5 Things To Consider When Planning Your Wedding

Hamilton Wedding Photographer

I’m going to share with you the top 5 things that couples may overlook on their big day. This will help you take action during the planning process and offset those last-minute stressors!

There are so many exciting, and somethings overwhelming, elements when planning your wedding. When making decisions about intricate details on decor, your dress, floral arrangements, etc., it can be easy to overlook some of the finer points. Some of these things aren’t critical, but if the thought of in advance, they can elevate your wedding experience. Your day can go above and beyond everyone’s and your own expectations!

I’ve put these in order of things to think about first, to items that can be decided closer to your special day.

1 – Picking the perfect date!

When picking the perfect date it’s important to know what is going on in your community on the day of your wedding. You may want to avoid holidays, charity walk/runs, large conferences and other civic festivities. These special events affect traffic and service industries, and therefore can slow down you and your guests. Most cities will have online resources to help you find information that is relevant to your date. Now, it’s not necessary to plan around these activities but it is something to consider, especially if you have not already set your date. If you have already selected your date when there is a lot going on in your area, be sure to build in some extra time for travel.

2 – Picture perfect.

Preplan a breath-taking photo op around sunset! Ensure that your schedule has 15-30 minutes where you can sneak off with your photographer and you don’t have to be anywhere. If sunset can line up with cocktail hour you’re laughing, because that’s a great time to sneak away for 30 minutes. By chance, if it lines up with dinner and speeches, let the MC and the service staff (caterer or venue) know that in-between a certain course you’ll sneak off for about 15 minutes. Be sure to tell the MC to have that in his timeline so as to not go up and introduce anything or anyone. Sunset photos are the best because the light is the most flattering and beautiful.

The time for sunset usually at a time in the day when the vows have been said, tears of joy have been cried, the family photo shenanigans are done, and the rest of the evening takes on a more relaxed form. What this translates into is you being more relaxed! Golden hour photos (the hour before sunset) are my favourite and I’ve put a few of my personal favourite below here for you to see why!

*If you google your wedding date and sunset time (example; May 10, 2020 sunset) google will tell you right away. Super easy to figure out that window of time that you’ll want nothing scheduled during!

3 – Guestlist.

One of the most successful ways to create your invitation list is by writing out the names of your guests, based on key categories; family, friends, and others. After all names are recorded, the list is arranged in order of importance. Starting at the top, the couple places the people that they most want to share their special day with. This process is continued until all guests have been placed on the list. The reason for doing this in two parts is because it’s easier to think of everyone if you sort it by categories ( family, friends, others). When/if you need to cut the guest list, you simply have to go to the bottom of the list, which can make the elimination process quicker and easier.

4 – Food for your bridal party.

In between the ceremony and the reception, you and your bridal party won’t have access to pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers, as you’ll be off getting photos taken. Nothing takes the fun out of photos more than a hangry wedding party. Pack food, get the caterer to pack food, get someone to pick up and bring food, drive through a fast food joint, just make sure there is food! It can be as fancy or as simple as you want it, but make sure you and your party is fed!

5 – Linens. Yes, Linens!

Your linens should match the tone of your dress. It’s very common, and also very trendy, to have beautiful gold/pink/warm/cool hued dress. Unfortunately, if you have cool-toned linens hanging from the altar/tables, and your dress has a warm/gold tint, they are going to clash. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but easily avoidable as fabric can be found in many shades of white! Altar linens are something, as a photographer, I notice in a lot of my images! Especially as alter linens have become more popular. A simple decor fix to upgrade the look and have everything look coordinated, and appear perfectly fluid.

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