Top 5 Must-Have Bridal Poses

After all your relatives and friends have extended their congratulations on your engagement, you are probably already getting a head start on the planning stages of your wedding. Ideally, weddings should be planned at least one year ahead.

From the wedding dress to the theme at the wedding reception to the menu – you would have to attend to every little detail if you want to turn your big day into a resounding success. But the one thing that you should not forget to pay extra attention to is planning your wedding photography.

Perhaps of the most important decisions that you need to make during the planning of your wedding is which photographer to hire. Basically, you have three choices when it comes to the style that wedding photographer use.

There is the traditional style wherein the photographer will direct staged shots to capture the most important moments on your big day. The second style is a bit more free and candid. Here, the photographer will use a photojournalistic style of telling stories through pictures – so expect a lot of beautiful candid shots to be taken. Finally, there are photographers who use a combination of both styles.

Make sure to look at the portfolio of a wedding photographer before deciding which one to hire. Remember that you will only see the end products after the wedding ceremony and reception is over – so you should select the best one from the lot.

The Photos that Every Bride Must Have in Her Wedding Album

After the wedding ceremony and reception, the only thing that a bride will have left to remember her wedding day by is her wedding album. If a bride has been dreaming of walking down the aisle all her life, she naturally would want to look beautiful not just on the eyes of the groom and the guests – but in the wedding photos as well.

This is the reason why as a photographer, you should build a pleasant working relationship with the bride. Prior to the wedding, make sure to have a talk with the couple so that you know what they expect to come out of the shots that you will take during one of the most important days of their lives.

After discussing the technicalities like what comes with the wedding photography package, how much it costs and all the other details – the next thing that you need to think about is the top poses that you would like the bride to do.

The Top 5 Must-Have Bridal Poses

Photographers usually apply a combination of the traditional photography with the photojournalistic style which uses candid shots to tell a story. No matter which of these two styles you are a master of, it would really help if you will have a talk with the bride about the shots of herself that she wants to see on her wedding album.

Remember that each soon-to-be-married couple has a unique personality, so every wedding is sure to be different. This is especially true when it comes to the bride – so make sure that the pictures that you will take of her will be up to par with her standards.

Here are a few ideas when it comes to the top five bridal poses that most brides prefer to see in their wedding albums:

The bride dressing for the ceremony.

You wouldn’t believe all the time and effort that a bride spends to find the perfect wedding dress – so you should pay homage to the bride and her dress. You can probably take a picture of the bride on her robe – with her wedding dress lying by the chair or the bed. Another variation of the shot is to take a solo picture of the bride while dressing for the ceremony.

Bride surrounded by her bridesmaids

The bridesmaids are some of the most important women in the bride’s life – so it is a must for you to take a shot of her surrounded by them.

Bride walking down the aisle

This is the moment that she has been dreaming of – and it should be captured on film accordingly. Take a close-up and a long-range shot of the bride while she is walking down the aisle.

Father of the bride giving away his daughter

This is another important shot that you should take – that of the father giving away his daughter. You can include in the shot the face of the groom, but any candid shots surrounding this moment will do.

Bride and the groom’s first kiss

Finally, make sure to take a shot of the bride and groom’s first kiss as soon as the officiant announces them as husband and wife.

The first three items can either be posed or candid shots – while the last two will naturally be candid shots. All in all, these are some of the most important pictures that a bride wants to see included in her wedding album – so make sure to include them.

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Why It Pays to Hire the Perfect Wedding Photographer

So why is there a need to spend that extra time in looking for a suitable photographer who will cover the events at your wedding? Perhaps the most important reason is to ensure that your wedding album will turn out great.

Just imagine how you as a couple will feel if, after spending all that time and money planning your wedding, you end up looking at not-so-good wedding pictures! The perfect wedding photographer will be able to capture the mood and the magic of the occasion, which is the number one reason why it pays to hire a good one.

First Step in Planning Your Wedding Photography

Now, the first step in hiring the perfect photographer for your wedding is to make the initial contact. Gather as many names as you can and create a list. Then, get in touch with each individual photographer by giving them a call or sending them an e-mail.

The quickness of the response can also be your gauge on how well they treat their prospective customers. Now, once you have made the initial contact, ask for a price quotation for the basic wedding package that they offer. Make sure that they are available on your wedding date – and ask to see samples of their work later on.

Photojournalistic, Traditional or Both?

After making sure that the photographer is available on your wedding date and have an idea about the charges involved, here comes the good part: seeing samples of their work. Basically, wedding photographers use the photojournalistic approach, the traditional approach or a combination of both.

As the name implies, the photojournalistic approach is when a photographer tells a story through a series of candid shots taken on your big day. A traditional wedding photographer, on the other hand, focuses more on staged or posed shots.

If you don’t want to spend too much time posing for the photographer during your wedding day, you may want to select one who has a photojournalistic approach. One who uses a combination of both styles is a good choice, too.

Finally, make sure that you have all bases covered when hiring a wedding photographer. Understand all of the costs involved, what you will get as part of the wedding package that they offer – and finally, make sure that you are satisfied with how their previous wedding shots have turned out by looking at their portfolio.

This way, you can rest assured that the photos for your wedding day will end up being just that: picture-perfect.

Something Different: What Themed Weddings are all about

But what if you are on the lookout for something different? Let’s say that either the bride or the groom has a quirky personality and this is something that you want to showcase during your wedding day.

For this, you may want to come up with a unique theme for your wedding. If you want to ditch the traditional and formal suit for the groom, have a designer create a unique outfit for him that will match with the white dress that the bride is wearing.

Then, you can go to a rockstar-themed wedding where all the guests will wear black and only the bride is the one wearing white! This unique wedding theme will surely look great in black and white photos – with a bouquet of blood-red roses standing out among the sea of all that monochrome-wedded bliss.

Or, you can opt for a Victorian-themed wedding event if the bride is a romantic at heart. Her gown and the groom’s suit should be designed after the Victorian era. You can even have the guests arrive in full-costume regalia so that you will have some sort of a costume party during the wedding reception! Just ask the female guests to not wear a ball gown which may out stage what the bride is wearing.