How to choose your wedding photographer

July 16, 2020April 18, 2017 by Dan Biggins

Ah, the joys of planning a wedding…if you’re in the throes of organising your big day, you’ve probably realised by now just how complicated even the simplest wedding can be when it comes to choosing and booking suppliers. Fear not, for I’m here to help you choose the most important person of the day – your wedding photographer!*

Back in November 2016 I married my gorgeous wife Bea, and while we were planning our wedding we decided to keep everything as simple as possible. However, the path to a magical wedding doesn’t always run smoothly as they say, especially when we spent days deliberating what size and shade of orange the roses should be in Bea’s bouquet and on the cake. I mean, an orange rose is an orange rose, right? Apparently not…

You’ll have to make a similar decision when choosing your wedding photographer. I mean, let’s not beat around the bush here – there are lots of us about, and there are lots of supremely talented photographers out there too. So how will you know who’s the right one for you? Well, simply follow these tips and you’ll book your dream wedding photographer in no time at all!

1) Meet them first!

I know plenty of couples who never meet their photographer before booking them, and that’s fine. I also know plenty of photographers who never meet the couple they’re photographing until the wedding either. That’s okay too – whatever works for you. However, think about it. You’re going to be spending all day with this camera-wielding stranger, so what happens if you meet them on the morning of your wedding and you find out you don’t actually like them? Maybe they’re too brash for your tastes? Too quiet? Perhaps their inappropriate jokes are upsetting various members of your family? It could be that you don’t like they way they carry out their work?

I can’t recommend enough meeting your photographer first, especially if it’s over a coffee and a slice of delicious cake (make mine carrot, please). That way you’ll soon find out if you “click” (pun intended) with them. Also, taking part in a pre-wedding session is also a good idea. You may initially baulk at the suggestion, but it’ll give you an insight into how your photographer will go about his or her work on your wedding day.

2) Ask to see a whole wedding from start to finish

When it comes to wedding photography websites, most photographers will only display their very best work. That’s understandable – we want to market and promote ourselves in the very best way imaginable, so we’ll select the cream of the crop from each wedding we photograph to display on our sites. Also, no-one (except the bride and groom themselves) won’t be too keen on trawling through hundreds of photos when visiting the photographer’s site (can you imagine your data usage bill? Shudder…)

To give yourself a better idea of what a photographer is capable of, ask to see a gallery of a wedding from start to finish. That way, you’ll see a full range of getting-ready photos, detail photos such as the dress, buttonholes, cufflinks, rings etc, the ceremony in all its glory as well as the reception. You’re investing a decent amount of money, so you need to be confident that your photographer is adept in all the situations a wedding day throws at them. Speaking of investment…

3) Don’t base your decision solely on price

“Well, you would say that!” I hear you cry. Well, hear me out…it’s very tempting to dismiss a photographer as soon as you hear or see how much they’re charging, but I’d implore you to think carefully about exactly what you’re looking for. For example, a couple of years ago my wife and I bought a house, and we had a checklist of things we definitely wanted the house to include, and some things we weren’t that bothered about. As we’d previously lived in London, I really wasn’t fussed about having a garden, but after viewing a few properties we found the house we loved. And guess what? Yes, it had a garden. And yes, it cost a little more than we’d planned on spending. But it didn’t matter, because we still love the house as much as we did the day we bought it, so spending a little extra was definitely worth it.

That’s why number 1 above is so important – always meet your photographer before the big day if you can, because you’ll have a clearer picture of what he or she offers, which will result in you receiving the photographs of your dreams!

*I’m joking, of course. Actually, you and your spouse are the most important people of the day. Your photographer comes in third 🙂

Why Won’t My Wedding Photographer Provide RAW Files?

