Preparing for your wedding

I am so looking forward to shooting your wedding day! It’s a once in a lifetime event and we are here to help you capture it in the most stunning way possible.

On the day I like to keep it relaxed and casual so I have designed the following document to help you think through some crucial things that will help get the best photos on the day.

Let’s keep in touch on email and as you plan please do reach out if you have any questions at all. I am more than happy to help you plan aspects of the day that I can input on.

Timetable and Shoot times

If your wedding is still a while a way, you may not start putting your timetable together till much later- so please come back to this page then! Please send us your draft timetable before you finalise it so we can go over it together.

Shoot times - Ideally we would love to split up our times shooting portraits with you into two parts. We would love to have 1 hour before or after the ceremony and then around 30mins at sunset. Shooting in the soft light of sunset is by far our favourite time to shoot and allows us to create the best images. Please be aware of speech and meal times around sunset times and build the sunset portraits into your timetable.

Package Booked - As you will know you can change your package before we shoot to extend my time at your wedding. Please check which package you have me booked in for and make sure I’ll be around for the parts you want. ie - that I will be there for the first dance.

Getting Ready - It’s always great to capture the getting ready stages of a wedding. For this it would be great to schedule around 1-2 hours for me to be with the girls and 1 hour to be with the boys. I can split this up if you are close by. I will come to the girls first for around 30mins, then head to the boys for 1 hour where they will fully get ready, then back to the girls before the ceremony or first look. This can mean the boys get ready a little earlier than they want to - just tell them to suck it up and do it.

Sample Timetable - this is just a general guideline - travel times and other factors may influence timing. Let’s chat.

Girls prep - 12-12.30pm
Boys prep - 12.30-1.30pm
Girls prep - 1.30-2.30pm
Travel time and buffer - 2.30-3pm
Ceremony - 3-3.40pm
Hugs and Greetings - 3.40-4pm
Family Photos - 4-4.20pm
Portrait Session - 4.30-5.30pm
Refresh/Cocktail Hour - 5.30-6pm
Reception Welcome, Speeches and Dinner 6/6.30pm
Sunset Shoot - at whatever time sunset is.
Cake Cutting 8.30pm
First Dance - 9pm

Light and Locations

Light and location are two of the biggest factors that contribute to the look of your photos.

GETTING READY

The place where you get ready in the morning will strongly influence the style of your photos. If you get ready in a small hotel room, that’s how the images will look. We would love to encourage you to hire an air bnb or similar that has some great character and natural light to help the photos look awesome.

Do be sure to have all your lovely details ready for me to photograph when I arrive. A copy of your invitations (if you have printed ones), jewellery, flowers - anythings special on the day.

If the guys and girls get ready at nearby places, it makes it much easier to bounce between them.

CEREMONY

If you are considering an outdoor ceremony do let me know and we can chat about how to do it best.

Firstly, a shaded spot would be ideal. You will need to get the whole bridal party in the shade if so. Have one side in the sun and the other in the shade won’t work well at all for photos. Also, speckled or spotted light is also very difficult. We want to keep the light even on the bridal party - either full shade, or full sun.

If the ceremony will be in the sun, please try to face the ceremony in a direction that has the sun behind or just to the side of the couple/bridal party. This will help get the best photo results!

I would love to help you out with this so please ask away.

PORTRAITS

I work hard to find awesome locations with great light for your portraits. I would love to know if you have any spots in mind, anything you have your heart set on, or something you have seen before - let me know and I can check it out and use it as inspo. I don’t like to copy shots, but I will add them into my inspo for the day.

I will have a good scout for locations on the week of your wedding, or the day before. I like to scout right before the wedding to ensure nothing will change, and that we will have access.

Family Photos

We will need to schedule around 20-30mins for this. The best time to do it is after the ceremony and after you have had a chance to greet everyone you want to. Take your time after the ceremony and enjoy the hugs and laughter - this is one of the best times of the day!

