10 MUST-HAVE WEDDING PHOTOS WITH LEAH MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY
I have teamed up with the incredible international wedding photographer Leah Marie to give you an insight into the shots every masterpiece wedding gallery should include.
Your final wedding gallery should completely encapsulate the emotion of your entire occasion and enable you to relive those precious moments and discover new ones! Leah’s work and timeless style speaks for itself, her ability to capture a wedding story is so effortless and it’s an honour to showcase some of her work as part of the blog!
WEDDING SETUPS
Style and wedding design is such a huge part of your planning process. I collaborate with all of my clients to curate a wow-factor visual design that is scattered with personal details. Capturing what you spend months pouring over on the day is so important even if it is just to look back at how beautiful your wedding was in years to come! Factoring this into my client’s timeline I always have set-ups ready half an hour before guests will enter, giving photographers and videographers time and space to capture everything.
WOW MOMENTS & THE PARTY
Capturing you and your guests thrive off that epic party you spent months planning is a huge part of a photographer’s role on your wedding day. Providing our suppliers with a full timeline of all those wow-factor moments enables them to be right there to capture them completely authentically as they occur. When you receive your gallery you will also get to see so many incredible moments that were unplanned too! This shot of Leah’s bride on the lilo shot at Cobblers Cove in Barbados is absolutely iconic and was certainly not part of the original plan!
GOLDEN HOUR
When the light becomes so romantic and utterly magical. I always find out where and when the sun sets at your wedding venue (be that in the UK or a destination wedding) and factor this into the timeline, usually making sure there is 15 minutes for my couple to go away and bask in the light without missing out on too much of the party.
WEDDING DETAILS
The finer details of the day can sometimes be some of the most unexpected and beautiful photographs in your final gallery.
SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE DETAIL SHOTS
Food & Drink
Stationery Flatlays (always bring a spare wedding invitation with you)
Shoes, Veil, and Sentimental jewellery
Place Settings
Florals & Bouquets
The dress/es
Venue Details (Statues, Gardens, Water Features)
VEIL SHOTS
These will usually by guided by Leah on the day but your veil adds such etherial beauty to a photo; these shots are a must!
CANDID GUEST SHOTS
Leah is so good at documenting those moments you are part of and the ones you may not even be aware of on your wedding day. Don’t try and be in control of or plan these, trust that your photographer will spontaneously group your friends together throughout the day and move into the perfect position to collect every smile, tear and laugh.
NATURAL GROUP SHOTS
One of my top decisions to make when planning your wedding is to keep the formal photos to a minimum! It is always a huge no no for guests and my couples to be missing out on the whole experience and not to be fully emersed in each and every moment. Placed, emotionless, formal shots are not the photos you will fall in love with and nor will they be the ones you want to hang in your home either. Of course, there are always 7-10 non-negotiable photos that you want to capture, but a brilliant photographer will secure these in an organic way (usually at your drinks reception or prior to the ceremony), and also will be able to direct everyone who is in them in a way that allows the final product to look and feel relaxed.
WEDDING PARTY
Those special photos with your people the morning of your wedding are so important. This is something I do factor some time for and having a second shooter will also help with this the morning of your wedding day, make sure there is time before your wedding ceremony for each of you to have some photos with those closest to you; be this in matching PJ’s on the morning of or/and once you are ready to go!
CHAMPAGNE TOWER & CAKE CUTTING
We are not talking those formal traditional stiff shots, think about having fun with it. If it’s a cake feed it to each other and actually cut it! If it’s a champagne tower pour the champagne really high, drink from the bottle, pick up a glass. I always place the table where this is happening behind a gorgeous backdrop too!
YOU BEING YOU
Couple shots are a given but it is so important to pick a photographer you can be 100% comfortable and yourselves with. If you’re nervous about having your photo taken or being intimate in front of someone else book in an engagement shoot to get used to being in front of the camera. I always facilitate my clients meeting with their top 2 favourite photographers face-to-face before confirming. It is the same when selecting a luxury wedding planner it is so important that you can get along and can be unequivocally be you around them as you will spend a lot of time together.
Schedule in 2/3 15-minute slots to get those all-important portraits together during the downtime in your wedding day schedule. There are always a few opportunities of 15-20 minutes, just after your ceremony, whilst guests are finding their seats, and when the light dapples and the sun begins to set after your wedding breakfast. One of my clients last year actually had their portraits scheduled pre-ceremony so they didn’t miss out on one second of the day, of course, this isn’t for everyone but it worked perfectly for them!
