Wedding Ceremony Photography
Mawwiage mawwiage, mawwiage!
Elopement at Crystal Crescent Beach - read more about permits needed to get married on a beach in Nova Scotia right here.
Yep, when an officiant opened a ceremony with that line during one of the weddings, I thought I peed myself a little. Not only this was the movie to which Tony instroduced me, he also made me (I volunteered as a Tribute!) watch it a few more times. That phrase became one of my favourites from a movie or a show of all-time-ever!
And no, I didn’t pee myself; it was pouring all day and it was an outdoor wedding. It all worked out in the end, as it will for all the weddings. My husband came to my rescue with dry shoes and pants, and my red umbrella came in handy during the photo session. Whether your wedding venue is in Halifax, Nova Scotia, or somewhere exotic, it will all work out. If all goes wrong, but at the end of the day you are married to the love of you life, then it all went without a hitch.
Every ceremony begins a marriage mawwiage. Mawwiage is not the wedding day. But a wedding day begins a lifetime of memories together as one universe. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will go cry a little bit of happy tears as I upload these photos from these days. Days that saw raw emotions, first kisses, nervous jitters, periods and ibuprofens (yeah, getting hit with a period as you’re putting on your wedding dress happens and it’s okay if it does), video streams, reunions and new beginnings — first encounters, new relationships formed and new lives brought into this world long after the day is over.
Can you tell I really, really love weddings?
Harbour Mist Wedding Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony Photography…
…is different from wedding day photography. So when you’re looking for a wedding photographer you may notice that not all photographers actually have photos of wedding ceremonies, where they should be prominently displayed for all to see. There are multiple reasons for why some photographers don’t have photos of the ceremonies — some photographers only worked as second photographers or assistants and their job was to focus on guests, so they don’t have photos of the actual ceremony. Some photographers have never photographed a real wedding — as beautiful as staged collaborated weddings are if all you see on a site are posed photos of a beautiful couple with a couple of beautiful dinner plates set in the background and the couple is never actually seen kissing - that’s basically a giveaway that a photographer has limited experience in photographing ceremonies. You can always re-gather the family for formal portraits, (yes, even after everyone had a few drinks, lol) but you can’t get back your ceremony moments.
Some ceremonies are 15 minutes long, some are 45. Some first kisses last half a second, and some way longer than that. When you think about your wedding ceremony photography, there are some things to consider that might actually help you get the photographs you want. Thing #1 is — don’t stress out and get married!
It is your photographer’s job to know everything there is to know about how to preserve your memories for you. It’s their job to remind you to hold the kiss at the altar because the first kiss photo is the most important photograph on your list. It’s their job to have an endless arsenal of the worst dad jokes possible to make even the worst “I don’t like being photographed” offenders melt a bit and crack a smile — but like a genuine smile, not the one you get with “say cheese-sushi” line.
Sadie Belle Farm Wedding Ceremony
So yeah, wedding ceremony photography is pretty important. So many unpredictable things happen and over the years I’ve learned how to slow down and turn even a 10-minute wedding ceremony seem like it’s lasting like infinity. I suppose I got crazy ninja skills this way, cause slowing down time is quite a useful accomplishment, if you may agree? It’s true though — I am sure you heard of “being in the zone” and photographing wedding ceremonies puts me in one. Of course, I enter the zone the moment I arrive at any wedding, but the ceremony is where I truly see the magic happening. So when you’re witnessing magic of two people in love committing to spending the rest of their lives together, it does seem like time slows down.
When you find a photographer whose work you like, but don’t see any actual ceremonies, it’s time to ask some questions. Like — did you know that pickles are just very salty cucumbers? Also, do you have full wedding galleries we can see to see an example of what we will receive for our hard-earned money?
Happy Planning!
