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Must have photos

kjvaracallikjvaracalli member
5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
in Wedding Photography and Videography Forum
What are/were your must have photos?   I would love pics with each BM and groomsman, family, combination of families.    What else are you happy you did/will do?


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Re: Must have photos

  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    @kjvaracalli

    Here's my list: (note: some pictures like "bride alone" can be done whenever)

    Before Ceremony:

    • Bride prepping

    • Bride's Dress hanging/ draped

    • MOH and Bride's mom adjusting veil

    • Bride's bouquet alone

    • Bride's bouquet with other flowers

    • Bride handing out bouquets

    • Wedding rings up close (not on hand/ finger)

    • Groom prepping

    • Groom putting corsage on his mother

    • Groom putting corsage on bride's mother

    • Groom's father and Best Man attaching boutonniere


    During Ceremony:

    • Bride's mom being escorted in

    • Groom escorting his mom

    • Groom waiting at altar

    • Bridal party entering

    • Flower girl(s) going down aisle

    • Bride going down aisle (Front, side back)

    • Bride and Groom holding hands

    • Bride and Groom exchanging vows

    • Bride and Groom exchanging rings

    • Bride and Groom kiss

    • Lighting the unity candle

    • Bride and Groom leaving


    After Ceremony:

    • Bride alone

    • Groom alone

    • Bride and Groom alone

    • Bride and Groom with Brides parents

    • Bride and Groom with Grooms parents

    • Bride and Groom with Brides grandparents

    • Bride and Groom with Grooms grandparents

    • Bride and Groom with Brides parents and grandparents

    • Bride and Groom with Grooms parents and grandparents

    • Bride with Bride's mother alone

    • Bride with Bride's father alone

    • Bride with Bride's mother and father

    • Bride with her grandparents

    • Bride with her grandparents and parents

    • Bride and Grooms mother

    • Bride and Grooms father

    • Bride with Groom's mother and father

    • Groom with his mother

    • Groom with his father

    • Groom with his mother and father

    • Groom with his grandparents

    • Groom with parents and grandparents

    • Bride and Groom with bridal party

    • Bride and Groom with bridal party in heart formation (picture taken from above)

    • Bride and Groom with bridal party and flower girl(s)

    • Bride with MOH

    • Bride with MOH and BM

    • Bride with MOH, BM, and mothers

    • Bride with MOH, BM, mothers and fathers

    • Groom with Best Man

    • Groom with Best Man and GM

    • Groom with Best Man, GM and fathers

    • Groom with Best Man, GM, fathers and mothers

    • Individual picture of MOH

    • Individual picture of each BM

    • Individual picture of each GM

    • Individual picture of Best Man

    • Pictures of each bridal party “couple”

    • Bride and Groom with flower girl(s)

    • Bride with flower girl(s)

    • Groom with flower girl(s)

    • Flower girl(s) alone

    • Flower girl(s) with her parents

    • Flower girl(s) with her grandparents

    • Flower girl(s) with her parents and grandparents

    • Wedding rings on hands up close


    At Reception:

    • Reception Venue outside

    • Grand March

    • Shots of each table with out guests

    • Shots of each table with guests

    • Bridal Party table with out bridal party

    • Bridal Party table with bridal party

    • First Couples Dance

    • Father/ Daughter Dance

    • Grandfather/ Granddaughter Dance

    • Mother/ Son Dance

    • Bouquet Toss

    • Guarder Toss

    • DJ

    • Centerpieces and other miscellaneous decorations

    • Toasts/ Speeches

    • Cake Table

    • Cake alone

    • Cake cutting

    • Bride and Groom feeding each other

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  • emmyg65emmyg65 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I didn't send my photographer a detailed shot list because I preferred to trust her to capture the special moments of our wedding. But there were a few things I definitely wanted:

    - some formal portraits (my brother and me, my best friend and me, him and his brothers, us with my family, etc.)
    - pictures of my something old and something borrowed
    - pictures of our cake (because I made it!)

    Also, we had a Quaker wedding, which is pretty different. So I let her know how that would go and that I wanted pictures of everyone who felt moved to speak.
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  • kjvaracallikjvaracalli member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    @hlvonb----holy moly!  Thanks for all the ideas and breaking everything down.  
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    @kjvaracalli

    Not a problem. Hope it helps!
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  • Ven&RadioVen&Radio member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    Unless your photographer is an amateur/new to wedding photography, I don't think you need as detailed a list as @hlvonb provided.  My photographers wanted a list of groupings we wanted for the posed formals.  They were open to any specific requests we had, but they made the point at our initial meeting that they are professionals who shoot weddings almost every weekend and don't need to be told we want a picture of the cake or the first kiss, etc because every couple wants those and it's kind of insulting to get that specific - just to trust them and let them do what they're good at.  I'm glad we hired them and trusted them -- the pictures are awesome and I can't think of anything I'd want they didn't include.  I can see how their request could come off as arrogant or presumptuous, but, honestly, I think it makes alot of sense.  You're hiring them because they're good at what they do and you need to trust them.
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    edited February 2014
    Ven&Radio said:
    Unless your photographer is an amateur/new to wedding photography, I don't think you need as detailed a list as @hlvonb provided.  My photographers wanted a list of groupings we wanted for the posed formals.  They were open to any specific requests we had, but they made the point at our initial meeting that they are professionals who shoot weddings almost every weekend and don't need to be told we want a picture of the cake or the first kiss, etc because every couple wants those and it's kind of insulting to get that specific - just to trust them and let them do what they're good at.  I'm glad we hired them and trusted them -- the pictures are awesome and I can't think of anything I'd want they didn't include.  I can see how their request could come off as arrogant or presumptuous, but, honestly, I think it makes alot of sense.  You're hiring them because they're good at what they do and you need to trust them.
    @Ven&Radio

    As to the bolded in black: I have a detailed list because my photographer wanted to know WHEN I wanted the photos taken. Some people don't want any photos taken before the ceremony and others want all of them done before the ceremony.  Also, he asked for this list because my sister had him and she said she did NOT want any of the "prepping" photos. There are some "prepping" photos I don't want so he asked for this so he has an idea of the ones I am okay with.

