preserving those moments, then, is critical, and here are 7 Honey Wed Photography tips to help you preserve the most special moments, so that you’ll be forever reminded of how much your heart swelled and your eyes shone.

Candid Shots are Worth a Thousand Words

Photography is unique in that it is able to preserve a moment that no one was posing for. The real examples of love are happening all the time, and a camera’s speedy shutter is uniquely able to capture these moments. Be sure that your photographer is taking candid photographs. The groom adjusting a strap on the bride’s gown, a mother and father sharing a secret smile, a bridesmaid straightening the ring bearer’s tie: these are all photos that can’t be planned or plotted. They capture the tone of the day, preserve the expressions of your loved ones, and breathe life into your wedding memories for years to come.

Unique Pairings and Groupings

Another tip for preserving special moments on your wedding day is to come up with unique pairings and groupings of people. Everyone captures the full wedding party, the shots of bride and groom with parents, and photos of the happy couple. Even less traditional groupings like a bride being hoisted by boisterous groomsmen are becoming more common. Your wedding is unique to you, though, so try to think of some pairings and groupings that may be unexpected. Use your wedding photography to get a glimpse of the personal relationships and stories around you, and don’t be afraid to step outside that traditional box to capture something truly unique.

Don’t Forget the Before and After

There’s more to your wedding day than just that brief exchange of vows and rings. Don’t forget to have your photographer capture plenty of moments before and after the wedding. Capture photos of guests arriving and mingling before the music starts. Find moments worth preserving in the rooms where the wedding participants are getting dressed and calming frazzled nerves. Get a photo snapped of the minister reviewing his notes in preparation for the ceremony. Covering table with linen and tablecloths. Point the cameras at a grandfather twirling a flower girl on the dance floor. Your photography will tell a story, and these before and after moments are the supporting chapters in your romance tale.

It’s Not All About the People

Smiling faces and expressions of love are very important to preserve, but your wedding photography doesn’t have to be just about people. Think of all the carefully selected elements of your wedding: the venue, the flowers, the bridesmaids’ dresses, the catering, and the cake. All of these elements were chosen by you to enhance your special day, and they should all be preserved. Remember, your wedding photographs are for you to recall every detail in the years to come. Don’t let any detail be lost to time.

Lighting Makes the Photo

In photography, lighting is what draws our eye to the subject matter. Lighting can be bright and energetic, which communicates joy. It can also be dramatic and romantic, communicating a deep, personal connection between you and your beloved. On the flip side, lighting can be the Achilles’ heel of an otherwise perfect photo. Washed out faces, stark shadows, and overexposing glares can detract from the composition of a photo. Your photographer should have experience photographing his or her subject matter in a wide variety of lighting, but stay in close communication during the photography process to ensure that nothing goes unconsidered.

Capturing the Ceremony

Many couples hesitate to have their photographer capture the ceremony in close detail because they don’t want a clicking camera to detract from the solemness and purity of this event, but good ceremony photography doesn’t have to be intrusive. Photographers can stand on the side of a venue or crouch down in the center aisle during a crucial moment. The key is communicating to your photographer when you want the camera to be snapping and when you want the ceremony to proceed without interruption or distraction. Walk your photographer through the ceremony step by step, so he or she knows what is coming. No moment will be missed, and no instant will be overshadowed.

Multiple Shots for One Perfect Photo

It’s important to remember one simple truth, above all: people will blink. In fact, they’ll not only blink, they will sneeze, laugh, gasp, look in the wrong direction, and do any number of things that transform a perfect shot into a disaster. This is why it’s so critical for a photographer to capture multiple snaps of a single moment.

A wedding is filled with blink-of-an-eye moments, and nothing is worse than getting the photography proofs after returning from a honeymoon and discovering that the blushing bride has her eyes halfway closed in the most crucial of shots. If you know that an image is going to be important to you, implore your photographer to photograph that moment as many times as possible. You’ll be thankful you did.

There is simply no way to remember every detail of your wedding day. It’s filled with too much for one mind to take in. Beautiful photography can help you reconnect with those feelings and moments. With these 7 tips, you’ll have a book of perfectly preserved memories that you can look back on to remember the special moments on your wedding day that might otherwise have been lost.