Your wedding day surely will be one of the most valuable and happiest days of your life. Being creative will make it even more fun.

What is pre wedding photo shoot and why are couples keen about having one before the D-date? Is it just to have photos for a bill board or in cards and gift items?

Well, I think pre-wedding photo shoot, just as it sounds, is a photo session where pictures of the couple are taken before the actual wedding…LOL!! You definitely know this. It’s a way to show the world whom the bride or groom has chosen to spend the rest of his/her life. Whom have you chosen?? *wink*

Having a unique and creative photo provides a real opportunity to get your friends or guests excited about your wedding day. It can also be a clever way to announce your wedding dates to loved ones.

The pre-wedding “save the date” photos below might have old dates. However, they cannot go out of trend and can be recreated. Which is your favourite? Xo..

1). AWWW!!..This is so cute but not with a permanent marker. LOL!!

Photo: TBD

2). Yess!!  The excitement is real.

Photo: Fotos by Fola

3). I will stand by you..Very artistic.

Photo: Tayo’s Creation.

4). Two can play the game. What a creative way to disclose wedding date.

Photo: Lizzy O. Photography

5).Like I said earlier, some photo indicate past wedding dates but this post is focused on the style of how you can let guests know about your wedding date. We all know this couple, Ubi Frankyln and Lilian Usoro. Although media has it that they ‘re having marital issues, it doesn’t stop us from acknowledging how cute this pre-wedding photo is. Hopefully they sort out their differences.

Ubi Frankyln and Lilian Esoro.

Photo: Prince Meyson Photography

6). A throw pillow fight symbolises friendship.. this is definitely cute.

Photo: Mayonikks

7).  What God has joined together, no man should put asunder. Endless love.

Photo: Ben Komolafe Photography

8). Sweating it out for the wedding.. LOL!

Photo: Adebayo Deru Photography.

9). Love and Basketball. I don’t know why but this made my heart melt.

Photo: TBD

10). Bound together by Love.

Photo: Okolie Kenneth Photography.

11) Show off your socks

Photo: Wale Ariztos

12) Let a special 3rd party share the moment

Photo: Jide Akinyemi Photography

13) An artistic Henna Tattoo

Photo: @nehasmehandiart

A photographer’s style is tied to things like how he or she uses lighting, composition and story telling which the average bride or groom doesn’t want to get bogged down with.

Have no fear however, I’ll do my best to walk you through everything.

Don’t choose your photographer assuming we all have the same style

There are different wedding photography styles around us today.

No matter what style of photographer you run into, you will find that we can be lumped into two broad categories. Some folks shoot posed and highly stylized photos. Others shoot trying to pay attention to the natural flow of events of the day.

Most of us nowadays belong to the second class even though you will find that a good number of photographers strive for a healthy balance between posed and candid photographs.

Neither style is better than the other. It all depends on what you consider to be a good photograph.

How do you know what makes a good photo?

Story telling

If you and your photographer both have the same idea of story telling, then you’ll both agree on what is important in the ceremony and where to take the picture from.

Lady Diana and Sir Christopher were a couple I photographed in Lagos back in 2012 (not their real names). They chose Ayede Film and Photography for some interesting reasons. The conversation with Lady Diana went something like this:

“Mr Ayede… You and Sever know that even though we are going to be the centre of attention on the day, you understand that the wedding is not just about the two of us”

Sever is my brother and business partner. He is the talented video editor who put up the wedding videos we have on our website.

Looking through some of our previous work, Lady Diana continued:

“I like that double spread photo of the two sisters. Please make sure that when Christopher is prostrating you capture it the same way o!”

Christopher (her fiancé at the time; now husband) is from the Caribbean and they were heading back to their home overseas after the wedding.

We understood that all our footage was going to be a nice cultural reference point for their kids in the future and their friends abroad. Because of this we laid emphasis on the uniquely Yoruba parts of the ceremony as well as the Caribbean gifts of coconuts, Bananas and rum.

We paid attention to the gift handing of the bible because they were both proudly Christian. Diana would later find one of her favourite images in the shot we had of them both holding the bible as Christopher got ready for the exchange of rings.

Because we both had the same idea of what makes a good story, they had no problems with the parts of the day we thought were important and they had no problems with where we chose to capture the photographs and the video from and the parts of the day we chose to emphasize.

Lighting

Have a look at the photographer’s portfolio and see how they either light the scene, or how they use what light is available. Some photographers shoot everything really bright and white. Other photographers like to shoot using some shadow.

