FR Academy Wedding Seminar
Timeline for Wedding Day! Timeline is hugely important – it will determine whether or not we can make the most stunning art of your day! These are general guidelines – you are always welcome to chat with our staff or your Artist to go over specifics for your day.
Getting Ready Art We begin a minimum of one hour before the ceremony – that doesn’t leave much time for getting ready. Want Getting ready? -Recommend: 30-45 minutes with the guys 45-60 minutes with the girls *If you have audio recording, we will need more time Why would I want getting ready Photos? • so much anticipation and excitement before the wedding, we want to capture that for you. • Special moments with those closest to you • It’s the only time of the day when you aren’t with your future hubby/wife – fun to have a window into what the other was doing • Great time for us to make art!
Capturing details while they are shiny and new!
Soft, emotional moments during getting ready happen naturally – we love being there to catch them!
Moments with parents (or grandparents) can be very special – and make great heirlooms to pass on to future generations!
First Look Why First Look? • Powerful moment that you can control • Gives more time and Flexibility Plan at least 30 minutes for this (more if you tend to run late) Plan who & Where -Make sure people know if you do or don’t want them there. If you want something private, communicate that to your wedding party & family ahead of time. Give them their next marching orders for after you leave – usually gather stuff and meet somewhere for transportation to next event (photo shoot location or ceremony most likely) Location – Stumped for a location? Ask your artist or FR staff – we love to help plan these to run smoothly! After the Look -Photo Shoot or Ceremony? DON’T FORGET TO ACCOUNT FOR TRANSIT TIMES! -look up normal travel times, account for time of day, season & traffic or events -Be at the church a minimum of 30 minutes before ceremony!
First looks are an opportunity for art – if enough time is scheduled in!
Don’t forget about the opportunity for first looks with parents, grandparents or other VIP in your life – very powerful!
FamilyFormals
Options: -Before ceremony (if you are doing 1st look) -After Ceremony BIGGEST KEY: TELLING YOUR FAMily to be there!!
Hunting down missing people is the #1 biggest stressor during this time and can extend this process out way longer than it needs to be! Nominate a member from each family to be the wrangler – reminding people not to leave and keeping them there.
Plan for about 30 minutes – depending on size of your list & family Make a list beforehand - Starting with biggest family groups (or any groups with kids) is best. Include any small groups – want a shot of just you and your mom for example
Light – Our First Love -Best Light of the day – Hour before and during Sunset! • look up sunset time on your day – don’t schedule toasts, dances, cake cutting during that time. Having cocktails or dinner scheduled is great! Your team will keep an eye on light and will ask to pull you when the time is right -Worst light of the day – midday • Not the best time for photo shoot in direct sun – go over locations with your artist if this timeframe is your only option
Your Artist will be able to find locations that are beautiful if mid-day is all you have to work with!
We love the blue sky just after sunset too!
Your Artist will be able to help find locations with great shade that adds to the art!
Sunset! Sunset! Sunset!
The end of sunset can also be epic – just depends on your day!
8:00 11:00 12:00 12:45 3:00 4:15 6:00 7:15 8:30
Hair Makeup Lunch Get Dressed Ceremony Photos Cocktails Dinner Dance
Sample Timeline
DON’T FORGET: • Plan in time for eating • Plan in time for transit – getting from place to place isn’t just drive time – packing stuff, getting to transportation, on and off…with a lot of people (family? Wedding Party?) Can take longer than expected and can be stresseful • Dinner will always take longer than you think – expect it and it will be a bonus if things wrap on time • We don’t need a big chunk of time for photos – we can do amazing things with little bits of time scattered throughout the day – 10-30 minutes here and there can accomplish a lot!
Variances & Notes Things to think about: - First Look before ceremony - Family Group photos before ceremony - Schedule your events, but leave buffers for enjoyment and experience - No stress – this will all happen - Don’t forget to laugh and be in the day - Keep calm and marry on
Wedding Day Worksheet • This sheet is Our Master Guide – if it’s missing or incomplete we don’t know when to be where! Can not stress the importance of this enough!!!! • Vendors – we love to share images with your very talented vendors – tell us who you are working with so we can showcase their work! • Blog – Telling Your Story! The details in the WDW will give us a foundation for writing a blog post to tell the world about your wedding (and we even submit weddings to publications sometimes when there is a solid story that matches a magazine or blogs target audience!) • Mark your calendar • 30 days before your wedding – Worksheet due to FR (to kelly) • 1-2 weeks before the wedding – go over worksheet with artist!
The Engagement Session Why should we do an engagement session? -great practice -develop relationship w/Artist -beautiful art of you ”in real life” Where and when will we have our session? -anytime between now & the wedding -we can help plan locations – some people have ideas and some people have no clue! How should we prepare? -general grooming – drink water, use lip balm, hair cut, shave, etc. -pick outfit – do it together so you look like you are going on the same kind of date.
The Engagement Session What should we wear? -should coordinate without being exact matches -be yourself – don’t wear a dress if you never do. What happens after the session? -Facebook peek goes up -production happens -send gallery to see proofs -set up appointment -heirlooms in hand 4-6 weeks later! Is it too late to book an engagement session with our photographer? -NO WAY! Contact us to set one up!
Any season – winter can be beautiful! With the sun setting early, lots of opportunities for nighttime sparkles.
Your venue can be a great spot for an engagement session - we took these guys around the exterior of the Pritzlaff!
Looking Good: Wardrobe Bridesmaids Dress Selection -Consider letting maids pick own dresses – w/parameters -Designer, Fabric OR Color Hint: pick up paint samples of your colors & mail them to girls who are out of town so all the dresses are a good match! -Dress cuts : Different cuts for different bodies look good -Bouquets : Use your bouquet design to tie color palatte together Groom & Groomsmen: -Whenever possible, buy a suit and have it tailored (even if it is just the groom) it makes a huge difference!
