Some Insider Tips for Planning Your Wedding

As a wedding photographer, my job is to notice all the emotion and details of the day, the highs and lows, the ups and downs and everything in between.

Wedding photographers experience more “wedding time” in a typical year than just about anyone except perhaps a wedding planner.

So here are my insider tips for planning a successful wedding based on my observations…

Keep Things Simple

Less of everything. A shorter wedding ceremony, shorter speeches, less decorations, less planned ‘activities’, less is more.

And yes this applies to wedding photography as well… Less posed photography means fewer family group photos, shorter portrait sessions in the hot sun and less posed group photos at the reception.

Instead of exhausting two or three hour portrait and bridal photo sessions, consider spend a bit more time with guests and receive more genuine, candid photos.

Consider which parts of the day can be shot mostly candidly such as getting ready, and spend more time with friends and family.

Not only will doing less and keeping things simple at your wedding result in cost savings, but it will significantly reduce the stress and anxiety on the day.

Keeping things simple doesn’t have to mean having a short wedding, or even reducing the quality. It just means not overburdening everyone with detail and activities that aren’t meaningful to you.

Plan For Failure

It really helps to plan the whole day out to ensure there is ample time for everything that is important to you. It is also important to accept that things won’t go exactly as planned, so flexibility and understanding is required.

At my wedding at Versace on the Gold Coast I was furious because the mother and father of the bride were served fish as their ‘vegetarian meal’. In hindsight, I should have expected a few things to go wrong, and not let this get under my collar.

So there is a mental attitude required that things will go wrong (and to not let this affect your day) but also there is just common sense redundancy planning.

If you are using Spotify for playing music for example and not hiring a DJ, make sure there is a backup plan if there are technical problems. That might mean a completely separate music system that is on hand.

I was at a wedding a few weeks ago and the Spit Roast guy was 30 minutes late. Everyone was freaking out. What was the backup plan if he never arrived? While mobile food vendors such as food trucks and spit roasts are good options, always have a backup plan!

If relying on mobile food vendors, always allow extra time for the service of guests and expect they are often not ready on time in my experience.

Ask Your Photographer for Venue Recommendations

This is completely against what you might have read. Book your venue, then book your photographer everyone says. But your photographer has experienced more wedding venues than just about anyone else.

They know which venues really care about their guests, and which just tick the boxes. They have also eaten the food at every venue, so they really know what to expect.

Reviews only tell so much of the story. Often brides and grooms will be overcome with emotion and in some cases exhaustion on their wedding day. They hardly have time to visit the bathroom let alone consider the quality of the food and other details.

Your photographer will also be able to suggest venues that are photo friendly. This usually means a white medium height ceiling to bounce flash lighting at night.

If you are looking for a great Brisbane venue for your wedding and want some unbiased advice, give me a call and I will be more than happy to help with suggestions.

Always Do a Mock Cake Cutting

The problem with announcing the cake will be cut to all the guests is that the vast majority in my experience won’t be that interested. There will however be a throng of aunts, mothers and grandmothers rushing over with their mobile phones to take pictures on their phones and iPad.

This means the cake cutting photos (or video) will have a backdrop of mobile phones and you won’t know where to look, and often the photographer has to settle for a second rate position.

The cake cutting is best done as a mock cake cutting (pretending to cut the cake) about 5 minutes before the real cutting. Then by all means announce the cake cutting and get the actual cake cutting, which may well be filled with great candid moments and surprises (and your photographer will have the right settings dialled in by then to capture the best photos).

Your photographer will also be in position directly in front of the table or have taken the best spot, which means your photos should be the best (especially as they will probably be using flash).

I also recommend asking your photographer to recommend the best position to cut the cake, which is normally with guests visible in the background or towards the best natural light source such as windows during a lunchtime or afternoon reception.

Prepare a Surprise Speech

Unless you are the best man, there is really no expectation of a speech. Whether you are the bride, groom or best man tell everyone you will not be making a speech. Then prepare a speech weeks before, print it out and rehearse it so you almost know every word.

Do not use your mobile phone to read from, as this is not a good look and screens often switch off right in the middle of your punch lines.

The psychological reason for a surprise speech is simple. There will be no expectation for you to make a speech, and you will have absolutely nothing to worry about!

And try to resist the temptation to download funny wedding speech lines from the internet. At least use these as inspiration only, or only include a couple of funny lines at the start. Make the speech heartfelt, but most of all, make it short!

Even if you have absolutely no intention of making a speech, still prepare a speech to avoid the dreaded “thanks for coming” speech.

Always Allow Buffer Time in Your Run Sheet

Always prepare a detailed run sheet with timings for everything. This doesn’t mean on the day you have to stick to the original plans to the last minute, but do make sure the wedding party gets back from portraits on time to respect the kitchen.

Send the latest updated run sheet to all the suppliers/vendors the morning before so everyone is on the same page, and there is still time to make last minute adjustments.

Buffer time simple means adding in more free time than you might expect. If your grand entrance is planned for 6.00PM for example, your run sheet might have you getting back to the reception at 5.45PM at the latest (not 5.59PM).

Buffer time should also be inserted between any planned activities where possible. So if you are planning to cut the cake at 9PM, don’t then plan to start the first dance at 9.05PM. Instead, allow 15 minutes to cut the cake (as other guests may want photos as well!) then plan the next activity at 9.30PM.

The bottom line is that things always take longer than you might expect, and when you have 60 people all vying for your attention, it can be hard to keep to a schedule!

Finally always make sure even for a small wedding that one person (normally the MC) has general control over the wedding timeline with your interests in mind and is the first contact for all suppliers such as photographers, DJ’s, caterers etc. This will give you more time on the day, and much less to worry about!