Meeting my clients, aka the lovely wedding couple, at their chosen venue before their actual wedding date is one of my most important and exciting parts of photographing a wedding. I enjoy seeing new buildings of grandeur; such as historical schools, churches, national institutions, hotels and registration sites (English beaches are starting to apply for permits to marry couples by the sea!) Seeing the venue(s) gets me very excited about what the wedding will look like and gives me a chance to see what and where may be worth photographing.
Not only does this give me a chance to see what is going to make a great photo, but it’s a good way of knowing what the rest of the wedding will be like. Meeting at the venue usually happens when most of the planning is complete so it gives me and my clients a chance to catch up and find out much more about their wedding . This gives the client a little preview of how the day will transpire, how I will work during the day and what the photographs will be like. I would be able to know what the lighting will be like as well, not just inside but also figuring where the sun might be and what the bad weather would affect, of which is all crucial to getting great photos. Of course, I could do some of this alone, but the excitement that exudes from the wedding couple always brings me inspiration. No two weddings are alike.
It’s important that this meeting happens for me since I get a chance to meet the site facilitators and usually get a few tips of what my predecessors have done and what works or doesn’t work in their location. It can also be an opportunity to practice taking certain photographs in locations that the couple desire, which gets us used to them being photographed. I have previously supplied these photographs as part of the wedding package because they came out so well!
So, are you taking your wedding photographer on a little outing? If he/she doesn’t propose one, feel free to ask.