You looked through many hours of photographers' websites and seen their artwork; now you finally chose one! Congrats! What do you do now?
Firstly, have email correspondence with your photographer. This will help to sum up any details and easy for reference later. We were going to travel to Paris for holiday so we thought it's a good chance to take our wedding photos. We searched through many websites and decided to engage Fran The Paris Photographer as our wedding photographer. It's mainly because of the video he have on his website. In the video he was taking foc pictures for couples during Xmas. Which I thought was really sweet~ After we established contact and pricing, we paid a deposit of $140€. The rest of the payment will be made on the actual day itself. And we started corresponding for our important day.
This is a good time to ask as many questions as you have. For e.g. ask how it is usually done, what are his fav locations for pictures, how to change gown, etc. Here is a list of questions I asked.
1. What are the usual locations for wedding photography?
2. After looking through the locations listed, I named out a few to the photographer and ask him to help me put the sequence in order for easy traveling on that day.
3. How and when to change gowns? Let him know what type of gown I have. Big or small, so as to let him gauge how easy it is to change.
4. Let him know what kind of photographs I would like.
5. How many photos will be edited for us?
6. Will we be getting the raw pictures?
7. How about props? Can bring props for us?
8. How about raining? Should we bring a nice umbrella?
9. Any preference from the photographer himself?
10. Lastly, ask for his number. Usually they have whatsapp and it's free to msg as we use only Internet to msg. This will help in your liasing on the last important details.
Our photographer actually preferred colorful clothes. But on the actual day we wore normal colors.. Only
My make-up and 2nd gown is more colorful because it's both red in color. And true enough color "pops" out in pictures and even my photographer commented that my lips are "popping" from the pictures out because it's red in color.
Secondly set up Pinterest board with your photographer. Create a board that says "Wedding photos inspiration". Share with him what kind of pics you like. Like close-up, romantic, day pictures, night pictures etc. This Pinterest will also serve you well in your other wedding big items list, like hairdo, wedding gown(ooh this is oh-so-important!).
So now is the time for you to do lots of homework. And I mean LOTS AND LOTS of homework. I remember during that time I was surfing the net everyday until 1-2am for my wedding gown, make-up, accessories, etc. Panda-eyed but wedding gown comes first!
List of homework to do:
1. Wedding gown (of coz!)
2. Evening gown
3. Make-up preferred
4. Hairstyle
5. Veil?
6. Shoes
7. Any inner shape underwear
8. Type of bra to go along w the gowns.
9. Nails
You have to try on with as much as you can before the actual day of shoot to make sure everything is going well. We don't want last min of "oh the bra is showing", or "I need some shapewear that's not cutting into my butt". So try and try with the gown with accessories as much as you can before you depart for your holiday + shoot.
Another tip is to keep referring to your inspirational wedding inspirational pictures to make sure of the details. On the actual day itself during the shoot, will be hard to see carefully the details when the photographer is talking to you, and you are busy trying to make the best pose recalling out of memory. So try the poses at home with your future to be hubby before the actual day, and you will be so glad that you did! :)
After you done your homework - wedding gown chosen, and bought, and recieved. Make-up artists chosen and hair accessories found. Then it's time to finalize the details with your photographer around 1 month before departing for the shoot (have to filter time taken for him to correspond as well).
1. Where to meet and what time?
2. If you don't have anyone joining you other then the photographer and your husband and you, then I guess it's good to ask if your photographer can help to take care of your bags on the day itself. Our photographer had another girl coming to learn from him so the girl helped in many ways, helping us to take care of our belongings when we are taking photographs (so important when in Paris~!!), giving me the coat when during breaks because it was sooooo coldddd. So these are the tiny details that would be good to ask before you set off.
We stayed at Tim Hotel (super tiny room)for around $200sgd per night. It's really small but it's location is very convenient. It's better to stay somewhere near the location where you are going to take the photos. So prior planning is important. Timing is also important. So please take note to ask the photographer what time your photography session should start. If he/she knows the area well, how long does it it to reach the area from your hotel (give him the location) and let him guide you on which mode of transport is better. Likewise, do the same for your make up artist and hairstylist. Let them know what time you need to set off (guideline given by your photographer) and ask them what time they should reach your hotel room in order for you to depart nicely and not in a rush for your bridal shoot. Remember to give an allowance of at least half an hour after you finish your make up and hair. This half an hour is for your to put on your wedding gown gently. And to take any selfies before you depart(this is oh-so-important because the mmt nvr comes back~!). Personally I bring my own Young Living Angelica essential oil for protecting myself from negativity and simply to feel good on the day itself. Need to feel good during the photoshoot to take good photos because during that time you will be really busy with thousand and one things that you are arranging for this one bridal shoot. And I did feel awesome that day! Even my make up artist and hair stylist felt awesome coz I gave them a few drops of Young Living's Angelica and Lavender essential oil too. :))
Monetary - before I departed for my Paris trip, I had the amount owing to my photographer, make-up artist and hair stylist all packed nicely in separate ang baos (red packets). They are Caucasians, so one thing to note, is they are quite amused by the red packet and happy to receive the rest of the payment in it.
So here comes the night before the actual day. Have your gown laid out and nicely steamed (I bought a travel steamer with me from Philips - one of the best buy with this itinerary - it only takes a couple of minutes to steamed up). One thing to note is that different gowns require different preparation so it's best to check with the person who is renting/selling you the gown before you purchase it to make sure you can retain the shape of the gown on your photography shoot (you have to make sure everything is going as planned if it's ala carte wedding shoot. No one else to ask and rely on when you are overseas).
Best to download and take snap shots of all the wedding photos inspiration that you want to have for your wedding shoot, because you might not have Internet coverage later on during the shoot. So have it saved on ur hp. As well as the bridal make up and hairstyle, have an individual photo of each saved so when your make up artist and hair stylist come over, you can show them immediately to confirm what style you want to have.
During the photoshoot itself, make as many references to the pictures saved in your hp and checked with what is taken on the photographer's camera. Don't be paisey to voice out what you wan or certain small changes. Usually the photographer will ask which is your best angle. Remember, they want to take fantastic pictures of you to put on their portfolio as well. So ask ask ask. Coz you will nvr get another chance when the photoshoot is over. They will be happy when the results come out perfect. Likewise so will you. :)
And last but not least, our fun photo!