July 16, 2020February 7, 2017 by Dan Biggins

When I meet couples for the first time and woo them with my charm, sparkling wit and repartee (hey, I don’t like to boast), they occasionally ask me, “Dan, will you give us the RAW files from the wedding?”, to which my reply is (in the nicest way possible), “No! Who on earth do you think you are?! It’s almost as if you’re paying me to photograph your wedding….oh…”

In all seriousness, I’m one of those photographers who doesn’t give RAW files away to my couples. First of all, let’s answer the obvious question for those who don’t know…

What are RAW files?

Simply put, they’re digital negatives. RAW files are the exact representation of what the camera “sees”, or rather what the camera sensor sees. It’s a bit like an unprocessed film before you take it to Boots (ah, those were the days…) To put it another way, consumer cameras (point and shoots, smartphones etc) shoot in a file format called JPEG (which I’m sure you’ve heard of), and as a rule point they process this JPEG before you see it on screen or download it, applying contrast, saturation, sharpness etc.

So why won’t I give you RAW files?

1) They’re enormous

Okay, this excuse is becoming less valid as digital storage becomes cheaper by the year, but it’s still a consideration. My camera outputs RAW files at just over 20mb in size, whereas a processed JPEG weights in at around 6mb (give or take the odd megabyte here and there). If you really want a photographer to give you RAW files, make sure you have plenty of storage space.

2) Signature style

When I return home from a wedding, the first thing I do is upload all the RAW files to my computer to back them up. I’ll then open Lightroom and start processing them.

So what does this involve?

Basically I’ll tweak the file in a number of ways, using my creative vision to produce a visually pleasing photo in my own creative style. This may involve bumping the shadows up a bit, adding contrast, saturating or desaturating the image, sharpening, taming the highlights a little…it all depends on the original photograph, but I edit all RAW files in a similar fashion to produce a consistently pleasing result.

In a way it’s a bit like your favourite music producer working on a record. For example, my Dad loves ELO and Jeff Lynne. When you hear a record produced by Jeff (such as ELO or Travelling Wilburys) it’s been produced in his signature style, and you can hear it’s been produced by him.

It’s the same with my photographs; I develop and process them in my own signature style. You may love them (hopefully) or you may not, but it all ties in with my brand, how I wish to present my work and the service I offer all my clients.

Take a photographer such as Anton Corbijn. Okay, he shoots with film which is slightly different, but can you honestly say his work is an accurate visual representation of the band / artist he photographed, and is exactly what he saw at the time with his own eyes?

Going back to the music analogy, a band would never release an album of “raw” sound files that haven’t been mixed or mastered in some way. When you listen to a commercial CD, each guitar / vocal / bass part has had some sort of processing applied, whether it’s reverb (to create a sense of space), compression (to make it consistently louder) or panned left or right (so it sits comfortably in the mix). Why should photographs be any different?

3) The camera sometimes lies

Modern digital cameras are incredible, let’s face it. However, my eyes are far more advanced than the best camera in the world, and can see details, shadows, light and form far better than a camera ever will. Various research has been done on how much detail the human eye can see, but it’s estimated to be around 576 megapixels. Compare that with the iPhone 7 that records visual images at 8 megapixels.

Some photographers argue that “a RAW file is an accurate representation of a subject or scene”. I’d argue that it isn’t, as a camera can’t “see” anywhere near as much detail as my eyes can. When I process a photograph I’m not only enhancing the image, I’m pushing it closer to what I originally saw through the viewfinder (in my own creative style, as mentioned above).

However, who’s to say my eyes are seeing the scene correctly? When I process a RAW file, I’m doing so partly from memory. It may be hours or even days since I captured the original photograph, so can my memory of that particular scene be relied upon? When I view a sunset for example, who’s to say I’m seeing the exact same colour and textures as you?

Cleary Gardens, London – Pre-Wedding Photography

July 16, 2020December 1, 2016 by Dan Biggins

You know how you can reside in a location for years (such as London), and walk past the same place every day without actually realising it’s there? I’m ashamed to admit that I must have strolled past Cleary Gardens on countless occasions, and never gave it so much as a cursory glance.

