An Instagram-worthy wedding is not about planning a wedding that only looks good, but creating opportunities for guests to capture beautiful moments that look good and are meaningful! This is about making it easy for guests to enjoy the moment, take photos and videos of it too, so you can enjoy seeing your wedding from their perspective.
TIP: don’t replace feeling for looks! Encourage moments where guests are connecting with each other!
Episode breakdown
Create spaces that people want to take photos of or at:
- Photo booth, selfie mirror, 360 degree video recordings.
- Beautiful corners of the venue – a great backdrop, a pretty flower wall, quirky guest book, a prosecco wall, cute light up letters spelling out ‘love’ or your names, a jaw-dropping wedding cake!
- Don’t underestimate the power of a gorgeous location and venue!
- Have good lighting! If the backdrop is beautiful but the lighting is unflattering, people won’t take photos there. Include natural lighting where possible and romantic lighting like candles or fairy lights for later in the day.
Anticipate moments people want to take photos of:
- Pause for 60 seconds after you’ve been pronounced married and let your guests take out their phones and get photos of you as you slowly walk down the aisle and pose along the way.
- WOW moments, like interesting entertainment (a performance, comedian or magician).
Make it easy for guests to capture photos and post them:
- Easy wifi access at the venue – ask your venue coordinator what’s possible!
- Phone charging stations, so phone batteries aren’t dying.
- A wedding hashtag or shared photo album that guests can add to.
- A photo scavenger hunt, where guests have to look for things to take photos of (EG: someone wearing a dickie bow, the word love, a bad dancer, the happy couple)
- Cute signs around the venue with the hashtag or a simple ‘take photos, we want to see them’
Being photo-ready:
If you’re anticipating guests taking lots of photos, you’ll want to be photo-ready! There are some things you can do to prepare ahead of time, so you’re able to relax and allow your photographer to capture special moments.
Expert advice from Timmy of TimTim Media:
It all starts with the timeline for the day – work with your photographer! Then you can relax.
Include special moments (First Look with parents, wedding party, etc).
Plan for natural light in the morning, this makes for beautiful and flattering photos (open the curtains!).
Gathering the important details (shoes, jewellery, invites, rings etc).
Keep the spaces tidy!
Then, relax and trust your photographer. Enjoy your day and allow your photographer to do the job well.
