How to look your best in your wedding day photographs.

1. Have the photographer shoot posed photos in the shade because the direct sun can give extra wrinkles. On a sunny day shoot wedding posed shots with the sun behind you or in the shade. “Milestone Photo” photographers always look for shade or create it with a fold up diffuser.
2. Don’t have a friend do photography or videography at your wedding. You want them to enjoy themselves and they will be distracted by all of their friends at your wedding. If they do not do a good job, it may also get in the way of your friendship. Always trust a professional who does not know people there and won’t be distracted by your guests.
3. Have the photographer shoot the posed photos in “Camera RAW” (instead of using Jpeg for posed photos) which enables the photographer to have better dynamic range and exposure. Milestone photo and video shoots posed photos in camera RAW whenever possible for the best quality wedding photographs possible.
4. Do not chew gum in photos. You will look like you are chewing gum in photos.
5. Do not over tan yourself for your wedding. You still want to look like YOU.
6. Find out the rules of the church before you book them for a wedding. Churches that do not allow flash to be used during the wedding, or restrict the amount of time for photographs after the wedding, should be avoided.
7. Look through bridal magazines and websites and determine what types of wedding photos you like most. If you like corny-cheesy posed shots or modern avant-garde shots or traditional old fashioned posed photos, (or just candid) tell (and show) the photographer what types of shots you like best. Photographers don’t always know what you like till you tell them.
8. Have a professional makeup artist and Hair stylist for your wedding day for the bride, bridesmaids, mother of bride and others who would benefit. Give extra time for this because stylists can be late. They will give you a more dramatic look than the everyday look you get when doing your own makeup. Covering tattoos and zits is a specialty of many makeup artists.
9. Have a bridesmaid armed with matching makeup to do touch ups through out the day.
10. Do not have too large of bangs that hang down on your face. This is because this can cause shadows on your face that are not seen when you look in the mirror. Check your hairstyle and makeup in all types of lighting.
11. Hire a wedding photographer who a variety lighting techniques. You don’t want all your photos to look the same. Get a photographer who does bounce flash, existing lighting, flash assisted existing light, direct flash, flash backlighting. If all the photographers photographs look flat and don’t have a natural look, he is using direct flash only. There are some photographers who shoot without a flash at all (existing light only). This is not a good idea because while some existing light photos look great. However taking only existing light photographs can be grainy and can be unflattering in harsh light. You want a variety of lighting techniques like Milestone Photo and video. We use many different flash techniques all day long.
12. Do your makeup under the same light as you will be seen. I.E. If it is a daytime wedding with a lot of natural light at the reception, you would apply makeup under similar lighting. Having a night time wedding you would apply makeup under indoor looking lighting.
13. Do a practice of how to bustle the wedding dress before the wedding day. I have seen dozens of brides who did not know how to bustle the dress until the wedding day and it wasted an hour of the wedding figuring it out . If the bride and friends cant figure it out the bride will have to carry the train around the whole reception.
14. Have a sewing kit with scissors/needles/safety pins on hand with both Black and white thread (and bridesmaid’s color too) to fix last minute wardrobe malfunctions in your wedding photos.
15. Carry “Tide” or “shout” stain wipes or even baby wipes to get any stains out of dresses and tuxedos. Be careful getting in and out of the limo watch for door grease.
16. If pictures are shot at the bride’s house before the wedding, make sure the flowers are delivered to the brides house (not the church) so the photographer can use the flowers for the bride’s photos at the house.
17. The tradition of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding is outdated and is an Arabic tradition. Shooting photos of the bride and groom together before the wedding, gets things out of the way and makes more time for enjoying the celebration of the party after the wedding. There is a lot of things that can get done sooner when this old and foreign tradition is ignored.
18. Get a dress that matches and flatters your figure type. Consider buying a custom dress made just for you by a quality company like Priscilla of Boston in Oak Brook Terrace IL. (On 22nd street 2 blocks west of Oak Brook Mall)
19. Pick a bridesmaid dress color that is flattering to a majority of the bridesmaids. If some don’t look good in that color, consider multi color brides maid dresses.
20. Do not concern yourself with things you can’t change like the weather or who shows up. Just relax and enjoy the day. When you are happy, you will look happy in the wedding photographs.
21. Don’t get distracted during photos sessions. If you try to micromanage during the photo session, you might be looking elsewhere instead of looking at the wedding photographers lens.
22. Consider a reception hall that has stairs to layer people for large group photographs. Stairs can layer up to 100 people in one great photograph.
23. Hire a photographer who shoots engagement photos. You need to practice the various poses for your wedding day. Your photographer will instruct you on the poses during your engagement shots. After looking at the engagement shots you will know which poses look best for you and your future spouse. Milestone photo and video shoots engagement photos with all full day packages.
24. Hire a photographer who corrects and provides ALL the photos he takes. You may prefer one of the photographers rejects. Milestone corrects and provides all photos. Couples get to keep all photos with all packages with Milestone!
25. If there is time and weather permitting, consider going to an outdoor location that is designed for wedding photography. See our other blogs to find a suitable outdoor or indoor wedding photo location.
26. Consider a reception hall that has a gazebo or small picturesque outdoor area so you won’t have to go elsewhere for cool outdoor photographs during the reception.
27. DO not schedule your wedding on super bowl Sunday, or other date when your guests may be distracted by the game.

Copyright 2011 By Robert M. Busch and Milestone Photo & Video All rights reserved. No Part of this article my be used without written permission from Robert M. Busch.