Until recently that is. Every now and again I like to set up pre-wedding sessions via Facebook, where I pick a small number of lucky couples to take part in their very own photoshoot. It’s a great way to meet new people, and it allows me to try out a few new things such as funky flash tricks (I’m rather partial to the odd funky flash trick now and again, don’t you know.)

One of those lucky (and very lovely) couples was Adeena and Luke, who met me one evening in the never-visited-before Cleary Gardens. For those of you who’ve never visited said gardens, they’re rather small but very charming – lots of nooks and crannies, lovely foliage and benches where you can take time out for a while away from the hubbub of the city.

Adeena and Luke were utterly fab, open to my ideas and entering into the spirit of the session with enthusiasm and gusto. This is exactly the reason why I love photographing pre-wedding sessions and weddings themselves – I get to meet lots of lovely people and make some new friends along the way too.

Cleary Gardens, London - Pre-Wedding Photography

Cleary Gardens, London – Pre-Wedding Photography 7

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Your Wedding Photographer

July 16, 2020November 30, 2016 by Dan Biggins

Weddings are emotional events and take a heck of a lot of planning, so knowledge is power – the more you’re aware of potential pitfalls when it comes to hiring a photographer, the more you’ll know what to look out for, ensuring you receive the very best photographs of your wedding day!

Mistake 1: Not getting to know your photographer first

When you hire a wedding photographer, it’s a little bit like hiring an extra guest to your wedding. Although the difference is this guest will be taking photographs, as well as talking to and getting along with all your friends and family, staying professional and capturing images with a smile on his or her face. That’s why it’s important to meet your photographer first, or at least have a lengthy conversation on the phone with them. You need to know if you’ll like them important events of the day, as well as not upsetting Auntie Mabel immediately before the ceremony.

Mistake 2: Choosing a photographer solely on price

Let’s face it; in life you tend to get what you pay for. Take luxury cars for example. Would you expect to take a few thousand pounds down to your local Aston Martin dealer and return home with a brand new DB7? Or would you expect to pop in to your local Apple store to purchase a laptop, and leave with plenty of change from £500?

Of course you wouldn’t!

The same applies to wedding photography. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to hire the most expensive wedding photographer out there (if you do, he’s called Jerry Ghionis, he’s Australian, he’s unbelievable and his prices start at around £10,000. Just thought I’d get that out the way first.)

Cheap wedding photography normally means low quality (not always, but you tend to get what you pay for.) Creative people tend to charge what they think they’re worth. Someone who charges £250 to photograph a wedding is basically saying, “I’m not confident in my abilities or the quality of my work, so that’s why I’m charging very little for all day coverage and a disc of images.” When you hire a wedding photographer, you’re not only paying for their time. You’re paying for their expertise, gained from photographing multiple weddings. You’re paying for their creative eye. You’re paying for the beautiful images they create. You’re paying for memories that will last a lifetime.

Mistake 3: Relying on a friend or family member who has a “nice camera”

Technology is amazing, isn’t it? Just think, ten years ago smartphones didn’t exist. Now everyone takes great photos on them and shares their efforts all across the Internet. Also, “entry-level” cameras are now way more advanced and cheaper than they’ve ever been, and to top it off “Auto” modes on these cameras are extremely intelligent and enable most people to take decent photographs. But are you happy to settle for “decent” on your wedding day?

You probably know someone who owns one of those swanky DSLR cameras. You know, the ones with the interchangeable lenses. Great pieces of kit, and as I said above, fabulous technology. But do they know how to really use it? Would they be able to take a sharp photograph in a dark church without a flash, without the resulting photo looking blurred? Can they capture a photo of your first dance by (a) using flash and (b) not making you look like you’ve wandered into a nuclear explosion? Ultimately, can you trust them to capture all these important moments…and more? Are you willing to take that risk..?

