Be a great guest, shoot great wedding photos
Memorial Day weekend, thus many weddings, are at hand, and we’ve all got our cameras ready. But, are you wondering how to get great wedding photos? Well, I gotta say — its not your job. But if you want to be known as the guest who shoots great pictures that everyone want to invite to their wedding? I suppose I can give you a few tips.
The above photo is actually shot by my husband at a wedding I was a bridesmaid in a few years ago. I couldn’t take the photo because I was standing at the front, to the left of the couple kissing their first kiss of marriage.
I am actually a journalist by trade, so a lot of what I do when taking pictures is learned from the lone photojournalism class I took in junior college and from hanging out with really great photographers. The great thing about digital cameras is you can take tons of photos and check em out during a pause in the action, deleting the ones you don’t like. Above, I shot this photo of my friend Cathy, not realizing that the light would be perfect for a silhouette. All I saw was Cathy’s mom putting a necklace on her and thought, “aw!”
This picture was a beautiful accident. I was all over the hotel room that Cathy was getting ready in, taking pictures of everyone and everything. In fact, Cathy’s photographers probably wanted to smack me because I was in their way. Anyway, when I first saw this picture, I nearly deleted it. Luckily, my genius-at-Photoshop husband stepped in and saved the pic by coloring it with a sepia tone. Now, I tell people I did this on purpose. Heheh. So take note — don’t delete everything! But see the potential in a raw photo.
This photo is one of my favorites. You see, I was at the cake table, helping my mom with last minute fixes and stuff, when I saw Cathy and her new husband rehearsing their first dance as the banquet staff milled around and set the tables. It was wonderfully intimate, even with all those people around — a couple working on their first steps together. My only regret is that my camera was not of a better quality and that I wasn’t a better photographer to make this picture better.
Need more? I found some great photojournalism tips from Vincent Laforet. The first seven tips are things any aspiring photographer should take note of. I plan on focusing on some great photographers I know, too, in a future post.
Long head table decorations
Decorating a long head table for a wedding reception is tough. Trust me, when I was still decorating, I preferred a small sweetheart table to long head tables any day. However, they’re usually a necessity, because its probably cheaper and many couples want to put their bridal party and sponsors in the spotlight with their own especially designated tables.
Above, you’ve got a combo — two long-ish side tables uncomfortably close to a sweetheart table, decorated with lavender, silver and white draping. I’m not sure who put the bridesmaid bouquets at each point where the draping is gathered and attached to the tables, but its a nice touch. You can click on the above picture for its full size, or keep reading for a closer look at an angle.
Forgive me, I can’t remember the name of the hotel pictured here, but — it was a hotel! Anyway, you see the silver draping was used to accent the lavender (one of my favorite color combos). The sweetheart table is set apart with lights underneath the table, which makes a pleasing glow through the silver and white draping.
I’m positive that this set up is at the Pacific Palms in the City of Industry. This is a double long table set up — a long table on the floor and a long table on a raised tier. If I remember correctly, most long tables seat about 15 or 16 people. However, they are not easy to decorate. You usually need several yards of draping, like 20 to 25 yards, plus, making all those loops symmetrical often takes a lot of pinning and unpinning and pinning again, plus, when you’re working with two long tables, not everything will line up, as you can see from above. (Above, things probably line up from a certain view, but it doesn’t look lined up to me from this picture!) When I first started draping it would take me an hour to do each table. I can do a long table in 20 minutes now.
This reception was at the Courtyard in Baldwin Park, but don’t ask me if it was called a Courtyard at the time — its undergone several ownership changes over the years. This set up was unique. If my memory serves me correctly, this was a big U-shaped table. I’ve done a couple of those setups at this hotel. Anyway, you don’t see the U-shape here, but when it comes to a looooong head table that angles, all you can do is create a big visual impact and try to get everything mostly even. Pink helps a lot in that sense.
Yellow and silver for a silver anniversary celebration at the Glendale Hilton. This long table was not as difficult to decorate, since it was not excessively long — it appears to seat 10. There is a sweetheart table setup behind the long table, and its flanked by two medium sized tables which seat four each. If I must recommend a set up for a lot of people at a head table, this would be it.
