The ceremony is the most meaningful part of the wedding day. After all, that’s why your couple is here: to get married! It’s also the part of the day where you have to step back and take a completely documentary approach: you can’t interrupt a ceremony to ask the couple to repeat the ring exchange so you can get it from another angle, or shout for a do-over of the first kiss. If you miss it, it’s missed!
Ceremony essentials: capturing the do-not-miss moments of the wedding ceremony
This prompt gives you a checklist of the essential moments that you should be looking for whenever you shoot a wedding ceremony. Every couple and culture is different, of course, but typically, wedding ceremonies will include some common elements.
How to use this photo pose prompt
Knowing the flow of the ceremony in advance will ensure you’re able to capture the important moments for your couple. Prepare by creating a ceremony runsheet with your couple at a pre-wedding meeting. You’ll need to go through with them:
- Client, backup client, photographer, second shooter and emergency contact details.
- Housekeeping (booking fee paid, balance paid, runsheet signed, contract signed, album / print sales session discussed and set up).
- Time, event, moments and relevant vendors for each segment of the wedding day (bridal prep, groom prep, first look, before ceremony, ceremony (see below!), after ceremony, group session, bridal party session, romantic portraits, reception entry, reception, reception exit).
- Ask your bride and groom to take their time and relax with everything during the ceremony. This is actually so you have more time to grab the perfect shot. E.g. if they do a lightning fast peck for their first kiss, you might miss it. If they settle in, you’ll get a better shot!
Do you need a wedding runsheet template? You can get my comprehensive, whitelabel runsheet template ready for your studio branding with everything covered in this prompt and the rest of the wedding day, right here. Or get it in the Wedding Ready Workshop, and prevent photo disasters before they happen.
Note: this prompt is written as bride/groom only for clarity; these moments apply equally to two brides or two grooms.
If you have never shot a wedding before, then a class like Jasmine Star’s Wedding Photography is excellent it includes a walkthrough of a real wedding day as well as a class.
Essential gear for wedding ceremonies
- I shoot with two cameras, one with a 70-200mm lens and one with a 28-70mm lens, and I wear them on my Spider Holster belt (the belt has the benefit of not ruining your shoulders and neck like a dual shoulder harness can).
- Have your pack nearby with rain covers for your gear, batteries, cards, flashes etc. An assistant who can hold an umbrella when needed is handy for outdoor ceremonies!
- If you are in any doubt that your batteries or cards will last the ceremony, change them before the ceremony! You do not want to miss something critical because you were changing batteries part-way through.
- If you think you may need your on-camera flash during the ceremony, again, mount it before the ceremony starts and leave it switched off, so you don’t miss anything while you’re fumbling for it! I would not recommend blasting a bride and groom with direct on-camera flash during a ceremony… bounce it if you need it!
- For indoor spaces, set up off-camera flashes in advance of the ceremony, ideally two, bounced off walls, on either side of the ceremony. See Get Flashy for more on flash photography.
Ceremony essentials: events and moments to capture
- Ceremony location untouched: shot of decorations and the ceremony space empty of people (not always possible, usually will require a second shooter while you are working with bride or groom).
- Groom and guests waiting: guest greeting groom, groom waiting with his entourage, candid’s of guests waiting for bride’s arrival. Groom’s outfit details if not done during groom prep, such as rings, boutonniere, tie, cufflinks).
- Bride’s arrival: arrival of car, bride’s entourage walking down aisle, bride walking down aisle with father/mother, groom’s reaction to first sight of bride, bride’s reaction to seeing groom.
- Ceremony beginning: special readings by entourage/guests, vows, any special ceremonies (see next point).
- Guests watching the ceremony: capture guests watching and reacting when you have a break in the events up front (e.g. vows or readings, when the bride and groom are just listening and you’ve already photographed them).
- Ring exchange: ring bearers delivering rings, bride putting on groom and visa versa, close up of the hands joined in the middle. Note: An experienced celebrant will get out of the way so s/he is not in the background of the ring exchange and the first kiss, but I would advise asking the celebrant to do so before the ceremony, if you can. Alternatively ask the bride and groom to request this of the celebrant during their planning meetings, if you won’t have contact with the celebrant before the ceremony.
- Special ceremonies: hand-fasting, pouring sand, ring-blessing, religious/cultural traditions.
- Signing the registry: bride and groom signing, witnesses signing, signed document with hands/rings/bouquet.
- Pronouncement of the couple: this is the “I now pronounce you man and wife” (or similar) part.
- First kiss: the kiss, the reactions after the kiss, wide shot of the whole wedding (guests included). As with the rings, hopefully the celebrant gets out of your way for this!
- Ceremony exit: bride and groom exiting down the aisle. Guests may throw petals, confetti, blow bubbles etc. Shoot a variety of tight through to wide encompassing the whole atmosphere. Shoot with a fast shutter to catch stuff flying in the air.
- Guest congratulation hugs: bridal party hugging bride and groom, hugs from parents, bride greeting friends and family, general celebrations. This usually leads into the next phase of the wedding day: the group session.
Creative extension
- If your bride and groom haven’t planned their ceremony out in detail by the time you have your pre-wedding meeting, then take this opportunity to show your value and experience with weddings by helping them work through it step-by-step.
Tag me @promptographerguide and use the hashtag #promptographerguide to share your favorite ceremony moments.
All photos by Icefeatherwind Photography.
Want this prompt in your Field Cards set?
All the info in this prompt post is summarized onto a single card in the Promptographer Guide Field Cards, with the details given in the accompanying Guidebook. All the ideas are given on the one card so you have a rich, comprehensive tool for sparking ideas. I’ve designed it this way so you only need five to ten cards to build a whole photoshoot.
If you want this prompt in your set, make sure you include Set 5: Wedding Moments in your Field Cards.
