Ceremony Weddings

Ceremony Weddings are a beautiful way to get married, weather in a church or in an outdoor location.  

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The following are some tips to make your ceremony picture perfect.  ALL of these are important!!!

1.  Make sure the bride and groom are lined up in the center of the background.  Nothing looks worse than an off center couple with a beautiful background.
2. Make sure someone takes the brides bouquet when she gets to the end of the isle, for two reasons:  So she can hold both hands with the groom, and so the ring exchange is not blocked by the bouquet.
3. Make sure to have people spaced out at least 20 feet as they are coming down the isle so I can get clear shots of everybody without being blocked by the people in front of them.
4. If your getting married outdoors, try to have the background arch set up so that the sun is facing the back of the arch.  The sun at either side of, or facing the bride and groom, will create harsh shadows and does not look good.

5. don't have the bride and groom stand under anything that will cast a shadow on them, such as lattice pergolas, arches, or anything else that can create a shadow across a bride and grooms face or body as this cannot be removed!

6. If possible, try to get married later in the day, but not too late so that its dark prior to the group pictures and bride and groom pictures that will come after the ceremony.

7.  Have the officiant make an announcement after the ceremony is over that the family and wedding party needs to stay put for family pictures.

8. Make sure the bride and groom are facing each other, not standing with their backs to the camera and audience!

9.  Make sure the officiant tells people to silence and put away their cell phones!  I have seen Amber Alerts ruin wedding several ceremonies. I have also seen guests stand or lean into the isle to take video, blocking my line of sight.

10. Make sure the officiant knows to step aside during the "first kiss" so that his head is not right between the shot.

11. Make sure the officiant tells people to sit down after the bride has walked down the isle.  Several ceremonies I have shot, the officiant forgot to tell the audience this, and they had to stand the entire ceremony!

12.  Make sure all members of the wedding party (mostly the groomsmen) take ALL distracting objects out of their pockets prior to the ceremony, including key chains, phones, combs, etc.

13. Make sure to tell your guests to arrive 30 minutes earlier than the actual start time of the ceremony, unless you want to be waiting for late guests, many time important people.  On average, 20% of your guests will arrive at 4:20pm, if you ask them to arrive at 4:00pm, for example.  So in this case, tell them the ceremony starts at 3:30pm.