5 Unexpected Things to Prepare For During Your Wedding Ceremony or Elopement

Your wedding day can be a truly happy and magical experience: it’s a celebration of your relationship and your love! And whether you opt for a traditional wedding ceremony or an elopement, it’s a special time to create a memorable experience with your partner – and, in some cases, your family and friends – that you’ll remember forever. 

However, there’s always the possibility that something unexpected can happen – life is life, after all, and it wouldn’t be life without a pinch of “surprise!” here and there. 

Knowing how to prepare for your wedding – for both the good and the unexpected – can help ease stress and make things more seamless throughout the big day. 

But, what is there to plan for? And what can you do when something not-so-great happens?

That’s when a great wedding photographer can step in to save the day!

Here are a few of the things that my many years of experience as a destination wedding photographer have taught me to prepare for – and how I like to deal with them!

1. When the weather is not ideal

If there’s one thing you definitely can’t control on your wedding day (or ever) it’s the weather. You can try your best to plan for sunny skies, less chance of rain, etc., but you’ll never be 100% sure that nature won’t unexpectedly turn on you and decide to celebrate your big day with a torrential downpour.

Solution: My go-to for when the weather isn’t cooperating is to move the outdoor ceremony indoors – or, at least move the photos indoors or to a covered porch. 

Hiring a photographer who is easily adaptable to different conditions (shooting outside, inside, using umbrellas, switching between different lighting situations) is ideal because they’ll be prepared to deal with whatever the day throws their way!

2. In-the-way guests during the ceremony

You know the ones! There’s always an “Uncle Joe” who decides to step right into the aisle in the middle of the first kiss, phone in hand, to try and get an awful and blurry photo of the moment…when the professional photographer is standing right behind them!

Solution: Have an unplugged ceremony! Ask guests to put away their phones, cameras, iPads (yeah, this one has happened before…) until after the ceremony so the photographer can move around freely and take photos of all the great moments without having to dodge raised phones halfway through the most important moments.

3. When everyone’s looking in a different direction during family photos

One person looks left, three people look to the front, someone else is looking to the right, and grandma has her eyes closed. Whoops! Similarly to what happens when phones and tablets are out during the ceremony, family formals can be a little bit chaotic when there are too many lenses demanding someone’s attention.

Solution: Look at ONE lens: the photographer’s! The photographer’s main goal is to get the perfect shot and then move on to the next perfect shot. In order to do this, we need enough space to move around – this means several feet – and take photos from different angles. From full body shots to close-ups, these will more than likely be the photos you’ll end up cherishing a lot more than the cell phone snaps your relatives will email that next morning – not that those aren’t great, either!

In some cases, if there’s enough time, I usually allow family and friends to take photos after I’ve taken the family formals. This is when I usually share the “go ahead” for family and friends to step in with their phones. I know sometimes grandparents really just want a photo of the couple to look at on their phone, and I don’t want to take away from that, either.

4. Running behind schedule

Here’s the thing: no matter how much you plan and organize your wedding day timeline, it’s likely that things will start to run a little behind (or ahead) of schedule once it all begins! Whether guests arrive a little earlier than imagined, photos take a little longer than you’d hoped, seating arrangements are a little more complicated than you thought…not everything can run on schedule. And that’s totally okay!

Solution: Set a buffer for everything! By having a little extra time before and after big moments, you and your guests will be much more comfortable – and you won’t feel rushed to get from one place to another. This creates space so you can enjoy each moment instead of dashing around like mad trying to pack everything into a set amount of time.

5. The photographer’s equipment breaks

So, this one miiiiight feel like it’s more on the photographer, but it’s also important for you and your partner to be aware of what to do if something happens to the photographer and their gear. Say their camera falls off the table and breaks, their memory card is faulty when they arrive at the venue, there’s water damage…the list goes on and on!

Solution: Personally, I always always bring backup gear with me when I’m shooting an event. I have 2 cameras (each with dual memory cards so there is a duplicate copy of images right away), extra lenses, and after the event I back up the contents of the SD cards immediately onto my computer and online in order to avoid any unnecessary issues. 

Having backup gear helps me feel a lot more comfortable and relaxed in case of any problems, and it also helps my couples feel at ease in case anything were to happen to one of the cameras during the event. As a wedding photographer, preparation is key!

Learning to navigate the unexpected

Ultimately, what matters most is that you remember to stay present on your day and that you embrace the unexpected. 

Always remember that you’re surrounded by your people: your family, friends, and your partner. Once you can accept that you won’t be able to control everything, you’ll have a much better time celebrating your love instead of focusing on the little things that are out of your reach!

As a photographer, and someone who’s previously worked in the hospitality industry, I’ve had tons of experience navigating situations that, although might not have seemed ideal, ended up being magical because of the vibe that guests attached to them. 

It’s not always about what happens around you, but about who you’re living through these moments and experiences with! 

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Looking for someone who can capture your vision on your big day? Send me a message and let’s discuss the different ways we can work together!