Mistake 4: Not being specific enough about the photos you want

I always ask clients when I meet them if there are any specific photos that they’d like. Some of them are so excited they simply say, “Oh, just take beautiful photographs through the day Dan, I trust you to capture everything!” Which is lovely, but not particularly helpful. Of course, I’ll photograph you getting ready. I’ll photograph the rings. I’ll photograph you looking amazing as you walk down the aisle. I’ll photograph the putting on of the rings. I’ll photograph the first kiss and the first dance, and more. However, believe it or not, I’m not a mind reader 🙂

If Auntie Mabel is flying across from Australia and it’s the first time in 23 years that you’ve seen her, and she’s not very well, and it’s vital that I take a photograph of her with you and your niece who’s just graduated…then please tell me!

Mistake 5: Prioritising products over the photography

Most wedding photographers offer various products as part of their collections, as I do. For example, I offer a folio containing a USB drive and prints, and a luxury handmade, leather bound album (which is utterly gorgeous. When you see it you’ll want one, believe me.) However, don’t lose sight of why you’re hiring a photographer in the first place! It’s the quality of their work. It’s the ability to capture images that you’ll treasure for the rest of your life. Not the products that they offer – you can source those long after your wedding is over, but you can’t replace mediocre photographs from that day.

Mistake 6: Thinking that because a photographer has expensive gear, they’re bound to take fantastic photographs

It really is no guarantee. I could buy a top of the range Aga, and believe me, you probably wouldn’t want to eat what I could create with it.

This anecdote sums it up best: When the author Jack London had his portrait taken by the noted San Francisco photographer Arnold Genthe, London began the encounter with effusive praise for the photographic art of his friend and fellow bohemian, Genthe: “You must have a wonderful camera…it must be the best camera in the world …you must show me your camera!” Genthe then used his standard studio camera to make what has since become a classic picture of Jack London. When the sitting was finished, Genthe could not contain himself: “I have read your books, Jack, and I think they are important works of art. You must have a wonderful typewriter.”

Touché indeed.

Mistake 7: Not considering an assistant photographer

Planning is everything when it comes to wedding photography. I’ll always try and meet the client and nail down timings – what time they’re arriving, when guests are due to arrive, when the cutting of the cake and first dance are due to occur, and so on and so forth. This means I can plan where I’ll be, at what time, and what photographs I’ll be taking when I’m there. However, I don’t have eyes in the back of my head (more’s the pity), and they haven’t yet invented a camera with a lens on the front and the back (well, there’s always my smartphone, but I don’t think you’d want me to photograph your wedding using that..!)

I always try and recommend my couples pays a little extra for an assistant photographer. This means you’ll obviously have two pairs of skilled eyes watching proceedings unfold – while I’m photographing the first kiss, my assistant is capturing the beaming smiles and tears of joy amongst your wedding guests. While I’m capturing the bride and groom walking down the aisle towards me, my assistant is capturing the reactions of your guests, the confetti throwing and so on. While I’m capturing a close-up of the cake cutting, my assistant is taking a wide photograph of everyone in the room.

Mistake 8: Leaving all the decisions to the photographer

As mentioned above in point 4, there are a number of “must-have” photos that I’ll always capture, although I recommend my clients to provide as much input as possible when it comes to their photographs. I’ll recommend poses and locations for your photos, but let me know what images you’d like. Set up a Pinterest board with wedding photos you love and share it with me (just bear in mind that if you pin photos from a beach wedding in Belize and you’re getting married in Bromley, you may be disappointed. Be realistic.)

Trust in my expertise, certainly, and the more ideas you can provide me with the better.

Mistake 9: Insisting on trendy photos

Around ten years ago “selective colouring” was all the rage – you know, a black and white photograph of a bride holding a bouquet, but the bouquet is in colour (it’s been selectively coloured in Photoshop). A couple of years ago it was vintage – desaturated / washed out photos of trendy couples holding Rolleiflex cameras. The problem with photographing in a style that’s currently trendy? It dates. Badly. In ten years time your photos will look “of a time” and definitely not timeless. After all, brown corduroy flares were hip at one point in history (so I keep telling myself as I once owned a pair. Anyway, moving on..!)

