What Makes Your Wedding Photos Matter?

Your wedding photographs literally ONLY matter because of the moments they capture. If wedding photography is something you want to invest in. Then the real truth that the wedding industry is never going to tell you is that to get the most value out of your wedding photos, you actually need to start with investing in the things that really matter more than anything else in your wedding day. For me… I think that begins with the people. I’ve been a wedding photographer for over 12 years now and shot hundreds of gorgeous weddings all around the world. Do you know what the universal truth that keeps coming back to me is?

“The people in the room at your wedding have the biggest effect on whether your wedding is amazing or completely average”

The amount of times I get asked by guests at weddings. “What’s the most amazing wedding you’ve ever shot?” Every time I’m asked I feel like the answer I give will be unsatisfying. I could tell them about the incredible destination weddings I’ve shot with huge budgets, lavish venues, designer dresses etc… And don’t get me wrong those weddings have been INCREDIBLE. But the absolute best weddings that I’ll never forget. Those weddings have always been completely focussed on who is in the room. The love in the building. The depth of connection the guests have to the couple. The air is thick with it. You feel completely swept up in the feelings of love and support for the couple.

MEMORIES MAKE YOUR PHOTOS MATTER

Your memories are what make your wedding photos matter. The quality of those memories is directly related to how much you will treasure your wedding photos. If you want to place value into your wedding photos then investing in the people in the room who are co-creating those memories with you is more important than I could ever stress to you. figuring out where to spend whatever budget you have for your wedding is hard enough as it is. Investing in the quality of your memories is what will make your wedding photos matter.

People Make Your Photos Matter

What makes your wedding photos matter is the people who you have in them. The memories that your photos capture are only important because the people who you’re sharing them with matter to you. Every one of us have people in our life that we absolutely love. People we can’t imagine not having at our wedding. I don’t know if I’ve ever photographed a wedding where the couple didn’t have people that they wished could be there that weren’t present. It’s a really hard thing to overcome in wedding planning.

One of the most important choices we made in planning our own little wedding was choosing to dedicate some of our budget to plane tickets for one of my wife’s closest friends to fly in from America to be there with her. We absolutely don’t regret spending that money making our memories extra special. If you ever find your self feeling like you have to choose between spending your wedding budget on a slightly better photographer, a slightly better florist.. a slightly more amazing location. OR paying for some plane tickets so that your memories are 100 times more special. Don’t even think twice. Just get those plane tickets.

The quality of your wedding photographs will be better exponentially because you chose to value the people at your wedding more than simply the luxury elements of your day. I know I’m supposed to be the one telling you to get the absolute best photographer money can buy. But that’s not necessarily true. If you really care about having the best wedding photos, you can’t seperate your investment in them from an investment into the best memories.

Planning a timeline to reflect these values

If you’re going to the trouble to fly friends in from around the world for a one day extravaganza my main piece of advice is don’t make it a one day event. Find a way to include your inner circle in more things in the lead up to the wedding day. Having fun with your favourite people will bring down your stress in the days before your wedding. But as far as your wedding day timeline is concerned. Do not feel like you need to go off for 2 hours to have your “wedding photos”. You want to spend as much time as humanly possible with all of the special people in your life. And If you’ve hired an incredible photographer they should honestly be able to pull off a shocking amount of magic photos in half an hour. Give your timeline the space to breathe so you can soak in all of the wonderful moments without feeling rushed.

“Your wedding day is not a photoshoot that you get married in the middle of” – Joshua Mikhaiel