Trystan Photography: An Intimate Portrait.

So you’re engaged!

He’s the man of your dreams and you can’t believe the BIG day is finally going to happen. All of those daydreams of the perfect fairytale wedding are going to pay off in the most fabulous wedding ever…

But where to start? Let’s see… there’s setting the date, the save the date cards, invitations, dresses, tuxes, flowers, rings, wedding party, ceremony spot, reception spot, wedding planner, officiant, favors, table settings, event rentals, music, food, drink… photography?

Wow. I know what you’re thinking: “Where do I start?”

I’d recommend starting with the locales (the “where”), because sometimes you might get some great recommendations from the staff for your other vendors, or you may realize that you want vendors with experience working at your reception or ceremony sites. Personally, I think experience at a venue is a good attribute in a photographer, but not required. You should never base your decisions solely off of whether or not a vendor has worked at a location before. Because, yes, they may have experience there, but they may also be a huge a**!

Which brings me to the absolutely, positively, no-question-about-it, most important aspect of choosing the perfect photographer for your wedding:

Personality!

That’s right. It’s not style or price! Both are valid, but in my humble opinion they’re not as important, and here’s why:

You may absolutely love a photographer’s work, style, and price point, but if your photographer does not make you feel comfortable on your wedding day, then the photographs will reflect that. Make sure your photographer’s personality reflects your own preferred vibe for your wedding day (i.e. fun and sexy, or serious and reverent, etc…)

For example: Charlotte and I are goofy, fun photographers. We love to goof around and play with the couple and the wedding party. I often will speak with a vague artsy European accent as I ask my photo subjects to “give me sexy”, or “work it”… It’s always fun and I’m a clown because we’ve found that laughing fun couples take the best fun/sexy shots. I mean, what’s more sexy and romantic than a shot of a bride completely in love with her new husband and laughing gorgeously as he holds her in his loving arms? Nothing.

And how do you get a bride/couple to do that; to look great on cue? Do you shout out, “Laugh and look good doing it!”? Nope. That only works for professional models, and usually not that well.

To get real people to do what we want, we have to get them to really do it! So if we need a confident and sexy bride, we need to help her feel confident and sexy. If we want a playful shot of the couple, then we need to help them feel comfortable letting their guard down and flirting on camera. And the easiest way that we’ve found to get past most of our clients guards is to simply be honest, friendly, and playful. And it’s almost never a hard thing to do because it’s a wedding! It’s a big party anyway, and we treat it as such and simply make friends.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because it helps to illustrate my point that personality matters most. You may love our work, and you might love the idea of having photographs from your wedding that look like ours, but if my description of how we work sends a chill up your spine or curls your toes, then no matter how much you like our work, in reality we would be a horrible choice for your wedding photographers.

Brides who want a reverent, very serious day with an almost fashion photography atmosphere (where the photographers basically say all that I say, but the difference is they are completely serious about it!), would be making a huge mistake by booking us. I don’t have a serious bone in my body. I’ve been verified by the FDA as 100% pure fun-guy. So, if you’re a couple who wants to basically have a day long party and wants the photography to be fun and artistic, then we’d be perfect for your wedding.

So what’s the key to choosing the perfect wedding photographer?

Start with style and price, but always base your final decision on personality. It’s the formula for perfect wedding photography.

The majority of our wedding clients have never been married before (although the current divorce rates are making the concept of a “return” wedding client not so far fetched), and I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings, which makes me kind of an “expert by-proxy”.

I’ve seen it all, and it occurred to me today that there really are 10 major wedding mistakes that should be easily avoidable and seem pretty obvious in hindsight… but if this is your first wedding, then, what hindsight?

That’s where this little gem comes into play. Trust in this sage advice and I just might save you some stress on your big day.

Do a “Dress Rehearsal”: I mean it. Rehearse putting on your dress. Nothing throws off a carefully planned wedding like a complicated corset taking a virtual army of mothers and bridesmaids half hour to cinch, hook, or thread when you thought it would take 5 minutes.

And with that in mind…

Practice Bustling the Dress: Bustling is usually pretty straight forward, but sometimes those little ties and/or hooks can be pretty good at hide-n-seek. Whoever you select for your crack team of “bustlers” needs to have a detailed knowledge of where to find your “bustling hardware” because the last thing you want to deal with before you finally get to relax and party is a long, drawn out bustling of the dress (and your DJ constantly poking in and saying, “So, any idea how much longer before we do the introductions?”).

No Fake Tanner / Over Tanning: Let’s do the math here: Most likely your dress is made of the most delicate light cream and white materials, pure and clean (just like you). Fake tanner is orange/brown. You will probably sweat on your wedding day. Sweat makes fake tanner run… on to your wedding dress. Under the armpits and top of the bodice are common victims, but believe it or not the front of the dress gets a little copper rub-off most often from your forearms! Let’s review: Don’t use fake tanner, ever.

Now for over-tanning: Authentically tan skin does look stunning in many warm sunny environments in that gorgeous white dress. However, certain details often escape the attention of our average well browned bride. Firstly, don’t ever tan anywhere in the weeks before your wedding day where you can’t go in the buff because you will not be liking the white and ever-so-obvious tan lines from you bikini top (i.e. only use tanning beds). Secondly, don’t over do it. You will not like the leathery look of overly tanned skin in your bridal portraits, or (God forbid) you get sun burned! (Do I really need to explain why being burnt is bad for photographs?)

Eat something: Many of our clients have the completely natural tendency to avoid eating much or any food the morning of their wedding due to nerves, or over drinking the night before…

This may sound and feel like a good idea at the time, but please bear in mind that by the time we really get going that day, you might be a little low on the blood sugar and:

a) pass out during your ceremony.

b) become a little cranky

c) become really, really cranky. (And this is supposed to be a party, remember?)

So save your your fiance, your wedding party, and your poor wedding photographers the grief and nibble a little throughout the day.

The Immaculate Dress: Do not assume that your dress cannot get a little dirty. Especially the underside of the train and hem. It touches the ground, so it will get dirty, and the best part is, no one can see it! I get such a kick out of brides who want the shot in the grass or field or off a trail in trees or something and then look down and see bits of stuff stuck to the tulle and freak out! It’s OK, as long as there is not a stain, you’ll be fine. That’s why you have bridesmaids, to pick tiny pieces of stuff out of your tulle and veil before the ceremony. Hello! And in the worst case scenario where you do get visible stains or dirt on the visible parts of the dress, you’d be amazed how little if any is noticeable on the photographs, and if they are just have them removed!

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