By Georgina Clatworthy

Your wedding photographs will be your lasting keepsake of your special day, so this is one area where you should try to spend as much as you can afford and to make sure you get the right photographer.  You should also look at the number of shots you want and how you want them to look.  Here are a few wedding photography tips to help you get the most from one the most important aspects of your day.

If you have been to at least one wedding before, then you will probably know that the photography can take an age to complete particularly if the bride and groom have given their photographer an incredibly long list of shots or if there is a large number of guests.  What this does of course is eat into your valuable party time, so it is worth planning your wedding photography well in advance to minimize the amount your guests are left milling around.

Arrange to meet with your photographer and discuss the list of shots you want and those he advises.  Make sure he knows exactly how many pictures you want and make certain of how you will be charged – by the shot or by the hour.  Listen to the tips and advice they have to give when drawing up your shot list, they are the professional and will know best which shots will work and which won’t.

Think about the type of photography you want for your wedding pictures.  Traditional or formal poses, reportage or contemporary are all types of photography and mixing any of these can give you a wonderful range of shots.  Formal style pictures will appeal to those having a formal wedding, whilst contemporary or reportage work well for a less formal affair.  Again your photographer will be able to provide tips on which style would suit you best.

Plan in advance where the pictures will be taken.  It is common to have pictures before and after the ceremony and then more at the reception venue.  Weather will also play a part, as will the light at your venues.  Outdoor photographs tend to be more flattering, but it is always worth having a contingency plan in place in case of inclement conditions.

Brief your best man to round up all the key guests that you want to appear in the photographs.  Guests often have a tendency to go walk about whilst waiting for the photographs to be completed, so have someone in charge of making sure no time is wasted in looking for wayward guests!

Whilst professional photographs are wonderful, issuing your guests with disposable cameras is a great way of getting some ‘as it happened’ shots of the day’s events that you may otherwise miss.  You can also ask guests who bring their own cameras to share the pictures they have taken with you – most will probably do this without you having to ask.