Mistake 10: Not realising just how important your wedding photos are (and will be in the future)

This is a summary of all the points above. Make sure you hire someone you can trust to capture beautiful wedding photos. Put quality above price. How do their photos make you feel? How does the photographer make you feel when you meet them? Your wedding only lasts a day, and memories fade over time, but your photographs should remind you of your wedding day for the rest of your life.

Should I Have An Unplugged Wedding?

July 16, 2020October 24, 2016 by Dan Biggins

Ooh, this is a bit of a hot potato at the moment, and there are numerous debates raging across the internet as I type this. Should you allow your guests to photograph your ceremony with their phones and iPads, or should they be focusing on being in the moment and sharing your special day?

Let’s face it, everyone has a smartphone or tablet these days, and the wonderful thing about these devices is that it allows people to indulge in and enjoy photography on a scale not witnessed before. There’s no need to plug your phone into your computer to download the photos; simply share them across your favourite social network with all your friends and family. I love my smartphone too, as it means that when I’m out and about I can leave all my cumbersome DSLR equipment at home and wander about snapping to my heart’s content.

As you can see from the links above, there’s a growing trend for couples requesting that their weddings are unplugged. So what exactly is an unplugged wedding? It’s where guests switch off and put away their phones / tablets, and enjoy the ceremony without viewing it via a small screen.

To be honest, I’m slightly torn on the subject. It’s not my job to tell couples that all their guests should put their devices away and be present in the moment, but there are a few things you should be aware of if your guests are allowed to take photographs:

Weddings are all about emotions

It’s difficult to truly appreciate the love and joy of a ceremony when you’re ensconced behind a screen and trying to take a photograph (leave that to me, I’ve got you covered). Heck, there are even times when I put the camera down to take in the moment (don’t worry, I make sure all the important photographs are captured first, but it’s definitely nice to share in the emotion of the day from time to time and to remember exactly why we’re all there).

Smartphone photos will be the first wedding photos you’ll see

As good as smartphones and tablet cameras are, they’re definitely not designed (or capable) of taking sharp, well exposed photos in a dark church. Do you really want the first photographs of your wedding to be dark, blurred and underexposed, especially when they’re being shared to thousands of people on social media?

Your professional wedding photos may be compromised

Picture the scene: you’ve been pronounced husband and wife, and you’re gleefully walking back down the aisle smiling at all your family and friends. I’m standing at the back of the church capturing these emotions as you walk towards me, and from out of nowhere Uncle Simon lurches out into the aisle with his phone and completely blocks my view. I like to think I’m a very good photographer and the equipment I use is state of the art, but even I or my gear is unable to see through people. What should be one of the most joyous photographs of the day has now been ruined, although I will have a super-sharp, beautifully exposed photo of the back of Uncle Simon’s head.

Conclusion

It’s a difficult one, I’ll have to admit. As you can see from the photographs in this post, some great moments can be captured of people photographing your wedding on their phones. It’s a free world and it’s certainly not up to me to tell you whether you should or shouldn’t contemplate having an unplugged wedding. Just be aware of the caveats above, and that your overriding memory of the day might be the back of Uncle Simon’s head!

Making It All Worthwhile

July 16, 2020May 11, 2016 by Dan Biggins

Bromley Garden Room London Wedding Photography

I’ll be honest with you – sometimes wedding photography is hard.

Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely LOVE photographing weddings (hopefully that comes across all through this website and via my photographs). Meeting clients, having a coffee with them (and occasionally a cheeky slice of cake too – mmm!) and then capturing their special day is a privilege, an honour and I really wouldn’t want to do anything else. However, there are times during a wedding when you’ve been on your feet for 10 hours, you’re gasping for a drink and your back is screaming blue murder at you. All you want to do is put your feet up and grab a nice glass of Malbec, but the first dance and cutting of the cake is yet to happen…

All this dissipates of course when my couples see their photos for the first time – all those hours running around with a bag full of heavy camera gear on a hot day become completely worthwhile. Especially when one of those couples sends me a card like this, which (I’m not ashamed to admit) brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Holly & Richard.

