5 Tips for a Stress-Free Wedding Day | Utah Wedding Photographers

You’ve probably heard before that wedding days can be stressful.  Truth is, it doesn’t have to be!  As wedding professionals, we’ve been to a lot of weddings.  With the exception of people who make it a habit to crash weddings, get invites to attend a wedding almost every week of the year, or are also wedding professionals, we’d say that we’ve attended more weddings than the average person has. Because of this, we have seen things that can make your big day wonderful and much less stressful.  We feel like because of this knowledge it’s our duty to share it with others and so we’ve put together our top five tips for a stress-free wedding.

 

Don’t get hangry!

Wedding days can be pretty long.  Most of the time they are as long (if not longer) than a regular eight-hour work day! They are also full of emotion and many other things that can drain your energy.  The best way we can compare the wedding day to how you need to treat yourself is like an athlete would during game day.  Make sure you have plenty of water.  Have a groomsman and bridesmaid always have a water bottle around with them for you and make sure that you get the food that you need throughout the day.

Don’t sweat the small imperfections

Realize that you most likely will have a white dress that will show every single little speck of dirt that decided to attach itself to you.  Your dress will get dirty.  The good news? Often times those details will not show up on photos, and if they do… that is what photoshop is for.  We do take a lot of care and time to make sure that if we see any dirt or food on any part of the dress that we strategically block them out.  But sometimes we only notice those things after the wedding day.  Luckily those types of issues can be fixed pretty simply with photoshop, so you should not stress over them during the wedding day.  Shrug it off, and continue to enjoy your day. When the wedding is over dress cleaners can work miracles!

Roll with it!

Weddings can take a ton of planning!  There are even people who plan weddings for a job!  You may have done everything you possibly can to make your day the best, but there sometimes are things that happen that will throw a curve ball at you.  Maybe it snows!  What if it rains?!  What if your veil rips?!  Hundreds of things could go wrong, and you may worry that your big day could suddenly become ruined.  However, we as photographers look at it another way.  After everything has been planned, and the day has come, it is now time to sit back and enjoy it, no matter what happens.  Some of these things can make for fantastic pictures that your children, or even grandchildren will come to love. Our best advice for this moment is to have other people do the stressing for you, and enjoy the day, no matter what happens.

Details, details, details!!

As photographers, we will be there to capture every big moment.  But our favorite things to capture are the small details.  We have always thought that it would be wonderful to see what our parents, or even grandparents wore for jewelry, shoes, or even the perfume that they wore on their wedding day.  Feel free to bring things that you feel represent your wedding.  It’s almost like the old adage of “wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”  However, don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to these things. Bring an invitation, or something from a loved one that couldn’t make it to the wedding that represents them.  Wear some awesome shoes that show your personality!  All of these details are really what make your wedding special and unique.  Don’t feel like you have to go crazy and bring a huge box of stuff either.  We are trained to find things that we can show the details of.  Often bringing just 2 or 3 things can really make some spectacular pictures that can be cherished for generations.

The answer is yes!

During the reception of a wedding, we often get asked… can I get a picture of/with (fill in the blank).  It’s important to know that our answer will always be YES!  We may be busy taking pictures of someone or something else at that moment, but let us finish up what we are doing, and we will gladly take that picture.  Remember that we not only are there to get cool looking photos, but also photos that mean something to you.  So, if you see something or someone that you want to make sure we get pictures of, then simply mention it to us, and we’ll get it done!

It is your day!

We know, this seems like tip number six even though we said there were only going to be five.  In reality, this tip encompasses all of the other tips we’ve mentioned above.  Plus, why are you complaining about more advice?!  Sheesh! 🙂 Our last tip is to remember that this is YOUR day.  Whatever happens, even if it’s not a perfect thing, OWN IT.  Just a side note, we are definitely not saying to toss your cares to the wind and don’t plan your wedding.  You definitely should plan things as much as you can, or hire someone to help you.  But after all the planning has happened and the day has come, stressing about how the day will unfold will not help it be any better.  Instead, soak in every moment so that you can tell stories about it later. If you go stressing about every little detail that didn’t turn out right, then you will remember your wedding day as a stressful time that you don’t want to remember.  If you let whatever happens happen, and own it, then you will have the best memories possible from your wedding day!