Top ten ways to help your wedding photographer

Here’s a list of things you can do to help your wedding photographer.

1. Travel: Make sure you provide the correct address. It sounds obvious but your photographer will probably be using Google maps, and an incorrect postcode can cause havoc. This is especially true in the deepest darkest English countryside.
2. Parking: Check for parking restrictions and reserve a space for the photographer at the Church – they like this!
3. Food: Discuss with your photographer whether they will bring their own meal or whether you will provide one. If they expect you to provide a meal this will be in the additional terms section of the photographer page.
4. Formal shots: Prepare a list of essential formal photos and assign a couple of people with rounding up duties. This will make this part of the day run smoothly. Not all photographers do these kind of shots. You can filter listings to see who does group shots.
5. Change of plans: If you suddenly decide to move the speeches to between courses rather than at the end then let your wedding photographer know. This applies to any changes to the schedule on the day.
6. Details: Think about how your venue is set up for the wedding. Is the cake placed in a dark corner next to a fire extinguisher? Will the speeches be taking place against a bright window? Will there be enough light during the ceremony? Candlelight is romantic for a winter wedding, but your photographer won’t think so. Making a few simple changes to the venue set up can help your wedding photographer. 
7. Family complications: We surveyed 2000 wedding photographers on our Linkedin group. Family complications were the one thing they all wish they were told before a wedding. Keep your photographer informed of these to save awkwardness during group photos!
8. Prepare a detailed itinerary: Send your photographer, and all wedding suppliers an outline the running order of your big day. This shouldn’t be a detailed list of every shot you want. Most professional wedding photographers don’t work to lists of shots – they pretty much photograph everything that moves anyway – but a timetable of key events is handy.
9. Smile a lot and stick together: Simple but it makes it a lot easier for your photographer to get lots of great photos of the two of you throughout the day.
10. Unusual events: Your arrival by helicopter and the £10000 worth of fireworks may be a secret from the guests – but photographers like to be prepared for this kind of sudden unusual events. This also applies if you are rehearsing a YouTube-style first dance and are planning to throw each other around the dance floor! 

Your wedding photographer will advise you before the wedding of any extra information they need to help their planning.