5 Tips to Look Great in Photos

July 16, 2020January 27, 2016 by Dan Biggins

Let’s face it, not everyone likes having their picture taken. The vast majority of us don’t look like Kate Moss or Brad Pitt, so naturally we’re reticent to be caught on camera. However, if you’re at a party or out with friends, and you just can’t avoid your friend and his / her smartphone camera, here are some tips to make sure you look your absolute best!

Don’t say cheese

You can’t force a smile, and believe me, it shows on camera if you try. When you smile, the muscles under your eyes naturally contract, so think of something funny, laugh with your friends or share a joke with the photographer. Your photo will look much better for it.

Eliminate the double chin

If posed incorrectly, it’s easy for even the thinnest person to look terrible in photos. To avoid the dreaded double chin, elongate your neck and push your ears slightly towards the camera. It’ll feel strange at first but you’ll look great, believe me!

Work out your angles

Standing straight on towards the camera is rarely flattering – for men it can work, because it accentuates the shoulders and as such can be considered a masculine pose, but for ladies it’s not preferable. Put your hand on your hip, cross your legs at the ankles and gently put your weight on your back foot, angle your body to the side and then turn your head back towards the camera.

Turn your back to the sun

This might seem counterintuitive but it works. When you face the sun you’ll automatically squint, but turning your back to the sun means you’ll be backlit, creating a more romantic feel to the photograph. There are two provisos to this – one, early morning or late afternoon light works best as it’s much softer, and secondly, the light behind you might fool the camera (it’ll think the picture is too bright and will automatically underexpose. Ever taken a snap of a friend when they’re sitting in front of a window, and wondered why they appear as a silhouette in your photo? Now you know).

Practice and relax!

If you need to, practice your posing in front of a mirror until you feel comfortable. Don’t forget to breathe, smile, relax and have fun!

Bonus tip – hire a professional

If you really want to look good in photographs, consider hiring someone with years of experience behind a camera, who can help you look amazing in every photograph. Now who could that be? Hmmm….

Ghosts of the Past

July 16, 2020December 22, 2015 by Dan Biggins

When I was a kid, my Dad owned a reel-to-reel tape recorder. It was huge, clunky and prone to conking out on a regular basis, but I loved it. It provided me, my brother and our friends with many happy hours recording ourselves laughing, joking and generally fooling around. Those innocent(ish) hours of childhood were captured on tape for us to enjoy for all eternity. Or so we thought.

One fateful day it stopped working. No matter what we did to revive it, it steadfastly refused to work. We scoured the Yellow Pages (remember that?) to find someone who could restore it to its former glory, but everyone we spoke to provided the same answer; “That’s obsolete – we no longer support or repair that machine I’m afraid”.

I never did find out what happened to that reel-to-reel player, or indeed the reels that once used to grace it. As a result, those memories of childhood disappeared forever.

Echoes of the future

If we’re not careful, a lifetime of photographic memories could quite easily be consigned to the same bottomless dustbin of time, especially in this transient, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it digital age. At the moment we all enjoy the convenience of uploading photographs (or the ubiquitous jpg as it’s sometimes known) to our favourite social media channel, or looking at photographs of our friends and family on the technological wonder of our age, the smartphone. But what happens if the jpg file format is discontinued? What happens if those lifetime of memories, ensconced away on CD’s, DVD’s, hard drives and phones are no longer accessible? Or what’s the impact if CD’s, DVD’s, hard drives and smart phones themselves all become obsolete? The scenario is almost like a modern day version of Back to the Future – watch in horror as the memories of a life you thought you had disappear before your very eyes…

Preserving the Past

All of my wedding clients have received digital images on either a CD or a USB drive, because (a) that’s what I offer at the moment, and (b) that’s what they want (or at least, that’s what they’ve been led to believe they want, but that’s definitely another debate for another time). For a while now this has sat uncomfortably with me, especially after writing The True Value of Wedding Photography post and holding and touching my parent’s wedding photographs in the process of sharing those thoughts.

