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Paige Hiller for Paige Hiller Photography gives great advice on formal photographs. Check out some of her work below or you can visit her website: Paige Hiller Photography
The dreaded formal photograph…
Formal photographs are traditionally thoses images that capture the bride and groom with immediate family and the wedding party. As a photographer, I like to start with the formal more traditional photograph and then see how far I can push the envelope and create some fun, out of the box images that are not what are traditionally expected from the formal photo session. Such as how high can the groom really jump, or the laughter between two best friends or look of joy on the nana's face. There is so much you can do with a formal photograph. The sky’s the limit!
Liesl Clark from Claris Photography gives some great advice on scheduling your wedding day formals.
One of the most important but sometimes least favorite parts of the wedding day are the “planned” photos - the “formals” as some may call it. This portion of the day, while essential, is often looked upon as a “grip and grin” section of the wedding that a bride and groom want to just “get through”. At the same time, most everyone will agree that without this part of the day, some very valuable photographs of family and friends would be overlooked and later one may have regrets that they weren't captured.
This part of the day doesn't have to be dreaded. With proper planning (ie. scouting of the locations, a thorough shot list provided by the bride and groom, and a detailed photography schedule) the photography needs of the couple and their families can be met without any headache, frustration or confusion.
Photographer Matthew Lomanno shares some insight and advice about how and when to schedule your wedding photographs. Here are some of his thoughts on the subject.
- Take time to think about your formals before the wedding day and include your parents in the discussion. And if you have grandparents, it's always nice to include them in the process, as well.
- It's helpful to get a list beforehand of what the bride and groom are looking for and who they'd like to include in their formal photos. I will then take the list and organize it the night before the wedding to get through things quicker on the day of.
- Large group photos can be done right after the ceremony before everyone makes their way to the reception. For example, ask the Officiant to make an announcement to have guests join the bride and groom in front of the church when the ceremony is over.
- I usually suggest taking pictures right after the ceremony before the cocktail hour or sometimes at the end of the cocktail hour right before dinner.
Megan Farley from Megan Dey Photography gives some great advice when booking a photographer!
- Don't shop based on price. There's a reason for the price difference, I promise. When looking at the photographer's work, do you see relaxed, posed photos or stiff people? Do they look like they're having fun?
- Take a look at the shadows. Are they harsh? If it was a bright day, are the person's eyes dark? A true photographer knows how to avoid or correct these situations.
- Look at the quality of the album. Are they hard bound or soft bound? The nicer the book the more it's going to cost, but with that, the more ooohhh and ahhhs you're going to get when people see the finished product.
- Ask how long it will take to see your photos and receive your album. My clients see their photos when they return from their honeymoon. I also have an album design all done, so when they get back, their album is ready to view. I do allow for my clients to make changes; it just depends on how long they take to make those changes.
- Don't forget about the details. You (the bride and groom) put a lot of thought and planning into the big day, so make sure your photographer will key in on all of the details. You shouldn't have to tell them, but as you hunt around for the right photographer look at their work. Does it show some of the smaller stuff such as the DIY projects you spent time on? Or if you hired an event designer, you want to remember what it looked like as I'm sure you won't have time to take it all in.
- And, make sure you connect with your photographer. This person is going to be with you for a long time on your wedding day and you want to make sure you get along; and for most of my clients, become friends. 
Also, check out some of Megan's incredible photos!
Lara and Kate from Studio Nouveau share their advice on how to schedule your wedding day photography. Take a look at what they have to say!
Kate and I usually arrive to the bride one hour before she leaves for the ceremony. This gives us enough time to capture the details in the room, last hair and makeup touch-ups and bride putting on her dress and veil. Depending on the couple and time of year of the wedding determines when we do the formals and shots of the couple alone!
Option 1: If it's summer in high gear and the sun is up until about 8 p.m. we usually do the formals immediately after the ceremony, usually the first 15 minutes of the cocktail hour, and then we use the last 45 minutes for the couple alone.
These photos kind of describe how I am feeling right now. This first photo really inspired this post. I am wishing I was in the middle of the forest with this magical suitcase! Love it. This stunning photo, as well as the metro, carousel, butterfly, dandelion and tree lined road, are all the fabulous work of Irene Suchocki. Those amazing yellow shoes are via Lonny, and the last two unforgettable and gorgeous images are the work of Rodney Smith. I love the ethereal, whimsical, yet elegant vibe this grouping of images creates…sigh…
Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! I want to share some fun photos with you. Over the last few months, I have had some amazing experiences with so many talented vendors in the wedding industry, and I am so happy to share them with you! This photo shoot was for a top San Diego wedding magazine, and I was privileged enough to work with LaVonne from Adorations, who did all the floral designs, Rebecca Gaffney and Mia Saling from Red Letter Days who designed the second shoot, and Karrie Pyke from Posh Paperie who did the menus and notecards.
The first tablescape was a Hawaiian theme, and I think it turned out lovely! I decided to make mini cakes for the table, and we wanted to match the invitations with the dessert so we printed the pattern on edible frosting sheets. We then covered the mini cakes in fondant and wrapped the cake with the frosting sheets. We piped mini white royal icing dots, added a yellow circle of fondant on top, and finished if off with yellow sugar plumerias. LaVonne came up with the great idea to place the mini cakes in a gorgeous peony -love, love, loved it! Everyone really came together and created a beautiful look! 
I am busy with some projects so unfortunately no time for a long post, but I wanted to show two shots of the wedding Erin and I just shot! A gorgeous affair!!
![[jennifer&tomas-52.jpg]](http://www.weddingbeepro.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/jennife011.jpg)
You're probably familiar with Cig Harvey's photography via her amazing work for Kate Spade - her work is sooo beautiful! She's up there with Tim Walker as one of our favorite photographers - love her surreal, ethereal and vibrant compositions.
Melissa and Paul met at a bar in London, and little did Melissa know that it would make her into a Londoner. Melissa and Paul are a couple of extremely beautiful people. Their wedding was a blast and umm…gorgeous, with amazing views of Manhattan glittering over the river all day long, on a rare lucky sunny day in this rainy rainy June. I'm so lucky that I get to shoot these beautiful weddings among all these beautiful people!!
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