rizzophotos

If you’re a bride planning her wedding, don’t be afraid to call a photographer and ask questions. It’s an interview process and you and the photographer have to “fit,” meaning you have to trust the photographer, their style, their sense of humor and love of their craft. Sit down with the photographer and ask about their style of shooting. Look at the photos in the portfolio but also listen to the photographer about how they go about shooting your wedding day. It’s more than the images in their portfolio. Every bride should stick within her budget for a wedding but photography is more than just about price. Think of it this way: you’ve planned your wedding for a year, two years, or longer. You planned every detail: your dress, the church, reception, food, guest list, invitations, the cake…..the list seems endless. Hire a photographer who will work with you to provide what YOU want. Don’t fit yourself into a photographer’s “package.” That’s like trying to fit into a size 4 dress when you’re a size 6—it doesn’t work! The photographer should work with you to meet your needs; that’s what I try to do.

When I talk with a bride, I like to know what they like and don’t like in photographs. Do you like black and white images? Do you want images on the beach or other settings? How many guests and how large a family will be there? Tell me  about your dress (style, color) and how many in the bridal party? Will people travel a long distance to get to the wedding? One of the easiest ways to see what a bride likes is to view her Pinterest page (hopefully, she has one). Because of the beautiful beaches in southwest Michigan, most brides like to have photos at the beach, the pier, or the bluff. Other fun places for amazing, memorable photos are in the vineyards of the wineries or in the Arts District of Benton Harbor or golf courses like Harbor Shores or Berrien Hills. There are some beautiful farms to have images taken. After the wedding, try to allow an hour-and-a-half to two hours for images of the bride and groom. For some brides, that isn’t important that’s just fine. Then I spend my time focusing on what IS important to the bride. Do you, as the bride, like artsy, creative images or prefer more standard documentary-style images? To describe my style, I happen to love photographing people and I love architecture. The lines of a building can draw me in to stare at a beautiful building. I love to mix people with huge pieces of structure.

It’s not that I am a chameleon trying to please everyone but I need to know what the bride likes and wants to be able to deliver. Asking questions makes all the difference in a relationship on one of the most important days of your life.

One of the comments I have heard repeatedly from women married a year or two ago is how long they have to wait for their images or for an album. I know a bride who has waited two years for her wedding album! Are you, as a photographer, that busy that you can’t deliver in a reasonable time? No, I just think it’s lousy and poor service by the photographer. I try to deliver my images within a couple weeks. There are much longer steps in creating an album but that might take a month, maybe two. It’s all about making the wedding day easy for the bride and groom and providing excellent service to them. Being on time (or earlier) on their wedding day. Being prepared. Having all my equipment in the best condition. Delivering images before the couple thinks they’ll receive them. I try to be organized on a wedding day in order to be spontaneous. While I can’t be in three places at once, I try to be.

Photographing a wedding is fun because it’s all about people. Photographing people makes life fun and interesting for me.

The south end of Silver Beach

I’m not talking about ME getting married and it keeps me young. Photographing weddings keeps me young. Whew!

Why I love to photograph weddings–

They keep me young at heart. I’m capturing the images of usually a young couple in their 20′s and maybe 30′s who have all the hopes and dreams of 50+ years together. They’re young and innocent and in love. They want to build a life together, have children and grow old together. I’m lucky enough to capture stage one of their life together, their wedding day. More often than not, the bride is all anxious and the mother is nervous. He, the groom, is much more relaxed and casual. I typically concentrate on the bride, bridesmaids and preparation though equal time must be afforded the groom.

As is always the case, I custom my services to meet the budget and needs and desires of the couple for photographs. Typically, I start my wedding day photography about 2 hours before the ceremony spending time with the bride and her side of the family in their preparation. Natural light would be my favorite style of shooting, if possible. I’ll spend an hour with the bride then move to the groom’s side for “preparation” images. More and more, wedding ceremonies are outdoors at a park, along the beach or pavilion. Church weddings are still the norm but almost half of the weddings I photograph are in a contemporary setting.

TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS: While I normally work by myself, I will often hire a second shooter for the wedding ceremony. While I am on the floor level, the second photographer can be in the balcony or the organ loft and get some great angles of photographs. One time, my second shooter sat in the bell tower to photograph a wedding. Nicole,….very gutsy of you!

Consider having two photographers for your wedding.

For the formal images after the wedding, because of where we live, the most requested location would be the beach but more and more, the unique architecture of the Arts District in Benton Harbor come into play. Being a huge fan of architecture, some beautiful images can be created from brick and “graffitied” walls. For me, allow two hours and we can get some beautiful and distinctive images for a wedding albums that you’ll treasure forever.

VIDEO: I am occasionally asked about video for your wedding and I offer those services as well. If you’re going to have a videographer for your wedding, I think these three elements of your day are the most important for a video memory of your wedding:  the ceremony, the entrance into your reception and first dances.

While, I’m sure videographers would disagree with me, those are the moments video can capture better than still images. And yes, I offer video and editing services.

THE GUESTS: Another favorite part of weddings for me is meeting the people. I have met people from all over the country at weddings in southwest Michigan. We’re very lucky this is becoming a “destination place” for weddings. There are many reasons but some would be:  Lake Michigan, we’re promoting ourselves more and events like the Senior PGA certainly help publicize southwest Michigan, Whirlpool has brought thousands of people to southwest Michigan from all over the world. Our name is spreading and that’s a very good thing!

FEEL FREE TO WRITE ME:  and ask about wedding prices. I’d love to meet with you and talk over a cup of coffee about what you wish in your photography and it’s always great to talk and exchange ideas. Call me, I would love to photograph your wedding.

You can view my wedding portfolio at www.crdes.com. The web site for complete wedding images and other events is www.rizzophotos.com