Everyone wants to immortalize their wedding day (unless you’re a celeb, then by wedding five, you’d love the photos from your first four marriages to magically disappear). However, having your wedding snaps go viral often comes down to knowing the right people, or because something went very, very wrong. While not everyone can have a best friend at Vogue, or wants to be that bride who fell into the swimming pool, there are several ways you can ensure your wedding photos go viral
Find the right photographer
There’s no point hiring a mechanic to make a soufflé, so Jim, the accountant from work who’s thinking of getting into wedding photography, is not the one to trust with the images you’d run out of a burning building with. Find a photographer with work reflects the look you want, has the skills needed and is also one you get along with.
Don’t be cheap
Surprise! Weddings are expensive. And who would have thought buying a hundred guests dinner and drinks would involve selling a lung on the black market? Pour your cash into what’s most important to you — and if you want decent photos, expect to pay a decent price for using a professional. Wedding site TheKnot.com advises setting aside, on average, 10-12% of your total budget on your photos.
Time
Getting your timeline right is crucial — showing up late to the altar, and not accounting for traffic between your ceremony spot and your photo location, means less time for bridal portraits. And don’t forget, people who rush do tend to look … extra. Furthermore? You’re spending a pretty pile of pennies on this experience, and any wedding photographer worth their weight will charge you overtime if you explode the schedule.
Tim-ing
Chances are if you opt for a noon wedding on the beach, you’re going to look like a squinting, sunburnt lobster. The trick to any good photograph is lighting — and that golden hour just around sunrise and sunset is best for couple shots. Once you have your vision, date and venue in mind, it’s time to contact a photographer. Yes, even before ordering the save-the-dates. Because their input will be invaluable in putting together your run-of-show for the big day.
Don’t court disaster
Sparkler exits are more memorable for the severe burns inflicted when drunken idiots are given burning sticks than their ethereal Insta-worthiness. Anything involving pyrotechnics, live animals, trespassing, railway tracks, circus tricks, and standing on the edge of buildings, wharves or cliffs really shouldn’t happen unless you know what you’re doing (and are largely sober).
Don’t go viral for the wrong reasons
Unless you want to be featured in a wrap up of oompa-loompa brides, stay away from fake tan. Whether it’s a $12,000 ball gown or a $120 knock-off from Ebay, get your dress fitted so you don’t look like you’re walking around in a champagne-colored sequined potato sack. And hire a make up artist who doesn’t use a shovel.
Be unique
Ditch Pinterest, stop bookmarking images from other people’s weddings, avoid selective coloring, and tell your mom you don’t want pictures of your bridesmaids bouquets dripping on your dress in a surreal 80s flashback to her own dusty album. Forget what’s trendy and create a wedding that represents you. A great wedding photographer will sit down to get to know you and inform your shots.
Real is in
The best photos — and the ones that are going viral — are the ones where the photograph represents something real. Be true and authentic to your own partner on your wedding day and let the love shine through. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
