How does Bella Lumiere Photography prepare for your upcoming wedding day?

 

Step One: The Consultation

For us, the wedding day preparation begins long before the week of your wedding.  Our first step is to get to know more about you and your wedding plans.  If you and your fiancé live around the Wilmington, NC area, we want to meet you in person.  So please come hang out with us at Starbucks or eat lunch with us at CAM Cafe, and tell us all about your wedding photography wishes and needs!  If you don’t live close by, no problem.  We can plan a convenient time to chat over a phone call or video call.  We use Zoom or Google Meet.

 

By now, you have had a chance to look at our website. One of the biggest things we want to know is how you want your finished photos to look and feel. Our style is romantic, timeless, light, and bright with a splash of airiness for a dreamy quality.  So if you are looking for a darker more moody editing style, we probably aren’t the wedding photographers for you.  We want to make sure we’re a great fit and learn how we can best serve you throughout your wedding day.

Details, details, details…

You probably won’t have every wedding day detail ironed out until the month or so before your wedding.  And that is okay!  That’s why we ask questions. Do you like a lot of candid photos?  Do you want “getting ready” photos? What are your wedding colors?  Will you have bridesmaids and groomsmen?  What wedding venue(s) are you using for the ceremony and reception?  During our chat, we will try to bring to your attention things that you may not have thought about as well.  Know this information helps us to plan for your wedding specifically.

Step Two: Communication

Our second step in our wedding day preparation is to keep great communication with you and your fiancé.  Plans change; it’s part of the wedding planning process.  You are encouraged to text, call, or to email us with any thoughts, questions, or suggestions. Communication is key in making your dreams and visions of your big day become reality.

 

Step Three: The Questionnaire

Our third step in our wedding day preparation is to send out a detailed questionnaire 45-60 days out from your wedding.  By this time, most details are ironed out.  So take time to answer each question as thoroughly as possible.  On this questionnaire, we will ask for a list of every vendor that you will be using to make your wedding vision come together.  We ask this for two reasons.

 

First, we believe in being neighborly.  We are there to take photos of every aspect of your day.  That means that we will be photographing your wedding cake, your rings, the flowers, your dress, the venue, etc.  Those photos are great for your album but there are also other vendors that would like to have photos of what they contributed to your wedding as well.  By sharing a copy of those photos with your vendors, they have examples of their accomplishments to show other potential couples.

 

And second, we submit each of our weddings to various publications, like magazines or online blogs.  Being published is a dream of ours!  And how cool would it be to see your wedding published?!?  Imagine sharing that on social media!!

 

Step Four: Wedding Day Timeline

The fourth step in our wedding day preparation is to help you put together your wedding day timeline. This is an itinerary for the day’s activities.  Having your timeline is very handy for us.  We know where to be and when.  We also know what gear we need to bring based off of the previous conversation(s) and your timeline. Also just a small photographer’s tip: if you didn’t hire a wedding planner or day of coordinator, we will use your timeline to help move you along throughout the day so you don’t get behind schedule.  For example, if you chose to have a ceremony just before sunset, we don’t want you to get behind so your ceremony is in the dark.

 

Step Five: Your Rehearsal

The fifth step in our wedding day preparation is to attend your rehearsal.  We listen and take notes during your rehearsal.  Knowing the ceremony flow and what to expect when allows us to plan the logistics so that we don’t miss anything. During your rehearsal, we have the opportunity to check lighting, distance, focus, background, etc.  That way we make sure that we’re in the right place at the right time for that perfect shot.  If there are any photography questions, we can address them during the rehearsal.   Attending the rehearsal, although not required, helps everything flow as smoothly as possible on the day of the wedding.  And don’t forget, we are always available after the rehearsal if small changes need to be made.

 

Step Six: Gear Prep

The sixth step in our wedding day preparation is all about gear prep!  As soon as we get home from your rehearsal, we will begin preparing the gear for your wedding day.  This means that we charge all batteries, empty all SD cards, clean all lenses and camera bodies.  Then we pack our bags for the next day.  Knowing what to expect at your wedding helps us to pack exactly what we need to capture every aspect of your wedding.

 

Final Thoughts

Fast forward to your wedding day.  You can rest assured that we are capturing all of the magic for you, so don’t worry.  So go, enjoy your wedding day.  Bask in all that ‘being a bride on her wedding day’ has to offer!  We will capture each romantic glance, every tear shed in happiness, and the sweet interaction between you two as you say your vows.  By the end of the day, the true essence of your wedding day will be in visual story form.

 

You’re not going to remember every little detail of your wedding day five years from now. So those photos that we capture are what will jog your memory and help you to relive that exciting moment again.  Each Bella Lumiere Photography wedding includes 2 photographers, one dedicated to the bride and one dedicated to the groom.  There will be a lot of things happening throughout the day that you will not be able to see or experience because you are getting ready.  Two photographers can capture double the coverage to give you a chance to see “the rest of the story” and to make sure that every special moment is captured.  We look for the best angles for moments like the first look, the giveaway, the exchange of the rings, the big kiss – big moments that without multiple photographers could not be captured with as much confidence.

 

Hopefully by sharing with you how we prepare for your wedding day, you can see that we aren’t like every other wedding photography studio. We genuinely care about each  of our couples.  And we hope their wedding day is preserved in a memorable form that will bring smiles for years to come. Each photo is memory making at its best and we want you to feel proud of your wedding photos and video at the end of the day.

 

If you have any questions about our wedding photography or to book your wedding with Bella Lumiere Photography, please contact us.