Today we’re going to talk about wedding planning. Not wedding planning from the perspective of the happy couple, but wedding planning from the perspective of the wedding photographer. Packing and preparing for shooting a wedding can set you off on the right foot, failing to do so can leave you scrambling.
I’m going to talk through some of the things I’ve learned over more than a decade of shooting weddings. It’s important to be organized, have backups, be charged up, stay informed and on top of the schedule, and have any other survival essentials you might need to get through the day smoothly. As we walk through these aspects of packing and preparing for shooting a wedding, make sure to think through your region, clients, style, and priorities.
What I mean by this is that different photographers might need different things on their list. Where an adventurous photographer might need to dress for the elements, a high end photographer might need to dress to impress. An artistic photographer might need off-camera flash, gels, and other fun gear where an editorial photographer might need a cute hanger for capturing the dress and spare florals for photographing the invitations.
Therefore, keep your specialties in mind as you walk through these tips.
Use a Checklist and Organization Structure
Your wedding photography gear list should be as simple as possible but even so, the list gets long quickly. The best way to be sure you don’t forget anything is to make a checklist. That way when you go to pack for a wedding you can make sure you have everything you might need.
It also helps if everything has a specific home both in your office and in your camera bag or bags. You’re probably going to want a camera bag for everything you need on a wedding day, you’ll want to be able to move quickly and keep up with the pace of the day. You’ll also want an extra bag with stuff you shouldn’t need but might need and we also have a bag with reception-specific gear that we don’t want to carry around all day but can drop at the reception site.
Think of it like packing for a trip, you have different packing cubes for your toiletries and your clothes. The more organized you are the easier it is to ensure you have everything you need. After all, I don’t think the hotel provides spare batteries for your camera, which brings me to the next topic.
Backups, Duplicates, Redundancy
Your packing list should include spares, backups, duplicates, and extras. You should be prepared for dead batteries, full memory cards, dropped lenses, and malfunctioning cameras. Anything that could break that you can’t live without, you need to have an extra of. If you’re on a budget and just getting started, you can have a backup that’s not as high quality as your primary but will be sufficient to get the job done.
We’ve even gone as far as to bring extra shoes and pants when we know we’re going to spend the morning tromping through the snow but then we have to look presentable at a reception. I typically end up bringing a snow or rain jacket but also a more classy one. It’s also important to bring your checklist so that you can make sure you don’t leave anything behind at the wedding when it’s time to pack up at the end of the night.
You’re tired, it’s dark, and you just want to go home, but you grab your flashlight and your checklist and count all your lenses first ensuring you have everything. Luckily, if by some chance you left something behind, that’s ok because all your gear is labeled with your business name and contact information so that the venue can return it to you. The more organized and prepared for anything and everything, the more you can focus on what you’re actually there to do.
Clean and Charge Everything
Plan to pack at least the night before the wedding because you’re going to also want to make sure you clean and charge everything you might need. Better yet, clean and charge after every shoot so that you’re ready to go for the next one. Oh, and you definitely imported and backed up those images so that you know you can format your cards right?
You’ll also want to make sure that chargers make it on your packing list and into one of your bags. You never know exactly how the day is going to go and even if you have a ton of batteries you might want to start charging your dead ones if you find yourself running through them quickly. If you don’t know whether or not they’ll be somewhere you can charge, consider an external battery pack.
Additionally, have lens clothes in strategic places in your camera bag or pockets so you can clean on the fly too.
Wedding Day Details and Timeline
Where are you going again? Who are the clients and what are their priorities? Everything you need to know about the wedding day should be written down, printed out, and put in your camera bag.
We have a standardized wedding day details and timeline worksheet that we complete during a pre-wedding consultation with our clients. It includes the who, what, when, where, and why. That means I can quickly reference the timeline, and the family pictures list, and remind myself of any specific requests from my couple.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of knowing what’s supposed to be happening on the wedding day. You want to be confident and a resource for your clients, look like you know what you’re doing, as well as free up space to focus on creating. Whether it’s what you signed up for or not, wedding photographers are often responsible for keeping the wedding day on time and directing the family for things like family pictures.
Other Survival Essentials
Lastly, it’s important to think about other things you might need. This could mean putting sunscreen on, packing snacks and water, making sure you have comfortable shoes, and anything you might need for the elements such as warm jackets. Oh, and pro tip, have extra stuff (such as snacks or an umbrella) for your clients too because you not only need to be prepared for yourself but for them too.
Let’s dig deeper on a few of these items. Comfortable and supportive shoes are essential especially if you want to have a long career. Wedding photography can be extremely physical as you’re on your feet in awkward positions for a long period of time, you need to protect your body with supportive shoes and good body mechanics like paying attention to the way you squat or hunch.
Snacks are also essential because you might start working at 10am and dinner isn’t served until 7 but the caterer might decide not to serve vendors until 8pm at which point you actually need to be shooting speeches. It’s hard to be creative and friendly when you’re hungry so if you have some snacks you can eat during transition periods and keep yourself from crashing. You also need to stay hydrated but since that’s a hard one with limited bathroom breaks I always make sure to replenish electrolytes at the end of the night.
In Summary
Let’s review how to pack and prepare for shooting a wedding. Hopefully you were able to apply the above sections and adapt them to your specialty. Maybe one of the tips triggered an idea of something you might need, make sure you write that down on your checklist.
1. Use a checklist and organizational structure so that you don’t forget anything
2. Have backups, duplicates, and redundancies built into all your systems
3. Clean and charge everything before the shoot
4. Print out the wedding day details and timeline so that you know what’s going on
5. Be prepared with other survival essentials like snacks, layers, and comfortable shoes
If you follow these steps and show up prepared, you’ll be able to focus on creating rather than scrambling to solve a problem that could have been prevented. Wedding planning doesn’t need to be stressful. Instead, it should simply reduce stress on the wedding day. Happy shooting!
About the author: Brenda Bergreen is a Colorado wedding photographer, videographer, yoga teacher, and writer who works alongside her husband at Bergreen Photography. With their mission and mantra “love. adventurously.” they are dedicated to telling adventurous stories in beautiful places.