5 Photography Tips for Your Church Wedding
If you’re getting married in a Church, Synagogue or Temple, you’ve probably been attending service there for a long time. You’re probably familiar with the layout and generally how your wedding work in the space that they have. But even though you think you have it all figured out, here are 5 things to think about to ensure you get the best photos at your wedding.
1) How to Deal with Low Light
Churches usually do not have a lot of light. But that’s not a bad thing. Yes, it might be a little more challenging for your photographer, but It offers the opportunity to create a romantic atmosphere with a series of candles and flowers to help brighten up the setting and make your wedding truly beautiful!
2) Procession Timing
If your church has a very long aisle, it will take time for your entire wedding party to make it down to the front. And if you have a big wedding party, it will take even longer. So couples tend to stack the pairs closer together when going down the aisle, to save time. When you do this, the photographer can not get a clear shot of each pair. So please ensure there is adequate distance between the pairs. If possible, ask your photographer, to attend the rehearsal to help figure out the timing or distance between the pairs. It may take longer, but at least you get all the photos.
Some churches do not allow the photographer to walk around during the ceremony. And some churches don’t even let the photographer beyond the last row of seating. So if you’re looking for great candids during the ceremony, and if there are restrictions like these, great candid or “in the moment” type of shots might not be possible. So you may want to be aware of this when discussing with your photographer. You should talk to the church coordinator to ensure that your photographer has the opportunity to get the photos that you want.
If it isn’t possible to get the photos during the ceremony, there are still opportunities to stage many of the photos afterwards. This is great opportunity to have fun and create some really unique moments that you would not otherwise dare to pull off during the real ceremony.
Oftentimes, the bride and the groom are up on a stage or an elevated position and only religious figures or employees are allowed on the stage, during the ceremony. So, similar to #3, the photographer may only take photos from approved locations within the floorplan and oftentimes cannot get a good line of sight to the marrying couple. We’re not asking you to change your church, we just want you to be aware of this and we don’t want to disrespect the sacredness of the location.
5) Post-Ceremony Group Portraits
If you’re having group photos after the ceremony, please coordinate with the church to have at least 20-30 minutes. This is because after the ceremony, everyone will want to say hello and congratulations! And some churches have back to back weddings. So to minimize stress, on the day of your wedding, make sure you have enough time. For more information on this, you may want to check out our previous blog post on Managing Time on Your Wedding Day.