    As to the bolded in red: My photographer is very experienced since he has been doing wedding photography for many many years. My aunt who has been in the business many years as well personally recommended him to me (and my sister when she got married) and I have met him, seen his work and talked to previous clients so YES I trust him
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  • lc07lc07 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I know a lot of professional wedding photographers. I think the problem with your list, @hlvonb is that it takes away from the photographer capturing things that are actually happening. For example, what if they're doing shooting something else and the florist ends up pinning the corsages. Is the photographer supposed to go back have the corsage taken off and have the groom pin it? My friends say that the list holds them back from capturing the real essence of the day. They would want to check with you if that's something you want them to go re-create, and if so then they need to go re-create it when it didn't actually happen. And then they missed the flower girl doing something really cute because they were busy with the list. I think your list might be too specific. Just a thought.
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  • emmyg65emmyg65 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I agree with @lc07. I think detailed shot lists, or asking a photographer to recreate a bunch of photos from Pinterest, doesn't let them do what you hired them to do: capture your wedding day, as it happens. However, if something is very important to you, it's worth noting.
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  • AprilH81AprilH81 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I had a pretty detailed list of what I would like our photographers to capture, but I also made it clear that it was more important to capture the day as it happened than to re-create something they missed.  Most of the things on our list were group shots, details of the day I wanted captured (I wanted pictures of my something old, new borrowed blue for example) and most of those things could be taken care of while we were getting ready or while guests were arriving.

    As long as they captured the big stuff, exchanging rings, first kiss, cake cutting etc., then I was going to be happy. 

    I appologized to our photographer in advance when I gave her the list and told her that this was my "wish list" and marked the photographs that were the highest priority.  We ended up losing an hour of pictures before the ceremony because hair & make-up ran long.  There were a few pictures that I cut out to save time for the more important ones.
    photo composite_14153800476219.jpg
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    lc07 said:
    I know a lot of professional wedding photographers. I think the problem with your list, @hlvonb is that it takes away from the photographer capturing things that are actually happening. For example, what if they're doing shooting something else and the florist ends up pinning the corsages. Is the photographer supposed to go back have the corsage taken off and have the groom pin it? My friends say that the list holds them back from capturing the real essence of the day. They would want to check with you if that's something you want them to go re-create, and if so then they need to go re-create it when it didn't actually happen. And then they missed the flower girl doing something really cute because they were busy with the list. I think your list might be too specific. Just a thought.
    @Ic07

    The florist is dropping off the flowers and that's it. The flowers can be pinned on ourselves so we have the freedom of when the flowers are pinned on. Like I said, the pictures can be done at any time. Not necessarily in the specific order I have them in. I fully trust my photographer and will trust what he says the most over anyone else. He wanted a break down (I explained the situation of my sister vs me) so I gave him one. I get that you and other may not agree and that's fine. I did what he asked (the list). That's the end of it.

    P.S. Sorry if that comes off snarky - not my intent. 
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    emmyg65 said:
    I agree with @lc07. I think detailed shot lists, or asking a photographer to recreate a bunch of photos from Pinterest, doesn't let them do what you hired them to do: capture your wedding day, as it happens. However, if something is very important to you, it's worth noting.
    @emmyg65

    Please see my response to Ic07 above
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  • lc07lc07 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    hlvonb said:
    lc07 said:
    I know a lot of professional wedding photographers. I think the problem with your list, @hlvonb is that it takes away from the photographer capturing things that are actually happening. For example, what if they're doing shooting something else and the florist ends up pinning the corsages. Is the photographer supposed to go back have the corsage taken off and have the groom pin it? My friends say that the list holds them back from capturing the real essence of the day. They would want to check with you if that's something you want them to go re-create, and if so then they need to go re-create it when it didn't actually happen. And then they missed the flower girl doing something really cute because they were busy with the list. I think your list might be too specific. Just a thought.
    @Ic07

    The florist is dropping off the flowers and that's it. The flowers can be pinned on ourselves so we have the freedom of when the flowers are pinned on. Like I said, the pictures can be done at any time. Not necessarily in the specific order I have them in. I fully trust my photographer and will trust what he says the most over anyone else. He wanted a break down (I explained the situation of my sister vs me) so I gave him one. I get that you and other may not agree and that's fine. I did what he asked (the list). That's the end of it.

    P.S. Sorry if that comes off snarky - not my intent. 
    @hlvonb No worries! I don't take your comment poorly. If your photographer asked for a list, that's great and in that case I think it's important that you do what they ask of you since that's how they operate.
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  • hlvonbhlvonb member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    @Ic07

    Ok good. :)
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    Name Dropper First Comment
    One thing you may want to note as well is that if you don't give a list, you haven't got a leg to stand on if your photographer fails to capture pictures you assumed would be done.  We assumed our wedding photographer would do many shots and didn't do a list, and now we have not pictures of the cake before we cut it, the ballroom decorated, the rings, etc.   Best to include the list of must haves in the contract so that if for whatever reason they don't happen, you have something to go on.

    Also, just so you know, our photographer has a great reputation, lots of testimonials, and these must have shots that we are missing are in all of his galleries we were shown.  Not sure what happened . . .
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