A Photographer’s Guide: How to Manage Time on a Wedding Day
The more time you have, the better photographs you’ll get—that’s the wedding day motto of every Chicago Hindu Wedding Photographer.
If you are new to wedding photography, it might come as a surprise that many times being a wedding photographer means you’re also tasked with keeping the day moving. While you are only hired to take beautiful photographs, keeping everything on schedule is just as important to ensure that your client will get every photo they want on their wedding.
If you’re walking into your first wedding or feel like you need help to handle the day better, here are some tips from Saiaf Films for managing a wedding the best you can from a photographer’s perspective.
1. Meet your client and keep in touch with them a few weeks leading to the wedding
Bets are you will meet with your wedding clients at least twice before the wedding. These meetings will help see if you are a good match for each other, and in some cases, to talk about the engagement session. Meeting in person and following up on everything through phone calls will really help ensure everyone is on the same page and to manage client expectations.
2. Make your own timeline and bring a copy with you
In most cases, you’ll get to create realistic timelines from clients who are very detailed, but most of the time, expect to figure things out on your own. Saiaf Films suggests making a timeline and print two copies of it—for you and for your assistant. You can find good samples of these timelines online by searching it up on Google. Try looking for one and then personalize it according to the details given to you by your client.
3. Anticipate that you are not going to have enough time
Weddings are very rarely on time. A lot of time, everything is 30 minutes behind schedule. What does that mean for photographers? Well, what was an hour of time to shoot formals is now 30 minutes, or you might arrive at the ceremony at the last second and need to grab your gear fast and get ready to shoot the ceremony. Being able to accept that you will lose time and being prepared to work fast is the name of the game. However, a good rule of thumb: stay close to the bride, and you will not miss any of the important events of the day.
4. Learn to say no
While you might have nailed down the best plan possible for the wedding day, come the day itself, the couple might suggest going to another location for photos or ask you to do something else that you know will cause delay on the schedule. Don’t be afraid to say that you feel that the idea is great, but you don’t feel like it’s going to work given the timeline.
5. Go with the flow
There is a fine line between helping guide the couple along to keep things moving, and being a pain. Things will come up that you have no control over, so just roll with them the best you can. Unless the situation is completely out of hand, just let it happen. Do your best to roll with the punches with a smile on your face no matter how irritated you might be about the change of plans. Because after all, it is their day, not yours.
Being a good Pakistani Wedding Photographer Arizona is more than just capturing great images; it is also about your clients’ experience with you. How you made people feel during the day is what’s going to help with referrals. If you’re the wedding photographer that really helped out and made everyone feel comfortable, chances are that couple will refer you to all their friends in the future.
Saiaf Films