Your choice of wedding venue can have a huge result on your wedding photos, affecting everything from the background for your group shots to the type of your pictures. Here are 7 tips on using your wedding venue to get the very finest possible wedding photos.
Try to choose a wedding photographer that has worked at your location before. They will have prior experience of the setup of the locale, so they are going to know where the light comes from at what time, and where the best settings are for group stills. They will also have a brilliant idea of the type of apparatus they need to bring along. See if your bridal photographer can show you examples of photographs they have taken at your venue.
Talk with your shutter-bug about the sort of venue you've selected, and the style of photos that would best complement that locale. A charming country house might be the perfect setting for dreamy sepia shots, while a stylish city hotel would be an excellent place to try out glamorous Hollywood paparazzi style footage.
Look out for potential photo locations and note them down when you visit your wedding venue. The locale coordinator should be able to give you some ideas but do not be scared to be different. Maybe they always have the group stills in the key entrance, but you would instead prefer to have them next to a picturesque fireplace? If you believe a messed up wall with climbing ivy is more enticing than the manicured hotel grounds then speak up.
See if your location has a unusual location for your group stills. If they have an stylish staircase you could have your guests prepared along the railing. Maybe there's a balcony or high window where your shutter-bug could take an overhead view of all your guests gathered together. Another great possibility is to have the guests together on the balcony throwing confetti down onto the ecstatic couple below.
Your wedding venue might have striking grounds for photographs but ensure you have a back up indoor plan in place in the event of stormy weather. If it does rain, don’t cross out outside photos altogether. Pictures of the bride and groom in gum boots and the guests with umbrellas can make classic additions to the wedding album.
If you a hiring an especially interesting locale, or the locale is important to your wedding theme, make sure your photographer gets one or two good shots of it before the wedding when there aren't any guests around. They could also picture special features such as pretty doors or windows. You may also have before and after pictures of your reception room being decorated, or a sequence of shots of the decorating process itself.
Always check if there are any photography restrictions at your locale. You do not need to spend an hour having your couple’s pictures taken in the hallway just to find out the antiques in there can't be snapped, or it's been used as a film set and exclusivity rights still apply.
If you are gettin maried, and searching for a wedding venue in Dublin, just visit PerfectWedding.ie to skim our Wedding Venues section.
Author is amazed at all that goes into a wedding, from speeches to dresses, from favors to wedding planning.
