Photography has a very significant place in my life, and I’ve looked forward to the day when I can hire a wedding photographer. Some brides dream of the perfect wedding dress, and some brides dream of the walking down the aisle in the perfect venue, but I dream of my wedding photos. As a wedding and portrait photographer, I absolutely love wedding photos. As a newly engaged bride in the midst of planning my wedding, I recently read “A Bride’s Guide to a Picture Perfect Wedding“, written by San Diego wedding photographer Cavin Elizabeth. It’s a beautiful book full of very useful advice that I found helpful as a bride and agreed with as a photographer. I recommend this book to brides and will be recommending it to my clients.
The sections of the book include:
Choosing Your Photographer
The Engagement Session
Boudoir and Bridal Sessions
Wedding Planning
Getting Ready
The First Look
The Ceremony
Portraits and Cocktail Hour
The Reception
The After Party
The Day-After Session
Image Viewing and Product Ordering
The Album Process
Anniversary Sessions
I love the chapter on “The First Look”. I’ve been on the fence about doing a first look, but the book did a great job describing the merits of a first look. Also, did you know you can have a “Day-After” session? Another chapter I love is “The Engagement Session” chapter, since that’s what my fiancé Damon and I are in the middle of planning right now. I liked Cavin Elizabeth’s recommendation to dress formally for your engagement shoot. She writes, “Why formal? For such a special occasion, investing time, effort, and even a little money into your engagement clothing will elevate your confidence and will help you achieve those gorgeous, romantic engagement photos of your dreams.” A very useful chapter of the book is the Timeline section of the “Wedding Planning” chapter. It gave me a good idea of the potential timeline of my wedding.
One of the most valuable sections of the book for me personally was a page on why you should hire a wedding planner. My wedding venue has a venue coordinator, and they told us it wasn’t necessary to have a wedding planner. Cavin Elizabeth writes that “a venue coordinator is absolutely not the same thing as a wedding planner” and that the venue coordinator’s primary concern is managing the venue as opposed to my plan and my vision, which makes complete sense to me. This was one of the final pushes I needed and we booked a wedding planner this past weekend!
As a photographer, I love that there’s a book out there that helps brides and wedding planners design a wedding with photography in mind. I found myself nodding as I read many sections of the book. In the section “Choosing Your Photographer”, I nodded as I read Cavin’s recommendation that brides look at a photographer’s full gallery, especially reception photos, as not all photographers are equally as skilled at working in dark reception spaces. I know that it’s more challenging to shoot in churches and hotel ballrooms than it is to shoot outside in natural light, so it’s important that brides choose a photographer who is technically competent with strobes and lighting equipment.
Whether you’re a bride, wedding photographer, or wedding planner, “A Bride’s Guide to a Picture Perfect Wedding” is a great resource.
Glad to see you having fun with the wedding planning process!