Before your wedding

At the initial consultation we will discuss your wedding in detail and you will have the opportunity to view lots of beautiful album and prints samples. But quite often this meeting takes place up to a year before the wedding, so we arrange to have another chat about a month before your wedding to confirm that all the plans are still as we discussed and pin down all the timings exactly.

Also, many of our couples choose to have a pre-wedding photo-session where we head outside to a fun location and give you the opportunity to get used to being in front of the camera. It’s also great opportunity for you and your photographer to get to know each other better. Invariably, couples who choose to have a pre-wedding session are much more relaxed and happy in front of the camera by the time their wedding comes round, so we highly recommend it.

Before the ceremony:

On your wedding day your photographer, Yvonne Blume, will arrive at the bride’s preparations venue 1.5 hours before the bride is due to leave for the ceremony. This will enable her to catch the hustle and bustle of the pre-wedding atmosphere, as well as giving her the opportunity to photograph all the detail such as the flowers, dress, shoes etc, whilst they are all still pristine.

Providing the bride’s preparations are running on time, this will also be the time for some bridal portraits, to show the bride at her very best on her big day.

The Ceremony:

Yvonne will then leave for the ceremony about 15 minutes before the bride, which will give her time for some pre-ceremony photographs of the groom interacting with his groomsmen, family and guests before the ceremony.

During the ceremony Yvonne will photograph as much as she is permitted by the officiant. She will do so in an extremely unobtrusive manner, to ensure that nothing draws attention away from the ceremony. But it is important to realise that there are many members of the clergy and registrars who forbid ALL forms of photography during the ceremony itself, some going so far as to threaten to stop the ceremony if a photograph is taken. If this is the case then Yvonne will have to respect the rules of the officiant. So it is up to you, the couple, to discuss this issue with your clergy/registrar well in advance of the wedding so that you know what to expect and don’t find yourself disappointed on the day.

Couples’ Portraits:

As soon as is practical after the ceremony, Yvonne will whisk the couple away from the crowd to capture beautiful, intimate photographs of the couple together. Rather than “posing” her clients, Yvonne prefers to “direct” the couple into specific situations which allow her to create scenarios which yield natural but flattering photographs without the “cheese”. This is a really popular part of the day with our clients as this is pretty much the only time during the day where they get any downtime and a few moments of privacy amongst all the excitement.

This period also gives friends and family time to move from the ceremony to the reception venue, so that by the time the couple return from their photographs everyone is available for any formal photographs which need to be taken, thus minimising the time spent waiting around for participants to arrive.

Formal Groups:

With regard to formal groups, whilst we appreciate that you may want some formal groups we do generally recommend keeping the number of groups to a minimum (around 6-8 groups). They take up a significant part of the reception period (you need to factor an average of 5 minutes per group, longer for large groups or groups with elderly participants who may take a little longer to get into place), and few people enjoy the time spent standing around grinning at the camera or waiting around for the couple to be finished and rejoin the party. But of course it’s up to you. Just be aware that the more time you spend during formal photographs, the fewer images there will be of you mingling and enjoying yourself with your guests.

Reception, Wedding Breakfast and First Dance:

After the formals, time permitting, Yvonne will then take a step back to blend into the background and observe you and your guests, looking for special moments and interactions to capture. When you sit down for your meal, Yvonne will also have a small break to have a bite to eat. Guests rarely enjoy being photographed whilst eating and tables with half-eaten plates don’t make for attractive images either.

However, Yvonne will circulate the room at different stages of the meal (whilst tables are being cleared) looking for photographic opportunities.

Yvonne will continue to photograph right through the speeches and up to the First Dance depending on what type of coverage you have booked her for.

After your wedding:

3 weeks after your wedding, your images will be uploaded for you into an online gallery for you to share with your friends and family. The galleries have an online shopping cart attached, so your friend and family can order their favourite photographs directly from the gallery without having to trouble you for them. Once the gallery goes online, you then have 6 months to choose your images for your final product, be it photographic prints, albums or both.

Our albums are of extremely high quality and completely bespoke. They will be designed to tell the story of your day and it is up to you how much input you have in choosing your images to include in your album. Some clients leave the choice up to us and only make minor changes from our original design (if any), others choose exactly which images they would like to include. Both are fine with us.

Once the album design is approved it then takes approximately 8 weeks for you to hold your album in your hands.

However, that does not necessarily mean the end of your relationship with YBPHOTOGRAPHIC. We love photographing people in ALL situations in life, and would love to be there to photograph you and your family over many years to come.

We hope that this has given you a good overview of what you can expect from us when you book us for your wedding, but we’d love to hear from you in person to discuss the specific details of your day with you. So pick up the phone and give us a call!