Picture Perfect Tips

10 Tips for a Picture Perfect Wedding Day

Here's the secret - have more fun than everyone else! Your wedding is only the beginning; you are embarking on the start of your married life together. Focus on your new life together, and how excited you are to marry this person. The way you gaze at each other will reveal this passion, and it will allow the photographer to capture those moments.

Weddings can be very stressful for the bride and groom. Here are some tips wedding couples can use to reduce the amount of stress they encounter during their wedding to look their best in the photographs.

• Be up-front about your expectations: Inform the photographer and videographer well in advance the type of shots you want to be taken so that he or she can learn positioning and style. Don't be afraid to tear out magazine photos or to request photographs of special heirlooms or wedding day accessories.
• Pre-Wedding Photo shoot: Let's face it; those "Magazine Bride” photos that you see are planned, practiced, and picked from hundreds of options. Planning a pre- wedding shoot will undoubtedly improve your pictures. This practice will give the photographer the chance to capture that special once in a lifetime moment for you.
• Scheduling a set time for the photo session: To minimize picture-taking time during cocktail hour try to take a majority of the formal pictures before the ceremony. Some photos could be the bridesmaids, groomsmen, the bride with her family, and the groom with his. If you're traditional, you can wait until after the ceremony to involve the bride and groom together.
• Know about restrictions: Get consent from the ceremony location as to where photographs and video are allowed. Many churches, synagogues, mosques and chapels have specific areas that cannot be photographed or filmed, so make sure to check with them before the big day.
• Consider a unique wedding-day gift: A great new idea for a groom's gift is to capture the bride's primping process, and show the groom what he missed. Documented by beautiful, tasteful pictures, the groom is allowed a peek into the bride's final moments before she becomes his forever, which will definitely become a keepsake for the groom.
• Plan a Make up Rehearsal: Your wedding day is not the right time to experiment with makeup and hairstyles. Be sure to plan a separate day to have a hair and makeup "dress rehearsal". Try a few styles and pick one that's sophisticated and romantic, but lets you look like your beautiful and radiant self.
• Know your Make-up: Being a blushing bride may take more than the simple mascara and lip gloss you're used to. For your wedding day, add a bit more make-up so you appear as beautiful and glowing in your portraits as you are in real life. Consider a bit of blush around the cheeks or matte lipstick to “pop” in your pictures. But don't go overboard; let your true beauty shine through on this joyous occasion.
• Have your bridesmaids match: Double check your bridesmaids and try to get their makeup to match each other. Having a theme with hair and make up will make your wedding party look more unified and will really tie into the overall wedding look.
• Find time for intimate shots: Let the photographer take shots of just you and your special someone. Try sneaking off to a remote location for a few minutes to capture a truly loving moment that will definitely highlight your wedding album.
• Breathe, relax, and smile: The brides who take the best pictures are always the ones who smile the most, and look as though they don't have a care in the world. While this day is to share with friends and loved ones, it's really about the wedding couple. Enjoy your wedding: laugh, smile, and gaze at your new husband/wife. Forget about the cameras and flashes and have fun!

  Tip courtesy of A Dream Picture, of Canton, Mass. For more wedding day photo information, visit www.adreampicture.com