What stood out to us most about Jocelyn & Joshua’s wedding was the warmth we felt that day. What beautiful families, and relationships… always a pleasure to photograph an event with such great people! Jocelyn and Joshua really had an evident strong connection, and put a lot of thought into the planning of their ceremony and time with guests. Because the ceremony and time with their guests was their main priority, we met up with them before the ceremony for photographs. Many brides and grooms prefer the traditional “first sight” being the bride walking down the aisle, so I thought it would be helpful to brides to hear what our couple felt about having seen each other prior to the ceremony when the wedding day was over….
Jocelyn:
“I chose to have our formals done before the ceremony because I did not want to have to leave the church right after the receiving line. I wanted to be able to take the time to visit with our family and friends. I have no regrets about doing the pictures this way. Josh and I were able to make the first time he saw me meaningful and special by making a point of having him waiting as I walked down a staircase. Taking the formals before the ceremony got rid of a lot of nervousness, anxiety and jitters. We were also fresh and clean with no mascara runs, lipstick smudges or crushed boutonnieres . Our smiles were true and natural and not tired looking. It was relaxing to take the pictures ahead of time, enjoy mingling with our bridal party and families over a quick lunch and then enter into the ceremony.”
Joshua:
“We were still able to enjoy a moment of first seeing the bride, but then we were also able to spend time with our guests after the ceremony, which honored them. This was especially meaningful for our out of town family and friends. It also helped to calm pre-ceremony nerves.”
Although the weather for this wedding was really cold, the bride and groom were up for some outdoor photos. Yay for us! We literally went across the street from the church to some bush area that looked quite plain and ugly in person, but rocked in camera! Jocelyn braved the prickly twigs like nobody’s business, and we were so excited, because we really loved the resulting photos :).
I just wanted to add a little note to our photography students, to pay attention to the photographs of the couple walking on the road… it is quite an awesome example of using all angles available… one direction we had beautiful light, flare, and back lighting and turning around we had a gorgeous blue sky (we popped in some flash to reduce shadow under the eyes). Why have just one when you can have both?
‘Nuff said. Enjoy some pictures!
