Stefania and Paul are near and dear to my heart. Not only did they have to postpone their wedding due to unforeseen circumstances, they also had to move themselves and the wedding to another state. But life has its way of turning situations around and when one door closes, another door opens... this door happened to be Ripley's Aquarium of Smokies in Tennessee. When the day came, I was excited that there might be snow (there was some just the week before here in the Carolina's), but the weather actually flipped around and was beautiful and sunny! This led us to capture an amazing variety of pictures of the two of them. We started with their first look in the middle of the aquarium, then an intimate walk along the river just in front of the aquarium, then once the sun had set we used the lights of downtown Gatlinburg for some amazing night shots. What made this wedding special was not only the fact that their ceremony and reception were amidst the beauty of swimming rays and a surprise entrance from one of the aquariums penguins; but the journey that Stefania and Paul went on to get to the alter that day. And although it was tough, they made it and their closest family and friends were there to share the day with them!
Ripley's Aquarium Wedding Photographer | Gatlinburg, TN | Stefania & Paul | yah Photography /
Stefania and Paul are near and dear to my heart. Not only did they have to postpone their wedding due to unforeseen circumstances, they also had to move themselves and the wedding to another state. But life has its way of turning situations around and when one door closes, another door opens... this door happened to be Ripley's Aquarium of Smokies in Tennessee. When the day came, I was excited that there might be snow (there was some just the week before here in the Carolina's), but the weather actually flipped around and was beautiful and sunny! This led us to capture an amazing variety of pictures of the two of them. We started with their first look in the middle of the aquarium, then an intimate walk along the river just in front of the aquarium, then once the sun had set we used the lights of downtown Gatlinburg for some amazing night shots. What made this wedding special was not only the fact that their ceremony and reception were amidst the beauty of swimming rays and a surprise entrance from one of the aquariums penguins; but the journey that Stefania and Paul went on to get to the alter that day. And although it was tough, they made it and their closest family and friends were there to share the day with them!
Photography Boundaries During the Ceremony /
The ceremony is one of the most, if not the most important part of the day. No matter how the ceremony is preformed, it is still the pinnacle of all of the moments of the wedding day rolled into one. When it comes to photographing that moment, we want to make sure that we capture every single tear, smile, and kiss but in a way that is not obtrusive and does not take away from the two of you on your wedding day. One of the most important details of this is talking with your officiant and knowing the boundaries to relay it back to your photographer. Whether your ceremony is in the church or out in the open; we need to know what areas are off limits and if there are any restrictions, i.e. no flashes, must not come past the first five rows of guests. By knowing these boundaries it allows us to be prepared and have the right set up to work around it and still capture amazing images of your ceremony.
Here is an example where we were told to capture every angle and there were no limitations.
Same here except it was outdoors instead of inside
This example shows a wedding where we were told to stay behind the last row of guests and that we could not use flashes.
As you can see we were well equipped to handle either situation, but we had also worked with our brides to talk with their officiant and let us know what the boundaries were on their wedding day.
Do you know what the boundaries are for your wedding day?
Photography Boundaries During the Ceremony /
The ceremony is one of the most, if not the most important part of the day. No matter how the ceremony is preformed, it is still the pinnacle of all of the moments of the wedding day rolled into one. When it comes to photographing that moment, we want to make sure that we capture every single tear, smile, and kiss but in a way that is not obtrusive and does not take away from the two of you on your wedding day. One of the most important details of this is talking with your officiant and knowing the boundaries to relay it back to your photographer. Whether your ceremony is in the church or out in the open; we need to know what areas are off limits and if there are any restrictions, i.e. no flashes, must not come past the first five rows of guests. By knowing these boundaries it allows us to be prepared and have the right set up to work around it and still capture amazing images of your ceremony.
Here is an example where we were told to capture every angle and there were no limitations.
Same here except it was outdoors instead of inside
This example shows a wedding where we were told to stay behind the last row of guests and that we could not use flashes.
As you can see we were well equipped to handle either situation, but we had also worked with our brides to talk with their officiant and let us know what the boundaries were on their wedding day.
Do you know what the boundaries are for your wedding day?
Family Pictures at your Wedding /
We all know that Family pictures on the wedding day are a must. Family is what got us to where we are on that day and we want their involvement in our life to be documented on that day. I have a couple of quick tips for how to deal with family pictures on the wedding day.
Make a list of all the family members that will be in attendance that day.
Next, decide Who in that list is important for you and your immediate family to have pictures with. You need to think that each grouping of family members takes approximately three - five minutes in order for us to gather the people, pose them, and get a couple pictures taken. (Photographers will take more than one picture of a family grouping because chances are someone will have their eyes closed).
Typically you will not want these pictures to take up more than 30 minutes of the cocktail hour.
The reason for this is, that means the remaining 30 are spent taking pictures of you. If you find that you have more family pictures than time allows, you might want to consider a first look. (Click Here! to see our post about first looks) We work one on one with our brides to plan this part of the day to make sure that we get the pictures they are wanting, not only of their family, but also of the two of them.
Hopefully this little tip will help you in planning out your family pictures for your wedding! Has anyone reading this had a good or bad experience during their family pictures on their wedding day? Comment below!