Tips for Photographing a Wedding Ceremony

The wedding ceremony is arguably the most important part of a wedding day. Seeing as it’s the part of the day you don’t get a do-over on, for a photographer it can be stressful to nail great shots of the key moments. That’s why today I’m sharing some wedding photography ceremony tips from over a decade of experience shooting ceremonies.

If you plan ahead and think through the ceremony, it can be the most predictable aspect of photographing a wedding. Everyone is sitting down and staying still, there’s literally a program for what’s happening, and you know what the important moments are. However, you only get one shot at capturing the ceremony.

Luckily for you, over my many years of shooting weddings in a variety of environments, I’ve learned a lot of lessons that I’m going to pass down for free. There are a lot of challenges to shooting a wedding ceremony that are perfectly predictable. With proper preparation, you can worry less about screwing up and focus on making it great.

Be Ready for Game Time: Batteries Charged, Everything on Hand

When it comes to photographing a wedding ceremony, the last thing you want is for your camera battery to die right before the first kiss. One of the biggest tips I can give you is to make sure you’re ready to go and prepared to shoot continuously for the length of the ceremony. Make sure your batteries are charged, you have enough space on your memory card, and you have all the lenses you need on hand (or body.)

While you may have a camera bag full of all of your favorite gear for doing all the creative things, find a way to put everything you need for a wedding ceremony on your body. Embrace the fanny back or cargo pants or harness and have spare batteries in your pockets in addition to changing your battery right before the ceremony starts. If possible, get a bigger memory card and a camera with dual card slots so that you don’t have to worry about memory at all.

If you plan to shoot multiple lenses during the ceremony, have them on you and practice switching lenses quickly and efficiently. Better yet, shoot two cameras during the ceremony. The ceremony may not be non-stop action but you don’t want to miss an important once-in-a-lifetime moment because you were running back to your camera bag.

Double Up: Shoot Two Cameras and/or Utilize Two Photographers

As I alluded to above, shooting two cameras during the ceremony allows you to have multiple lenses on and ready to go. That will allow you to get those wide scene-setting shots as well as the tight intimate ones. You could also use a zoom lens for this purpose if you promise to be intentional about your focal length (I won’t get into the prime versus zoom debate right now, we don’t have time because the ceremony is about to begin.)

The ceremony is a nice time to utilize a second shooter because it can take a lot of the stress off of getting the key shots. Knowing that someone else is getting a reliable classic first kiss photograph from the center aisle allows another photographer to try something more creative. Having one photographer focus on the bride walking down the aisle frees the other photographer up to capture the groom’s face as he sees her.

Ideally, you can capture all of the important moments and you can also have some variety in the gallery that you deliver. Multitasking is hard, and trying to do too much can cause you to fail to do anything well. In the next section, we’ll talk about what the key moments are to capture and how to simplify your shot list so that you can focus on what’s important.

Plan the Important Shots and When You’re Going to Get Them

Ceremonies vary somewhat and I always ask my couples what they’re most excited about but in general, the key shots are predictable. Feel free to think about this as a shot list but I don’t want you to ever have to reference it, I want you to memorize it. You need to know it inside and out so that you can adjust the order on the fly.

1. Bride walking down the aisle (happens at a set time)
2. Groom seeing the bride walk in (happens at a set time)
3. The bride’s face showing emotions
4. The groom’s face showing emotions
5. The parents or bridal party or VIPs showing emotions
6. A wide shot of the whole ceremony setting
7. Exchanging vows (happens at a set time)
8. Exchanging rings (happens at a set time)
9. First kiss (happens at a set time)
10. The couple exiting (happens at a set time)

For simplicity, I kept the list to 10 key images. Arguably there are more key moments but the more you try to do, the less you will do well. Now, notice that some of the moments happen at a set time while others don’t.

For the moments that happen at a set time, you need to be ready and in position. For the other moments, you need to have a plan for when you’re going to get those shots. For example, if the officiant seems like they’re going to have a lot to say before the vows are exchanged, that can be a great time to knock out a variety of other shots.

Plan Where You’re Going to Be, When, and How

Next, you need to plan where you’re going to be, when you need to be there, and how you’re going to get there. For example, how are you going to go from capturing the parents’ faces to a wide shot from the back? If you plan your movements you’ll ensure you’re in the right spot at the right time.

Stay flexible. If you notice the vows are going really long you might decide you have time to shoot some images of the parents and bridal party. Or, if you notice that the officiant is telling a lot of jokes and you had planned to get a wide shot you might adjust and focus on getting pictures of everyone laughing.

Emotions are hard to predict, you never know when someone might cry or laugh so you need to pay attention to what’s being said and stay on your toes. Have a plan but don’t get married to it. Know the key moments well enough to be able to adapt to a particular situation, which is what the next section is all about.

Be as Patient as Possible and Wait for Moments

Some wedding ceremonies are short and sweet while others are more drawn out. You have to pay attention to what’s happening and try to decide how much time you have. When you get in place for a certain picture there’s an instinct to snap it and move on, but then you might miss an epic moment.

In photojournalism style wedding photography we’re really interested in moments and telling the story of the day. In a wedding ceremony, moments are somewhat predictable but you’ll still have to be patient and wait for the peak of the moment. When during the vows will the bride cry, laugh, or smile?

You need to be patient enough to capture the peak of a moment while also knowing when to move on to capture other important frames. Don’t try to do too much quantity and sacrifice quality, if you get great shots your couple will be consumed with loving the great work you do and they won’t know to miss the shots you didn’t get. And at the same time, there’s an expectation of a certain level of variety you need to achieve.

Don’t Forget About Framing and Composition

When you’re busy snapping your shutter at all the things happening throughout the ceremony, don’t forget about framing and composition. One of the things that makes your work different from all the phone photographers sitting at that same ceremony is your ability to craft an image. Be intentional about your framing and composition.

I love it when you can tell a photographer was intentional about leading lines or rule of thirds or repeat elements. One of my favorites is the simple use of layering such as shooting through something whether it’s the audience or the flowers. At a minimum, choose what to include and what not to include to tell a story.

Emotions might look more impactful if you can frame tight on your subject but you might also be interested in showing the bridal parties’ reactions. Meanwhile, incorporating some of the atmosphere might help communicate the overall vibe of the ceremony. Photographing a ceremony is not just about capturing the key moments, it’s about crafting a story about those moments.

Remind the Officiant to Have Everyone Sit Down

This last tip seems so simple but it’s crucial. If your couple is using a family friend as an officiant, take the time to introduce yourself. Then let them know that the most common thing officiants forget is to ask the guests to sit down at the beginning of the ceremony.

Not only is it awkward for the guests to try to decide when to sit but random sections of the audience standing can negatively impact your ability to take pictures. Sometimes it blocks your angle of certain things entirely, especially in a small space. This goes back to having a plan of where you’re going to be, if the audience doesn’t sit down you’ll have to come up with a new plan really fast.

As a bonus, while you’re talking to the officiant, remind them to tell the family to stick around for family photos after the ceremony if that’s part of your timeline. Nothing blows up a timeline like waiting for one brother who decided to disappear to the bar or bathroom. I almost always recommend doing family photos right after the ceremony because it’s the one time guaranteed to have everyone in one place and minimize tracking people down assuming the family remembers that the photos are happening.

About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.