As 2016 approaches, I’m currently addressing what I want to offer my clients, and what I want my business to stand for. I want to provide a special service that they just won’t receive anywhere else, and this includes providing physical products. I suppose the word I’m searching for here is authenticity – I’m analysing everything, from how I capture process my photographs (and the equipment I use to do that), to how I present myself when I meet clients (I want them to meet “me”, not a sales-driven, pushy version of me), to how I deliver their final wedding images. I know you’re thinking, “Well, he would say that!”, but I’ve been looking at a multitude of wedding albums and presentation products lately and genuinely believe that a tangible product is the only authentic way of presenting my client’s memories. I accept paper fades and disintegrates after decades of exposure to light or grubby fingers, but my parent’s wedding photos have been well looked after and still appear as new as the day they were printed. While these photos exist I’ll always be able to look at them, whereas photographs that reside on a floppy disc or zip drive may well be lost forever.

Crystal Palace Park London Pre-Wedding Photography

July 16, 2020July 14, 2015 by Dan Biggins

About an hour before Amy and Ben arrived for their engagement session, I was walking round Crystal Palace Park with a huge smile on my face whilst quietly giggling to myself. “Oh my word, look at this light! Oh, that’s fab – they’ll love that. Wow, that’ll make for a great photo…oh my days, look at that!” and so on and so forth.

I’m not sure who was more excited about the session – me, or Amy and Ben? (It was a close run thing, I’m happy to say!)

Later this year I have the great honor of photographing Amy and Ben’s wedding, so what better way to prepare than with an engagement photography session in one of London’s finest (and underrated in my opinion) parks? As a resident of East Dulwich I used to visit the park regularly with my partner Bea, and we loved the area and the park so much that we even contemplated buying a house there (until we, erm, actually looked at the prices of accommodation in the area. Ahem.)

So I was thrilled when Amy and Ben asked to meet in Crystal Palace Park for some photographs, because it’s a place very close to my heart. Hopefully this love (and Amy and Ben’s) is reflected in these photographs:

Top 5 Wedding Day Tips

July 16, 2020April 23, 2015 by Dan Biggins

In all my experience of photographing weddings, one word tends to sum them up more than any other. Any idea what that word could be?

Yep. It’s “chaos”! There’s so much to think about and do on the day itself, things can quickly spiral out of control if you’re not careful.

But it needn’t be that way! With a little careful planning and foresight on your behalf, you can easily have the smoothest wedding day of your dreams. So without further ado, here are my top 5 tips for a stress-free wedding day:

1) Timeline!

Create a detailed timeline your wedding day that includes when flowers are set to arrive, when people should arrive, when hair and makeup will get done, etc. Include exact times and locations. Share this timeline with everyone involved in your wedding, including your photographer!

2) Food!

Have food on hand while you get ready. Some couples make the mistake of barely eating on their wedding day and end up with a headache! Having healthy snacks and lots of water on hand will make for a better day.

3) Practice!

Practice walking in your wedding day shoes to make sure they’re comfortable enough to stand around in for your portraits and for the duration of your wedding. Pain is beauty, yes, but looking pained in a picture isn’t worth the discomfort.

4) Be Prepared!

Pack a “wedding day emergency” kit and bring it along with you on your big day. Essentials include some clear nail polish for snags, pain reliever for headaches, any makeup you need for touching up and a travel sewing kit. Band-Aids, lozenges and tissues are also good.

5) Stay Cool!

Have your cake and flowers arrive at the latest possible moment (but still budget in some buffer time). Flowers wilt and cakes can melt on hot days, so putting these deliveries off can ensure both look great for your pictures, ceremony and reception.