5 Steps for a Meaningful and Photogenic Ceremony

The ceremony is the most important part of all wedding days, it’s the whole reason you’re celebrating, so how can you ensure your ceremony is unique to you and captured the best way possible? Here are 5 invaluable tips to help make sure your ceremony, not only looks amazing but is one of your favourite parts of the day.

1. Unplugged Ceremony

Take it from someone who walked down the aisle to a sea of phones and at one point couldn’t see Trent as some of our guests were leaning into the aisle, blocking my view - it really is worth having your celebrant ask your guests to put down their phones, iPads, cameras and be in the moment. Not only will they be fully engaged and able to enjoy your ceremony, you will be able to see the faces of your guests and we won't have to compete with extra paparazzi, ensuring we can get the shots we need. Honestly, it is just the best when you can capture the real emotion of your guests being fully present and actively participating in the ceremony.

2. Vows

A great tip we heard recently is to read your vows to each other, as oppose to the traditional “repeat-after-me”, where the celebrant says one line and you repeat it after them. Saying your vows in the “repeat-after-me” style, slows down your ceremony and can make the delivery of these very important words feel less personal. There’s no need to memorise your vows, simply reading them to your person will ensure your vows are delivered as meaningfully as you wrote them. We wholeheartedly believe this will make exchanging vows one of the most significant and powerful moments of your relationship. If you want to heighten the emotion or impact of this experience, we recommend writing your vows separately so that both of you hear these words for the first time during the ceremony.

3. Space

Something to consider when deciding on your ceremony location is the amount of space your photographers and videographers will have to move around. The physical space of your ceremony will determine the range of angles and types of photos possible. Having access to the centre aisle, sides and even being able to move around the alter really opens up opportunities to get interesting and intimate shots.

4. Working with your celebrant

We’ve worked with some really amazing celebrants, and a lot of them are already clued onto this, but consider chatting to your celebrant about where they will stand during the ceremony. For the moments in your ceremony where the focus is primarily on the two of you, for example your vows, exchanging rings and the kiss, it’s a nice idea to see if your celebrant is willing to move off to one side. This means that the images of the two of you during these really pivotal moments are just that, photos of the two of you experiencing these moments together. Another bonus tip, is to use a cordless microphone, as mic stands can be distracting and make a scene look cluttered.

5. Confetti

Throwing confetti, petals, rice or whatever you would like to throw always makes for such fun photos. However, it is key to have lots of whatever you are throwing and also to make sure your guests are ready to throw. Asking your celebrant to announce this and prepare your guests just before you walk back down the aisle is a good idea. Most celebrants are already onto this, but the key is to throw confetti upwards rather than at you. Don’t forget to look up, at each other and your guests and smile heaps!

These are just 5 elements of a wedding ceremony that we have found can really help facilitate wonderful ceremony photos and video and can enhance the whole ceremony experience for you and your guests.