Composition

This is how each photograph is set up. The term refers to the kind of angles and perspectives or point of view that the photographer uses. Some photographers make you feel like you are right there in the moment. Others take a picture as a record to show who was there, and what happened.

The way forward

Marvelous Mummy (not her real name) was a wonderful lady I met at the Wed Expo in Abuja in March of 2015. She didn’t want to look at our portfolio at the stand. She seemed taken in because we looked like well spoken fellows.

“Don’t worry my son. As I have seen you I know that you will not disappoint us. I will tell Chika. We will use you.”

I was flattered that Marvelous Mummy thought highly of us. Mummy thinks its good enough that we are legit, but we’d like to make sure that Chika likes our photography and video style because that is important to us.

When Chika gets back into the country, we’ll be sure to schedule a consultation session where she can come in to the office and have a look at our portfolio and sample albums.

The important things to look out for

Don’t worry about what tools the photographer and video crew use.

Some photographers love film (the analogue or old school tech) and quite a lot of us shoot digital.

All our digital equipment have fancy names likes DSLR (what some Nigerians call pro camera), MILC (which look like small “point and shoot” cameras but have very large sensors and because of that they take some good photos) and a very small number of us use SLT cameras (they look like a DSLR but have some changes made to the mirrors inside the camera).

Focus on the photographer’s portfolio or body of work in front of you. Don’t worry about the tools we use. I started off using a DSLR and I now shoot with an SLT. Who knows what I’ll use tomorrow?

Information overload? The simple test

Some of the photographers and bloggers I love have come up with a simple test if you find all this talk about style, story telling, composition and lighting confusing.

Test one – do you like the photos and do they make you feel happy?

Test two – do you like the photographer and does he make you happy?

To answer these questions you are going to have to do either of a few things (a) sit down for a consultation with your photographer (b) have a chat with him or her over the phone if you aren’t in the same city (c) ask to see their portfolio, sample work, online gallery or anything that can give you a sense of the full breadth of their work and what the photographer is capable of.

No regrets

Good luck with all the planning ahead of you.

Make the best choices you can when selecting wedding vendors. Have no regrets and commit to enjoying yourself silly on your wedding day.

Do all of these because you and your spouse have the best part to look forward to; building a wonderful marriage together.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ayede Film & Photography

The wedding day was beautiful and everything’s now over. It’s all done and it’s probably the Sunday or Monday morning after.

Apart from close friends and family, pretty much everyone is on a plane or a bus back home. It’s only been 24 to 48 hours since the reception but folks are already asking

“what about the pictures? When do we get to see them?”

And then it dawns on you, you never really cared to ask the photographer what next after the wedding. Sure he gave you a delivery date for the album, but there are a few things in between that you guys didn’t talk about after paying the deposit.

Photographers and videographers: Those “other” vendors

Photographers and videographers are in a really unique position. We are the only vendors whose assignments extend to well after the wedding. The caterer, decorator and the cake lady get to call it a wrap on the wedding day, or maybe a day or two after. But for the photographer and videographer, our deliverables come way after the wedding and not on the wedding day itself.

What to expect next?

What to expect from one photographer or videographer changes according to the workflow and customer service culture of the crew that you chose to cover your wedding.

Photographers and videographers all have different creative styles and we all are different in the way we deal with clients.

Workflows? Customer service culture?

Workflow is just a fancy way of saying:

“How we like to do things after the wedding, how we gather and sort through all the footage to make everything all nice and presentable for you… all the while keeping you updated”

And customer service for us means many things, but mostly:

“How we like to engage with you to make sure we deal with any questions that you have in a way that we can all be happy with.”

My brother and I, on photography only gigs like to make sure everything is ready for dispatch or delivery 3 weeks and 3 days from the date of the wedding.

If we happen to handle your videography, then that would be 4 weeks and 3 days from the date of the wedding.

Lets run through an example shall we?

Amazing Mandy and Cool Cletus

“Amazing Mandy” and “Cool Cletus” (not their real names) were clients whose wedding we covered on Saturday the 4^th of July 2015.

They had us handle both the photography and videography for the wedding. We had everything ready to be shipped off to them about 9 days before Wednesday 05 August 2015 which was the date we gave them on the invoice for dispatch. If they had gotten us for photography only, then the delivery date on the invoice would’ve been Wednesday 29 July 2015.

“Classy Chi” (not her real name) who was the wedding planner seemed a little sceptical about our 4 weeks and 3 days claim because for her wedding she waited for up to 18 months for some of her photos!

