The one thing that I can’t stand in this industry is all the negative talk about wedding days – “Your wedding day is going to fly by so fast you won’t even remember it”, or “Your wedding day is going to be so stressful”, “Family photos are THE worst”, etc. I am a firm believer that yes, while those things CAN be stressful they most certainly don’t have to be. After doing around 80 weddings the past couple of years, there are certain things that I think are key in at-least setting yourself up for a seamless wedding day. If you are planning a wedding I hope this encourages you and makes you feel ready for your wedding day.

1. Marriage is what we’re here for. If you stay focused on the purpose of the day – to marry the love of your life – a lot of the little stressors won’t even matter. When you look back in 25 years, the fact that the tablecloths weren’t ironed perfectly, or if your bustle lost a button – they just won’t matter. What matters is that you became husband and wife and started on the most grand adventure ever – marriage.

2. Add wiggle room in your timeline. All of the #rosiecouples out there know my secret – break up the majority of the day in 15 minute increments, even if you know it will only take 10 minutes. Having wiggle room in your timeline CHANGES THE GAME. Even if things happen that initially set us behind like your hair running late or your dad forgetting his tie – you’ll catch back up because of that wiggle room. This is a huge reason why we help all of our couples plan their wedding day timeline. It’s just one more way that we can serve them and help give them the best day of experience. Which leads me into my next point…

3. Trust your photographer. More than likely, your photographer has years of experience running a wedding day. My brain literally works in triple speed day-of, always evaluating the time, who is where, how we can compensate for lost time, etc. I’ve trained my brain to be able to easily solve problems on the spot and that’s what we’re here for. BUT, trusting your photographer goes beyond just the timeline, it’s trusting them with every aspect. Family photo time is another part of the day that easily becomes a huge stressor. But IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE. We work with all of our couples ahead of time to make a family photo list that includes all the combinations they want. Then in the moment we encourage our couples to just let us take control, organize everyone, and take the photo.

4. Just have fun. It’s one day. All your friends + family are there to support you. Your hype-girl photographer is there cheering you on. It’s going to be the best day ever no matter what happens.

Xoxox,

Lydia Bea

P.S. *Disclaimer – I am not guaranteeing that your wedding day will be seamless if you do these things, a lot of it comes down to in the moment choices to just roll with the things that came up or get really stressed by them.* 

Photographing in the winter used to FREAK ME OUT. I used to struggle a lot with editing winter skin tones, exposing for the snow, and making the images not look dull. Every year I seem to do more and more winter sessions and I think this year I actually fell in love with it 🙊 . I wanted to share with a few easy things that I have starting doing to improve my winter photography sessions. I hope these help you feel just a little more confident during your next session! 

Neutral colors save lives. 

No, really, they do. Having your models wear neutral colors makes the editing process wayyy easier and helps to make their skin tone more flattering. I help all of my couples plan their outfits and this is my top recommendation ALL THE TIME, but especially so in the winter!

Take advantage of the WHITE snow to set your white balance. 

Most likely when you started learning photography, your mentor/educator had you carry around a white card to learn how to set your white balance. Our eyes quickly catch whether something is a pure white or not and snow makes this SO DANG EASY. No more hauling around a white card because you’ve got endless white around you! If the snow is perfectly white in your photos, that means your white balance is correct! This will really help your editing time as well! I have found that I edit winter sessions WAY faster than anything else because the white of the snow is so simple and it is easy to tell if I have distorted the colors.

Include movement in your poses.

Have your models do a variety of poses that include some movement. When I am shooting in the winter I try to do a combination of up close, “fine art” photos and then mix it up with movement such as; piggy back rides, running in the snow, or dip kisses. This helps them stay a little warmer for a little bit longer!

HAIR LIGHT CHANGES THE GAME.

If at all possible, try to schedule a day when the sun is out. The sun popping through and creating hair light adds SO MUCH to the photos. During Jon & Meghan’s engagement session I think I screamed “THIS LIGHT” about every 5 seconds because I couldn’t even take in how perfectly dreamy it was. I know in North Western PA we rarely see the sun –  but if you’re lucky enough to have a photo session on a sunny day, take advantage of all that hair light to add warmth and a dreamy dynamic to your photos.

I really truly believe it’s these few little things that I have made a habit during my snowy winter sessions that have made me absolutely fall in love with them! I hope these few tips help you feel more confident during your next session!

Xoxo,

Lydia Bea