The Wedding Advice I’d Give You After Photographing Weddings for 13+ Years

Advice from your wedding photographer

After photographing weddings for more than a decade, I have seen a LOT.

Perfectly planned timelines. Timelines that immediately went off the rails. 90-degree ceremonies. Snow. Snow storms. Missing boutonnieres. Missing rings. Ripped dresses. Champagne explosions. Veils with minds of their own. Flower kids who absolutely refused to participate.

And some really, really incredible wedding days.

So if you're planning a wedding in Pittsburgh, here's the advice I wish I could give every couple before their wedding day:

1. The thing that matters most in your photos isn't your decor. It's how you feel.

Hot take: you can spend months worrying about chair covers, napkin colors and whether the signage perfectly matches, and none of those things will affect your wedding photos as much as being present.

If you're relaxed, laughing, hugging your people and genuinely enjoying yourself, your photos will FEEL different.

That's the good stuff.

Your photographer can find beautiful light and guide you into flattering positions, but the photos you're probably going to love most are the ones where you forgot about the camera altogether.

2. Build breathing room into your wedding timeline.

Please don't schedule every five minutes of your wedding day.

Things take longer than you think. Someone disappears to the bathroom. A button breaks. The shuttle gets stuck in Pittsburgh traffic. Your wedding party needs to find their bouquets.

A little breathing room means none of those things become a crisis.

And selfishly, as your photographer? Breathing room gives me time to create instead of just checking boxes.

I'd much rather have 20 relaxed minutes for portraits than 10 frantic ones.

3. You do not need to spend your entire wedding day taking pictures.

Your wedding is not a photoshoot.

Yes, I said it.

Obviously I want incredible wedding photos for you. That's literally my job. But I also want you to attend your own cocktail hour, eat the appetizers you paid for, hug your grandma and have a drink.

Good wedding photography should work around your experience, not consume it.

4. Pick vendors you trust, then actually trust them.

This is one of the biggest differences I notice between stressful wedding days and relaxed ones.

Hire people whose work you love and whose personalities make you feel comfortable. Then let them do what they're good at.

If rain rolls in, we'll figure it out.

If we're running 15 minutes late, we'll adjust.

If the light is absolutely ridiculous in a spot you weren't planning to take photos, I may very enthusiastically drag you outside for five minutes.

You shouldn't have to manage your vendors on your wedding day.

5. Think about light when you're choosing where you get ready.

That adorable Airbnb basement with one tiny window might look great online, but it can be a very different story in photos.

When possible, choose a getting-ready space with windows and natural light. Keep one area relatively clutter-free.

And if the room you're getting ready in isn't ideal? Don't panic. An experienced Pittsburgh wedding photographer should know how to work with what they're given.

6. Give yourself permission to skip traditions you don't care about.

Don't want a bouquet toss? Skip it.

Don't like cake? Get ice cream.

Don't want a giant wedding party? Don't have one.

Want a Pittsburgh cookie table large enough to feed a small municipality?

Obviously I support this decision and will steal a box for the drive home.

Your wedding should feel like the two of you, not like a checklist of Things People Do At Weddings™.

7. When something small goes wrong, let it.

This might be the most important thing on this list.

Something will probably go slightly wrong.

And I promise: some of my favorite wedding photographs have happened because plans changed.

Wind can make a veil look incredible. Rain can make nighttime portraits ridiculously cool. A kid losing it during the ceremony can become everyone's favorite photo.

You have a choice when something unexpected happens: let it become a story, or let it ruin the story.

Choose wisely.

The best wedding photos happen when you're actually enjoying your wedding.

My approach to wedding photography has always been a mix of the two things I think couples need: enough direction that you never wonder, "What do I do with my hands?" and enough freedom that your wedding still feels like a wedding.

We'll make the beautiful portraits.

We'll get the family photos.

And then I want you back with your people.

Because ten or twenty years from now, I don't just want you to remember what your wedding looked like.

I want your photos to remind you exactly how much fun you were having.

If you're looking for a Pittsburgh wedding photographer who loves vibrant color, real moments and keeping wedding days fun instead of turning them into an eight-hour photoshoot, reach out. I'd love to hear what you're planning.