The Monday morning updates

We like to keep clients updated on the progress we’re making with the footage via email. We could call you guys but I doubt its my voice you want to hear during your honeymoon!

The emails usually come in on a Monday morning (Nigerian time) and you can expect to receive not more than 3 of those updates since we usually deliver within our timelines we already discussed.

We don’t say much, but we check in from time to time to let you know when we’re done collating footage from the other members of the crew. After that we get in touch to let you know when we move to the album design stage and then in the latter email updates we try to confirm a delivery address from you guys so that we don’t send DHL off to the wrong house!

We do not update our website’s photo blog with your photos until we are sure that delivery has been completed successfully.

Social media, Instagram and Facebook

We have a social media and use of images policy which we explain to all our clients. We have no problem respecting your privacy if you object to your photos being used for our social media marketing and online promotions.

These are matters we like to discuss fully and come to agreements on before any deposits or payments are made.

Why the fuss about all this workflow and customer service dubs?

This seems like a lot to take in, but they are important.

These matters are the things that make the difference between waking up the next day and realizing you have absolutely idea what to expect next from the photographer, and being able to answer your mum and your friends confidently when they ask about the photos.

One thing is for sure, if you follow careful steps like this when interviewing photographers, you reduce the likelihood that you have to chase them down 12 months after your wedding.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ayede Film & Photography

Discernment is key in our search for a sense of personal style; and true knowledge of ourselves is essential to being happy and being the best we can be. Those are beliefs that I share with a good friend of mine and make up artist Alexia Horsfall who has been gracious enough to co-author today’s blog post with me.

Woman know thyself

Today my dear friend Alexia preaches a gospel that is really close to my heart. In her usual fashion, she brings forward ideas that are necessary to us being happier, healthier, better fulfilled and beautiful not just on our wedding day but beyond.

So without further ado, I’ll let her do the talking.

On to Alexia…

Sister sister

Dear Bride,

Wedding plans are on in earnest and you have made a key decision. You have chosen your makeup artist. Or have you?

I remember our last conversation where you mentioned a few things you liked. You liked some of the looks you’d seen on Instagram, but they were all done by different makeup artists.

You like the way “Miss A” does the brows for her clients. You like the way “Miss B” does contouring.

Infact as I recall, you ended up saying you wanted to look exactly like “Bride X” did at her own wedding. You even chose the same colours to make sure you got the same effect.

How do “you” really want to look?

We would love to have all these great make up artists but we can’t. We have to choose one.

But before you do, we have to find out how you really want to look. What looks do you truly love to wear?

We may pore over magazines for dress styles, scan Instagram for lip colours like the ones that “so and so” wore, or lust after lashes like “this and that” and even highlighting like “so and so” also.

The same way our body shapes determine how the dress styles will fit our bodies, is the same as how your own natural face features and how these are combined will determine the different adaptations of the looks that would work well for you.

Your features, your choices and your best look

My consideration always is how to get the absolute best looks with the features that you’ve got.

How will “you” be “your” most beautiful self?

This is not exactly a “who wore it better than Miss C” scenario.

There are no rules to start with, no beauty ideals to aspire to. There is just your own beauty that you want the whole world to see and love.

I’m all for glitter, eyelashes and red lipstick. I am also for nudes and natural tones. But you should aim to be as beautiful as you and you alone can be. Let your own style and personality show in your makeup decisions.

You can have whatever degrees of makeup you desire and still look “wow” so long as it is done correctly.

Here is what you should do:

Look for someone who does great work and who will ensure you look your absolute best.

Find someone who listens to what you want; someone who is patient to answer your questions and gives you options.

Get someone with an eye for detail who sees “you” and wants to elevate all your lovely features! Someone who wants to make you loom large like the rock star version of yourself.

Be your own beautiful version of yourself!

Be in love with the things you actually have control over for the day. Let your choices reflect the joy you feel and how you’d like to remember the day forever.

With love,
 Alexia.

Curtain call

She said it all.

If we love ourselves and our unique features, we can find our own unique combinations and we can all be on fleek. You can find my friend Alexia on Instagram @alexiahorsfall if you have any questions, suggestions and comments.

As usual, thanks again for reading and stopping by Iludio. We’ll do our best to bring you the best wedding inspiration we can and make this your definitive online wedding guide. We hope to see you soon again and please be sure to get in touch if you have any questions and comments.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ayede Film & Photography