Hey All,

I wanted to tell you guys a bit about what I learned during my time in Boston being a wedding coordinator and how it helped me learn how to be a better photographer. This doesn’t really have to do with learning the camera or anything, but more about the preparation and understanding of a whole wedding day. Let me explain.

During my consults with couples I always am asking the couple about their timelines, even though they may not have even thought about some of things I ask. Why ask these questions right away you may ask? No, not to put you on the spot. But, to help you have enough time for everything that you want your day to be. Let’s be honest, most brides haven’t done this before and frankly, we love to help. Timing is the most difficult part and the part that brides really don’t know. How would you if you have never done this before? You have no idea how much time do you actually need for photos…morning prep, family photos…etc. and nor should you.

Being a wedding coordinator before I was a wedding photographer really gave be a inside look at setting timelines and how things looked behind the scenes of a wedding day. You would be so surprise to know how many moving parts there are to a wedding or event. Who better to help you plan than vendors that have been in the wedding industry for years and years and have done 100’s if not 1000’s weddings. I personally have over 10+ years in this industry.

The most important thing that I have discovered for a wedding day is the timeline. This is key to fitting all the things into your day so that you have get everything done and have enough time to hit every check on your checklist. Not to mention have a non stressful day. Planning out your day with the itinerary that Seventh Arrow or hopefully your photographer provides is key to making that happen. Let’s run through general line up for a wedding day…

Prep.

Ceremony or first look.

Family formals.

Bridal party formals.

Reception including but not limited to intros, first dance or toasts, dinner, parent dances, party.

Okay, most brides know this based on other weddings that they have been to or in, however there are two things that are the most important aspects of the day and that we base the whole timeline on; time of ceremony and reception. Ceremonies and receptions are generally set by the church and/or reception hall that you choose. With those two times” in your pocket” already, we then get to work. If you have the time in between the ceremony and reception, great. Just be sure there is enough time for photos in between the travel to location to location to location and back in time for the reception.

If your ceremony is at the place of the reception hall and cocktail hour is right after, I would probably recommend that you do a first look. That is a whole other blog post of the pros and cons of a first look so I won’t get to into too much detail about that, but it is worth talking about in this at least a little. I’m going to give you the facts here. The moments after your ceremony you are whisked away for family formals. Family formals generally can take 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your families (and how well they listen for there names, haha). Once families are done, we have my favorite part, bridal party photos and formals with the new couple. On average, bridal party can take 10-20 minutes depending how big and then the rest of the time is for you both. Now, what the djs and venues sometimes don’t tell you is that they need you lining up to be introduced 5-10 minutes before the start of the reception to make sure names are correct and everyone has a plan.

That leaves very little time for you photos with your new husband or wife, plus not even enough time to get a few drinks and celebrate. Which just isn’t fair in my option. We want to give you what you paid for, photos that you can hang in your house of you two together! I know, this all sounds so stressful if you have your ceremony and reception back to back and if you aren’t a client of mine, talk to your other half and see if a first look would be an option. If so, great, plan on two hours before the ceremony so you have time to get to the ceremony location and hide before it starts! If not, prioritize what you want done first and talk with your vendors to make it work, maybe even extend your cocktail hour by a half hour. Remember, this is your day, don’t let anyone tell you what to do, including me. I’m just trying educating you on the general time it takes to get these things done.

That said, it must be mentioned if your wedding day after day light savings, I would recommend looking at the sunset times because they are later and is not a lot of light to play with. Photographers need light. The word “photography” literally means “the study of light.” We cannot make your photos shot in the dark the same as if they were shot during the day. The photos are going to have a completely different feel to them if shot after sunset. That’s just the facts. If you are doing the ceremony after sunset, please please please highly consider doing a first look. You’re photographer will love you for it. Okay, okay, I said I wasn’t going to get into too much detail but I couldn’t really help myself. It is important to think about, especially when planning a timeline.

Switching gears a bit and back to the itinerary that I mentioned and basically the whole point of this blog. Once we have that itemized itinerary in hand and we go over it from start to finish and I ask you all the names and who’s who and what’s what about your day, we are good as gold! I share this detailed 13/14 page (don’t laugh, I’m serious) with my second shooter so that she knows what’s up and we can know what’s happening when and most importantly what is supposed to happen when.

Being a past coordinator i’ve seen a lot; but not more then I have in my time being a photographer. I have fixed dresses, sewn on buttons, fixed hair, put in veils, created a bouquets on the spot, tied on trinket of loved ones on to an item, reminded brides to use the toilet and put deodorant on before putting her dress on, and that’s just the girls prep! I cannot tell you guys how many times I’ve fixed melted cakes, I’ve sewn the grooms pants back together, bustled, fold napkins, super glued shoes, been a therapist, I’ve even held the brides dress when she is going to the bathroom. Yep, I did that. Wanna know why? Because most of the time, we, the photographers, are the only people with the couple the ENTIRE wedding day. All of it, the good, the bad, the ugly, the exciting. We are there for you, start to finish!

Some people may ask…why would you do that? The answer is simple, I want your wedding to be perfect for you and these things that happen… just happen, and sometimes are out if anyones control. It then become our jobs to try and fix them to alleviate stress from you. Do we help to fix them? Yep, we sure do. It’s our pleasure and we will do everything possible to make sure that we plan the itinerary for the what if’s and just in cases.

Most of the time, wedding coordinators are not hired. I get it, I didn’t have one either, my budget just didn’t allow for it. If I could go back in time and hire one, would I? 1000% Absolutely! While everything ran smoothly, I was slightly more stressed about things that were happening beyond my control. My photographers, they was fantastic. I’m pretty sure she fixed a bridemaids dress behind the scenes without me even noticing. She helped me with anything that we need, but I can’t help but wonder what moments were missed photography wise and how my wedding would have ran smoother if I have a coordinator. I can’t change the past, nor would I because it was a great day, but photographers cant be in to places at once. It’s not physically possible, unfortunately. We wish it was! With a coordinator there, the photographer can do the job that they were hired to do; capturing your wedding day and make it the best day ever. If you do not have a coordinator, not to worry. WE GOT YOU. I promise, I will give you tips and tricks and fix what I can, and if you need me to— hold your dress while you use the bathroom. WE GOT YOU!

This is not an ad for wedding coordinator, that being said, I have a few Buffalo wedding planners that I trust to make your run smoother. If you want my list, you can email me at seventharrowstudio@gmail.com and I can recommend so to you.

Hopefully this blog will have a great affect on your wedding and everything will be just as you envisioned it.