Posing the Bride and Groom

Aim to shoot the Bride and Groom alone, well removed from any possibility of interference. Once the main groupings are satisfied that all expected and arranged shots are covered, take the Bride and Groom aside for some shots alone, get rid of the rest of the groups!

You must now encourage the the rest of the group to leave for the hotel or reception venue. This allows you time alone with the couple, an important opportunity, it will help them unwind away from the pressure of onlookers, this will encourage more informal and relaxed cooperation from the couple.

The Bride and Groom are your First Priority.

Remember it is the Bride and Groom who matter most, who pays your bill, yes the bride and groom!

Ensure that you have a good repertoire of poses, which you can promptly and effectively arrange. These shots should include around a dozen or so of the bride alone and the equivalent amount of the bride and groom together. When posing the couple it can be advantageous to ask them to turn their heads away for a few seconds, then on your signal to resume the original pose. Using this approach will almost aways give you a more natural looking shot.

When arranging these shots you should be mindful of the following details. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, choice of backdrops, avoid cable poles, headstones, lamps, and especially motorcars they are always distracting in a shot, unless of course its the wedding cars!

The sky, or at least masses of it is very distracting, and avoid too many brightly coloured blooms. The best background to use is green and bushy with no sky showing; achieving this will send the viewers eyes straight to where they shoud be, that is on the couple.

At all times I advise demonstrating to the bride and groom how you want them to pose, then request that they relax for a instant and then resume the pose.

Ask the bride to gently close her eyes just before you take the shot , now ask the bride to open her eyes, you will usually find that if you are quick in taking the shot just after she opens her eyes, you will capture a natural looking pose.

Always tell the couple that it is important that they feel at ease, it will show in the shots if they do not, so always ask them!

I find it helpul to physically position the bride and groom just the way I want. However some individuals may not be relaxed about this approach and you must always check first.

Always Keep the Bride and Groom to the Front

The only exception to this is when using steps to compose very big groups, here you can place them at the top.

Another potential problem with the Bride and Groom is height conflict.

One way of getting round this is to place the shortest closest to the camera and use a lower angle to shoot from. This technique, in the Bride's case, will not be needed too frequently; society readily accepts that on average females are smaller than males. Nevertheless you may encounter, as I once did, a couple where the Bride was taller and had specifically asked to be made to look smaller, even if it meant posing her hubby on a box. You must always be prepared!

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