Then we will get onto the family photos. This is sometimes not the most fun time for the couple - but it is super important to get these photos. I will do my best to make it as pain free and fun as possible.

Please ensure that there is a designated person, who is organised, loud and knows your family, that can be in charge of this time.

They will need to rally each group together in the spot I choose for the photos. This person is really important to the smooth running of this time. I would suggest keeping the family photos to under 8 groups. 8 groups will take around 25-30mins. If you are keen on photos with different sets of friends, the reception is the best time to do this. You can grab me anytime to get a few photos in between meals and speeches.

Sample family photo list:

Bride and Groom in each photo.

Grooms extended family
Grooms immediate family
Grooms parents
Grooms grandparents
Brides extended family
Brides immediate family
Brides parents
Brides grandparents

Rain

Embrace it - you can change it - and have fun with it! There are lots of upsides to a bit of rain on your wedding day. Flowers last longer, you get to cuddle more, we can make epic photos…

On our photo shoot I will do my best to keep you dry and warm, however, if you are prepared to get out into the elements a little and maybe get just a little wet, this can make for some amazing photos - right up our alley.

If it’s in colder months, or if you are prone to feeling chilly - bring along a shall or blanket that compliments your outfits and it can add something a little extra to the shoot.

If you are worried about taking photos…

I often hear people say they are nervous about photos, or that they have a funny smile, or they always look bad, or they are not photo people. Lots of people are apprehensive.

I also often hear couples say after the shoot, that was so fun! That was one of my favourite parts of the day. That wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be.

Your photo session can be a really special time for you and your partner on your wedding day - so make use of it. Make some memories to talk about forever.

I will give simple directions of how to stand, where to face, where to put arms etc if things look a bit funny - but you won’t feel like a statue.

I’m not into weird poses or cheesy lines. We will simply go somewhere cool, hang out and my aim is to just capture who you are and the love that you share together. So get cuddly, stay close, tell each other how much you love each other and I will capture the goodness.

Shoot at Sunset

To flog a horse again - let’s shoot at sunset. It is seriously the best light of the day rain or shine. I love to shoot after the sun has gone down as the light gets really soft and magical. Makes for super romantic vibes. Check what time sunset will be on your day easily on Google and let’s schedule to shoot around 15mins before that time.

Videographers

We love working with our video friends. However, there’s a few things to keep in mind. Often videographers bring more than one person along. This makes shooting way more full on, cramped and it can get in the way of getting the best shots. Depending on the kind of video they are making, they often bring lots of gear, such as big tri-pods that can get in shots, especially during the ceremony. Please ask your videographer what gear they bring along and consider making sure there are only one (maybe 2) of them. Here’s a couple of videographers we love working with:

www.sinkorsurface.com
www.greyareaproductions.com
www.jdsmit.co.nz

Other Vendors

FLORISTS
Leaf and Honey - leafandhoney.co.nz
Blush Flowers - blush.co.nz

MAKE UP ARTISTS
Connor Adams - www.connoradams.com.au
Boutique Bride - www.boutiquebride.co.nz
Kaitlin Chapman - www.kaitlinchapmanmakeup.com

STYLING AND FURNITURE HIRE
Arkade Hire - arkade.co.nz/
Hawke and Hyde - www.hawkeandhyde.co.nz
Two Foxes Styling - www.twofoxes.co.nz

CELEBRANTS
Melanie Kerr - melaniekerr.co.nz
Calvin Culverwell - calvin@parachutemusic.com
Matt Warman - facebook.com/mattwarmancelebrant

When to expect your Photos

During the summer season it can take me up to 8 weeks to deliver your edited images to you. Preparing your images includes culling thousands of photos and individually editing all of the selected images for you. Your images will be delivered through our beautiful online gallery system with a personalised link. Here you will be able to view, organize, share and print your images.

Wedding Day Details

I have prepared a form at the link below that will provide me will all the required info about locations and contacts for your wedding day. To insert each google map link please search for each location, check that it is correct and then copy the link from the address bar. www.chasewild.com/wedding-day-details