15 VENUE Wish List Items: From photographers everywhere
Though some of these items might not be possible in every venue space, these are some of the things that will make (or break) photos at your venue, make photographers love (or hate) shooting in your space, and make your couples so happy (or meh) with their photos:
Mirrors On One Side
Mirrors make our lives miserable when the room is packed with people and clutter everywhere and there are mirrors pointing in multiple directions. If you can keep the mirrors facing one direction on one wall, we can much more easily work with them. I wrote an entire blog on this topic. Check it out here!
Closet Space
When there is a space for guests to hide their bags and loose items that closes, it is much easier for us to direct them to do so and for us to keep the shots clean and clear of those items without needing to move them around constantly depending on the shot. It’s a huge time saver.
Daylight Bulbs
or the love of all that is holy, can we please use daylight bulbs in the getting ready spaces? If they are daylight (rather than orange), there is a better chance we can leave them on to brighten up the room without needing to use flash. It’s a simple and inexpensive fix to a major problem photographers face in these spaces.
White Curtains
Use white curtain sheers in the getting ready space please! When the curtain sheers are colored, the light filters through them casting that color on the entire room…which can be a nightmare to try to edit. If the sheers are white, the room’s light will be clean and bright.
NO PICTURES OF PEOPLE
Please don’t put pictures of people on the walls in a space we need to use for photos. It has a photobomb feel when you can see someone you don’t know in the background of your photos.
Extra Rooms To Get Ready
Extra rooms help move things along faster and we will appreciate having a place to excuse some of the party or parents for certain parts of the photos in the morning so that there is less waiting around.
Sun Behind the Ceremony Space
his is a hard one. And, I’m sure it’s a tough call for a venue to make if it is even within their power to choose. The photos will turn out best if the ceremony space is positioned so that the guests are seated facing South-West/West. Yes the sun will be in their eyes if it is out but it won’t be shining directly on the couple ruining their photos. They are most important people to consider.
Portrait Space For All Weather
A good photographer who understands how the light works and how to use it’s potential for portraits, will need to shoot in a certain direction depending on the weather that day. It is really great if you have intentional space on your property for us to utilize in all different types of weather so the couple can feel like we are utilizing the venue and not just going off to shoot by a wall in the shade because it’s the only option.
Longer Grass
While we totally understand that you need to keep things neat and tidy in the majority of your venue grassy areas, if you can keep the grass in portrait locations and open fields a little longer (the longer the better) we will love you for it. Cut grass does not photograph well when the sun is shining on it so we will avoid it at all costs. Longer grass photographs softer with a more romantic feel and will alleviate more of that “neon green” color that happens when the sun is bright.
Light Colored Walkways
After avoiding all the cut grass in photos we will then start looking for light colored ground and walkways that reflect the light better and make for clean skin tones. Sand is amazing but there aren’t many beach venues soooooo. I am partial to crushed stone for portraits any time I can find it. It photographs so nicely!
White Walls
Speaking of which! Many of us would kill for a white wall in the shade on a sunny day. Any way you can make that happen will make us do a happy dance. We love to have simple, white background portraits to mix in to add space and contrast to the gallery.
Lights That Don’t Twinkle
There are certain string lights that actually flash faster than the eye can see. In photos, half of the bulbs appear to be “out”. It’s really frustrating to get “the shot” and then find in the post process that half of the light bulbs are not lit for it.
Light Colored Reception Walls
Flash bounces better off light colored walls so we will love your reception space in a direct correlation to how white it is.
Safe Space For Gear
We have so much expensive equipment that we simply cannot keep on our person the entire day. Having a safe space to stow our gear, especially during the reception, is so appreciated
Dinner Reprieve
While we always appreciate the gesture if our clients want to seat us with the guests, we really love an opportunity to have a designated vendor table space in a private area close by to take a real break while we shovel food in our mouths and call our kids to say goodnight. If you have a designated space for then the clients don’t feel like they need to seat us with their guests.
We would never expect all venues to be able to have all of these items listed but the closer you can get, the more we will love you for it!