Wedding Day Overview: Part 2 - Bride and Groom Prep
Can you feel it? That feeling when you wake up suddenly dawns on you that you are getting married today. It’s a mixture of excitement, fear of the unknown, and nervousness that no words on a page could probably begin to describe. So that’s what you’re feeling – what am I feeling? At the moment, I’m probably a little stressed waiting in the McDonald’s parking lot, trying to pick up a sausage & egg breakfast sandwich while staring at the clock, wondering why there seems to be a sudden fleet of people all needing to get their “I’m loving it” on at 7:30 AM on a Saturday. I probably scoff at them without a hint of irony that I’m doing the same thing. Next, I’m rushing over to the bride/groom’s place to get my necessary shots.
Unquestionably, this is important footage for me to get. It’s my number one job to get the required shots that I need – while staying out of the way of the bride/groom, photographers, make-up artists, hairstylists, wedding party, and parents. I almost ran out of breath just typing that out. What does this look like from my perspective? Let’s dive into bride and groom prep:
As a jumping-off point, here are a few more general items that I will be looking to do when it comes to both groups. These would be:
We are looking for the best light in the room. This means that if either the bride/groom is getting ready in a bathroom with nasty-looking fluorescent bulbs, we are trying to find some way to get a better light source in our video. We may ask you politely if you wouldn’t mind moving to a different room or one that is closer to a window. Additionally, since we want the best light possible, we may ask if we can turn off any lights in the room, opting for as much natural light as possible. Natural sunlight is the easiest to correct and color grade in post-production since there is only so much correction work that can be done for poor lighting, such as fluorescent or incandescent bulbs.
I want to stay out of your way as much as possible. In an ideal world, I would love to be able to come in, say hello, get my required shots, and get out of there so you both can enjoy your day as much as possible without having the fourteenth camera in your face for a long period of time. So that’s exactly my aim. When I come in, wherever you are getting ready, I’m on a mission to get in and out on time.
Letters: If letters are being read, these will be done at the time that works best for the bride/groom. If there is wiggle room beyond this, I will likely ask the groom to read his letter after he has gotten dressed. For the bride, my preference would be after at least the hair/makeup has been done because you would like to look as good as possible for the video. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword, though, because if the letter is especially emotional for the bride and they cry, they may have to get their make-up re-done. So, I leave the timing of this up to the bride.
Now that we’ve looked at a couple of general aspects to go with prep time let’s get just a bit more specific.
Photo by Emma Gladman via Emma Spring Photo
Groom
Let’s start with the groom: The way that I shoot the groom getting ready is slightly different from how I would shoot the bride. For the groom, it’s generally quick but will involve me working with the groom a little bit more in order to get the shots that I need. What does this look like? In this scenario - let’s call this hypothetical groom “Maurice.” I’m going to assume at this point that Maurice already has his pants on, and if not, have no fear, my camera will remain off until he does. I may say, “Maurice, could you please tie your tie,” “Put your cufflinks on,” “Put your suit jacket on,” etc. From there, I will film him from a few different angles, and I will get these necessary shots. I may even ask him to do something more than once, so I can get a few different angles on the same action. Finally, I may hang around a bit to get some shots around wherever he is getting ready or some candid shots of him hanging out with his groomsmen. After that, I’m done!
Picture by Emma Gladman via Emma Spring Photo
Bride
Now onto the bride. The reason that the “groom” part of the day, for me, is a bit more scripted has to do with time management. It’s easy to knock out the footage of the groom and his groomsmen in 30-45 minutes. Then I can spend a bit more time with the bride because, in general, more coverage is needed in this area. What I do for the bride is going to be a little bit less posed. What I mean is that it is not my intention, with a few exceptions, to give directions to the bride. First, if the bride is just starting to get her make-up done, I’ll try to get some fancy-looking shots of her dress. I don’t like taking too much footage pre-makeup in general just because the transition from no make-up to full make-up can be a bit jarring in the video. After the make-up is about halfway through, then I’ll take different interesting shots of this, along with any candid bridesmaids’ shots I can get. I’ll follow the same procedure for hair and, finally, people getting dressed. When the bride is mostly dressed or when someone does the final zip-up of her dress, I’ll get the remainder of my necessary shots. That is pretty much it when it comes to bride prep.
This is what you can expect from me for bride/groom prep. I work the groom a bit more to get my necessary shots, but in general, I like the approach of a fly on the wall. Ideally, I want to come in, get everything that I need, and get out so you can focus on the next part of your day. After I’m done with the bride/groom prep, I head out to the ceremony location. We’ll cover that in the next article. Keep reading!