If documenting the details you have planned out and invested in for your wedding day is important to you, then today’s post is going to be super helpful as you plan! The tip I’m about to share is something that we run into often on wedding days and our hope is that this educational post in our For Brides series will help future brides get the photos they are dreaming of in their final wedding gallery!

I think it’s safe to say that any bride would say that the MOMENTS that happen on her day are, by far, the most important images they will have after everything is said and done. We totally agree because the PEOPLE in the photos are far more important than any floral arrangement or welcome sign. HOWEVER, the awesome part about being a two-person, husband and wife team is that while one of us is capturing those moments and those people, the other can be capturing the details of your day that you have spent a lot of time deciding on, planning for, and investing money into! There is NOTHING wrong with wanting photos of the details! We LOVE all the details that make each wedding day unique!

The one portion of the day that we find can be easily overlooked when it comes to capturing the wedding details is the SPACE where your reception will take place. If you value these shots as a bride, then I’m sure you would love to have a shot of your reception space that looks like this:

An empty reception room with floral in place and tables fully set! It is quite a breathtaking sight! But it’s not an easy image to capture. There are a lot of moving parts required to make this shot happen and so if these types of images are important for you to have in your wedding day gallery, here are a couple of tips to make sure they can happen!

1. If at all possible, have the cocktail hour in a separate room/space from the reception. While you are mingling with your guests during this time, one of us will be with you and the other will be in the reception space shooting details. If cocktail hour and the reception are in two different places, we can shoot the reception details (tables, centerpieces, name cards, flowers, favors, etc.) in an empty room that is free of distractions (coats and purses on chairs, guests walking around, etc!). We’ve also found that it’s super fun for both the couple and the guests when the site coordinator or wedding planner opens the doors to the reception room just before dinner and you get to see it for the first time completely finished and set up — kind of like a “big reveal” of your gorgeous space!! 

2. If you are able to have the cocktail hour in a separate space from the reception, it’s super helpful to have a simple sign on the door that says, “reception opens at XXX time!” or even lock the doors to the room if possible!

3. Talk with your wedding planner or reception site coordinator to make sure the reception room will be fully set up by the time we begin shooting it, ensuring we are able to capture the space exactly as you had envisioned and planned! The start time of shooting the space will be on your final timeline (or the timeline you have created with your photographer!), so you can just share this information with your planner/site coordinator!

4. If the cocktail hour and reception are in the same room but the space is big and the cocktail hour could be kept to one side/section of the room, you could put up a sign that asks guest not to be seated until a certain time!

 

I hope this post is helpful to get some amazing full room and table shots from your reception space! Happy Wednesday!

For more posts and planning tips in our For Brides series, click here!