Knoxville Wedding Photographer – 2 Hodges Photography
As Knoxville wedding photographers, ensuring couples have beautiful wedding photos is our top priority. When we meet with potential brides and grooms, there are several topics we cover to help you get the most from our wedding photography service and help provide you with the best wedding photos possible.
First, we will assume that you are booking a professional, licensed wedding photography team such as ourselves or some of our amazing peers in the industry. We believe the next step to getting the best wedding photos correlates with the other wedding vendors and/or DIY choices you make, so we will discuss how several vendors can enhance your wedding photography experience.
I want to know more about having 2 Hodges Photography as my wedding photographer!
2 Hodges Photography serves the Knoxville, TN region including Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and beyond. You may also email us at photos@2hodgesphotography.com or use our wedding photography contact form.
1. Wedding Venue
Your wedding venue is typically the first vendor you will secure. As most East Tennessee weddings revolve around beautiful outdoor ceremonies, sometimes it does rain. Be sure you know your venue’s rain plan and are comfortable with it.
2. Wedding Planner/Coordinator
Your wedding planner can help you understand your vision and theme for your wedding day and make sure it all comes together in the most aesthetic way possible. She can also suggest vendors who are best equipped to help make your vision a reality.
Planners often offer day of coordination. For photography, a planner who has excellent communication skills and can be flexible is key for wedding photographers. When coordinators can help communicate changes in the timeline or are available to help secure details, such as ensuring grooms and groomsmen have boutonnieres on or brides and bridesmaid have bouquets when we are starting formal photos, this will help photos flow more smoothly and we will have more time to take photos on your wedding day as we spend less time coordinating. Coordinators are also excellent for ensuring your wedding timeline is flowing the way it should be and that all vendors are aware of what is going on and when.
A coordinator is also an asset at rehearsals to advise the wedding party in how to walk and where to stand, which is a great asset to photos of your ceremony (walking slowly with your head up is always best!)
If you choose to not have a wedding coordinator, designating a go-to person who can help ensure people know where to be and when to be there on the wedding day will help your wedding photography timeline flow more smoothly. Also, with or without a coordinator, appointing someone who can identify key people from your family and wedding party and guests to your wedding photographers is a huge asset to efficiency and ensuring all of your photo requests are met.
3. Hair and Make Up
Your hair and make up artists play two important roles. First, they help set the tone for the wedding day timeline. In other words, if hair and make up runs late, the entire wedding day will run late, and that leaves less time for taking photos. Also, hair and make up need to be set and secured to last through hot summer days and dancing. Using professional hair and make up artists who know how to handle these elements is key for a flawless look in your wedding photos.
4. Flowers
We love beautiful bouquets and wedding flowers. Professional florists are key for knowing which flowers are in season and knowing how to create bouquets that will stand up during photos in the heat.
While silk bouquets can be a great choice, we do find the colors cannot compete with real florals and the distinction is often noticeable in photos. If you want to skip real flowers, we suggest an alternative bouquet style such as brooches or ribbons.
Also, we always love a sweet church wedding ceremony, however large sanctuaries can be difficult to decorate without a large floral budget. We often see one big floral arrangement in the front of a sanctuary that, unfortunately, can often cause more of a distraction in photos rather than be an asset because it is placed directly behind the minister and appears to be growing out of his head. In this situation, we believe less is more. We would suggest spending this money in another area of your wedding budget.
5. Wedding Cake
We love beautiful, creative wedding cakes! Again, a professional baker who understands the climate of your reception as well as knows how to correctly support the weight of your cake is key. Unfortunately, we have seen cakes melt and nearly fall over from leaning.
6. Reception DJ and Entertainment
We consider your reception entertainment to be key to your reception. The DJ or band not only handles the music, they also manage the flow of your reception timeline and ensure guests are engaged in having fun by dancing or mingling. The DJ will also be in charge of introductions and announcements, so having someone who is comfortable on the microphone is a huge asset.
We have covered several wedding vendors who help contribute to beautiful wedding photos. We are always extremely grateful to the wedding pros we work with who help create a beautiful wedding day and allow us to create incredible wedding images for you.Of course, the DIY route can also lead to some incredibly beautiful weddings, and we hope these tips help you plan for the best investments along the way. After all, these images are your memories that we hope you will treasure for a lifetime.
Are you interested in discussing your wedding photography with us? Just fill out the form below, and we’ll get in touch with you!
2 Hodges Photography serves the Knoxville, TN region including Maryville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and beyond. You may also email us at photos@2hodgesphotography.com or use our wedding photography contact form.