Looking Good: Wardrobe
These girls all chose long blue dresses! Stunning.
Looking Good: Wardrobe
This whole wedding party did gray & silver shades
Looking Good: Wardrobe Dress for the Weather The Cold -Brides Consider a jacket, stole, pashmina, or bolero that coordinates with your wedding gown to keep you warm for outdoor photos
-Bridesmaids (Gifts!) Pashminas and/or mittens in a coordinating color make great bridesmaids gifts and keep them feeling comfortable and fresh during photos and throughout the day
Looking Good: Wardrobe Dress for the weather The Feet -Distance -Cold or Rain -If you will be walking for photos, have your bridesmaids bring a pair of ballet flats or fun sneakers. Or boots if it is snowy or rainy. -keep their feet comfortable and their fancy shoes clean until it’s time for group pictures
Looking Good: Posing Body Language Great body language for women - creates length - creates space - emphasizes curves - looks relaxed: Tension is the enemy!
Looking Good: Body Language
- Relax! Tension is the enemy
- Turn slightly to one side and put your weight on your back leg - Straighten up through the middle of your back, lean forward by bending at the waist - Twisting the upper and lower body away from each other emphasizes your waistline - Put a little air in your armpits, and press your elbow back, not out.
- Don’t lock your knees or elbows, gently soften your joints (especially when holding your bouquet)
- Create space under the chin - Pretend you are softly blowing out a birthday candle on a cupcake held just in front of your face
- Don’t Slouch and turn to the side to create angles
- Turning head and shoulders slightly can make a big difference - Try not to be totally square to the camera
- Being square to the wall and leaning against it makes you look squared off
- Pushing you butt to the wall, bringing arm up to an create an angle and popping your knee slightly creates beautiful angles!
- Relax your hands – ballet hands – use your veil or dress to have fun!
Looking Good: Body Language Body language for couples - Lean in - Connect at the hips - Lose the bouquet - Use your hands - Express Yourself! Make it real - Mr. Ed – Shake out your lips if you feel our face muscles start to get sore!
Sorting & Editing
- Why Don’t I want every image? •
You have a life. Picking art to create heirlooms is hard enough. Going through thousands of images can be discouraging and can lead you to give up on making heirlooms with your art.
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Our production team is skilled in selecting the best composition, technical image with the best expressions – leaving you with a couple options of each image – and that is manageable! It’s a big part of our service to you!
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There are images you never want to see – ones where you are talking, eyes half closed – and look silly. To make sure only images of you looking amazing get out into the world, we do that part for you! (Guaranteeing no relatives will think some bad picture from wedding day is funny. They won’t have a chance to post that to Facebook.)
Sorting & Editing
Taking time to compare images side by side that are nearly identical is tedious and time consuming!
Sorting & Editing
Then you have to go in really close – is the image in focus? Are my eyes closed? Are his? Our production staff takes care of all of that for you!
Sorting & Editing What happens to the rejected images? • We keep the rejected images. If you feel something is missing, let us know and we can always go back in and look. We want you happy with your final collection! What if an image is presented in B&W? Can It be in color? • Usually there is a reason if our team made something black and white – second version of an image already in color, distracting background or technical reason. • You can get up to 5 images converted from B&W to color at no charge. What is Raw? Editing? Retouching? Raw – Images as they come out of our cameras. Completely untouched. Edited – color corrected and made pretty for your USB drive & Online Gallery. Retouching – Taking a favorite image to it’s fullest potential. Thnk of what magazines do for celebrities. Color is made vibrant. Skin and hair smoothed. Blemishes removed. Distracting items removed. Special requests handled.
Retouched
Raw
Edited
Retouched
Production
Timeline
• Day of Wedding: Instagram Sneak Peek • Night of Wedding: Collection Downloaded & Backed Up • 1-2 Weeks After the Wedding: Official Facebook peek • Following Weeks (6-10): Production Process • Reveal – midway between wedding and final collection being delivered! • Heirloom Creation Meeting: 2-4 weeks after the Reveal • Prints & Product Heirlooms – in hand about 6 weeks later • Heirloom Book/Album – Initial layout complete about 4 weeks later Final album delivery average 12 months
Heirlooms Quality Products – all of our heirloom products have the below qualities. Helping them to stand the test of time and make them worth the investment. * Archival * Materials * Creativity The Lab Makes The Difference : we use professional labs with people who do this for a living – not high school students on their part time job Heirloom Creation Appointment • Fill out a worksheet before your appointment. So we know your goals. • Not everything you’ll do with your art needs to be done with that level of quality. Some things are worth it. There are tons of options! We’re here to help! • 10% off when scheduled within 30 days of receiving your online gallery! • We can customize payment plans too! Registry! • register for print or album credit so you have gift money to use toward heirlooms! Family & friends loving gifting legacy pieces – will last much longer and be much more special than another toaster!
Awesome-ness you might not know about… FRONT ROOM FOR LIFE! We want a relationship with you beyond wedding day – we want to see you in the years to come and document your family! FR Wedding Gift to You – A Portrait Session! • Come back for maternity, newyborn or an anniversary session on us! (Prints, products, files are available a la carte.) Charity Days • We offer mini-sessions a few times a year – great for documenting kids and pets at a discounted rate. (Session fees start at $15! And all prints & products are discounted too!) • Keep an eye on your email and our facebook page for announcements!
Questions?
Contact info@frphoto.com if you have questions you’d like addressed! Remember you can always set up an appointment with your artist or the FR experience Staff is here to help!