As far as inspiration for your wedding photographs goes, to my mind there are two parts to this issue:
- Where do you find inspiration?
- Where do I find inspiration?
Now, as far as your inspiration goes, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the hundreds and thousands of bridal websites available for you to peruse. I am on all the socials (although I don’t keep up with it my social media as much as I should) and I follow lots of bridal magazines and other wedding related folk, which means my feed is constantly filled with ideas and inspiration from all over the world. People still attend wedding fairs, particularly if there is one being held at a wedding reception venue of choice, and there are huge wedding shows now being held across the country throughout the year. All of this, along with Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, magazines, forums and multiple to-do lists means that sometimes, if anything, there is TOO MUCH information and choice available….for absolutely everything wedding related! You will find that you have flurries of activity every few weeks or months when you are planning your big day, so although everything might seem overwhelming at times, make a simple list of your priorities and deal with one element at a time.
For your photographs, you obviously need to choose your wedding photographer first and foremost on whether you like the photographs shown online, but make appointments to meet with people and look through some actual books so that you can see coverage of full weddings, actually printed out on photographic paper (which is how photographs are meant to be seen). I personally am happy to take special requests; some people do like to send me links to images on pinterest or on the email or whatsapp, which is fine as a guide as to what you might like….but please bear in mind that if, for example, you send me an image with a bride sat on a groom’s lap laughing naturally, then you actually have to make that happen in order for me to capture it! It is absolutely fine for you to request something quirky, like having the groomsmen jumping off a wall or wanting to incorporate some props into your photos, but please trust in your photographer and give them some freedom (and of course time) to do what they do best too. Which brings me on nicely to point number 2….where do I find inspiration? (see Part 2, coming next week)