Your wedding photos are one of the only things you’ll have left years down the road after you’ve said your “I Do’s”. It can feel a bit overwhelming to wonder WHAT photos you should be asking your photographer to take for you. While I believe that you should hire a photographer that you trust, it’s also nice for you to sit down and think about the photos that will be the most meaningful to you. I have a list to get you started! These are to give you some ideas outside of the normal realm when it comes to wedding photos.
Look through this list and check off the items you’ll want to include in photos or the photos you don’t want to miss so that you can share with your photographer.
Detail photos:
- Your something old, new, borrowed, and blue
- Family heirlooms (grandpas cufflinks, grandma’s wedding ring, etc)
- Special wedding day purchases (perfume, lipstick, etc)
- Unique trinkets to add some pizzazz (old stamps you’ve collected, thrifted pearls, velvet swatches you love)
Getting ready:
- Dance party with your girls before you get dressed
- Reading letters from your spouse
- Giving gifts to wedding party members
- Photos with matching gifts for wedding party (custom cups, jewelry, etc)
- Taking a shot with your wedding party members
- You and your soon-to-be-spouse get ready together
- Wedding day boudoir photos
- Pop champagne with your best friends
- Have someone come in and give your best friends permanent jewelry
Pre-Ceremony:
- First look with parent, sibling, or grandparents
- First look with wedding party members
- First look with your pet
- Private vows with spouse
- First look with spouse
Formal photos:
- Photo with officiant
- Special family member photos (Aunt who was like a mom, cousin who feels like a sister, etc)
- Photo with your favorite vendors (hey, maybe you REALLY love your photographer or caterer!)
Fun photos:
- You with your spouses wedding party members (Ex: Guys lifting a bride into the air)
- Your spouse with your wedding party members (Ex: Groom holding up ring finger and bridesmaids “ooh-ing and aah-ing” over it)
- Whole wedding party together being silly (Make the silliest face you can,
- Back lit flash night photos
- Having a drink at the venue’s bar
- Clear umbrellas in the rain
- Do a unique unity ceremony (Make a PB&J together, mix a glass of chocolate milk, or paint something together)
- Drone photo of the couple laying in the grass at their venue
- “Freezing time” photo with your wedding party
Final photos of the night:
- Drive to favorite late night fast food place for final photos (come on, McDonald’s in a wedding dress would be FUN)
- Drive off in an old car
- Jump into the pool at your venue if they have one (after changing into a short dress if you’re wearing a long one!)
- Have a last call dance off with your guests
- Shotgun a beer or drink from a champagne bottle together
- Change into pajamas and sneak off for a cozy photo if you’re staying at your venue
- Is the party still going? Take your photographer with you to the bar or casino!
- A reveal of your custom wedding day painting
- Get a piece of permanent jewelry put on together
- Give the wedding party bubble guns to shoot while you kiss
- Kissing photos in the elevator as you leave for the night
- Smoking cigars with your wedding party members
Feel free to ask me any questions about these photo ideas!
-Liz
