From the Wedding Tip Series, providing a new piece of advice every Wednesday to help brides get the most out of their wedding photography. This Wednesday, we are proud to unveil tip seven:

“Don’t Short-Change the Photo Location!”

Now that we’ve covered scheduling the appropriate amount of time for photos in tip five, it’s time to start thinking about locations. Keep in mind, if you are on a very tight schedule with only the bare minimum amount of time for photos, this tip may not be for you. And not to worry, it’s part of your photographer’s job to be able to get good pictures of you anywhere, so don’t panick! A lot of these tips are all about realistically knowing what to expect with regard to your wedding images, and giving you the opportunity to make changes based on the desired results for your wedding photography.

For example, if your venue grounds resemble a standard park, some of your photos may look like this one (and keep in mind this is not an example of a BAD photo, this is an example of a GOOD photo taken in location that didn’t have much to offer):

Or conversely, if you have a gorgeous city-scape as your backdrop, a beautiful pier, or some other fabulous location, you can probably expect photos that look more like these:

Photography is one of the highest priority purchase items to the bride and groom. Not only is it the only thing that lasts after the day is over, a good photographer will bring out the best in your venue, decor, and other aspects of your wedding that you have invested in. Yet somehow, even the brides who know this and have made a great investment in their photographer, seem to put the least amount of planning into this aspect of their day. You wouldn’t contract a venue, not plan the decor at all, and still expect it to look like the pictures you saw online of it all decked out for someone else’s wedding. All this tip is to say, really, is that you’ll want to put a little extra thought into your photo locations, and not automatically assume the grounds at your venue are the best you can do. I’ve seen grounds that were nothing but lawn, a tree here or there, an ugly sculpture, you get the idea! 🙂

My suggestion is if you have the time, consider locations within a 10-to-20-minute drive of your venue. If you have 2.5 hours or more between your ceremony and reception, you can consider places that might even be a bit farther. Then, if you still think your venue is truly the best in the area, which totally happens!, then you can feel confident knowing that you’ve really thought things through, and you are going to get the best possible photo results for your wedding!