Before we shot our first wedding, I remember one of the things I was most nervous about was what to bring. Making sure I didn’t forget anything I definitely needed, might need, or that could even just be helpful for the day!  It took most of our first season to really solidify what we needed (and what we never used and could leave behind to look a LITTLE less like we were making a cross country move every Saturday. My mom joked we should just get a JGP trailer for all the equipment when she saw it 2 weeks ago!).  We still carry a lot because the truth is, we would never want to be in a situation where we weren’t prepared in any way we could be on one of the most important days of someone’s life!

So I am going to share a little mini-series on Wedding Day Must Haves, starting with equipment related JUST to photography, then styling items, and lastly personal items!  I hope this is super helpful for any newer wedding photographers out there who are standing where I was a few years ago!

Wedding Day Must Haves: Business

• This may seem obvious, but check and check again that you have all your equipment.  
  • In the beginning, I truly recommend bringing every lens in your arsenal, just in case. Until you really are comfortable with the flow of a day and know what it all looks like, I think you want to be over-prepared in this area. 
  • Make you sure you have more than enough memory cards. I would plan way over, especially if you are an over-shooter, like me! And by way over, I mean 100+ GB of cards, just in case, until you settle on an average number of images that you shoot per wedding! There is no time to be deleting images/etc to try to find space. Format them all the day before so they are ready to go, and have a good way to carry and switch them other than the little cases- I love this SD card holder from Think Tank and it just clips right onto my bag.
  • Make sure your batteries are all charged, and have extra! We do this starting on Thursday so they are totally charged by the time we want to pack bags on Friday.
• Make sure you have a plan for how you will store your equipment that you don’t need at any given time, and how you will carry your equipment on you. I have used a Shoot Sac for holding the equipment I am currently using for years now, and I love it.  Then I have a larger camera bag that holds my extra stuff, and we bring a Think Tank roller suitcase for the extra extra gear. We carry more than most because we both shoot with the same gear- so we have a lot of it! 4 camera bodies and many lenses require quite a few bags!
• Make sure you have SOME sort of external lighting plan. There really isn’t a situation I have ever shot in that doesn’t require some sort of flash at the reception and often family formals. Maybe if you have a daytime wedding that ends before sunset and is all outside- but otherwise, make sure you have a plan that is tested and works! This is an area that I know is really tricky for most wedding photographers in the beginning and there are so many options- but find something that will work well for the beginning, and you can expand this area as you gain experience!
• Day of Schedule/copy of the contract and any other info you collect. We do a big day of questionnaire with our couples to make sure we have all the details and family formal lists, so these lists, along with an equipment list (to make sure we don’t forget anything on either end!), a few copies of the schedule, and their invitation if we have it all go in a folder in my main bag to be with us all day!  We also have all of our documents in dropbox so we can access from our phone/my apple watch as needed! I am hoping to eventually transfer the schedule all to my watch but still working on all of that.
  • Pro tip: If you can memorize parent names and bridal party names (including flower girl/ring bearer) in addition to (of course!) your couple, that will really go a long way for communication on the day! We shoot a lot of weddings with huge bridal parties and often back to back weekends, so this does NOT always happen for us, but in the beginning when our weddings were really spaced out, this was a priority for me, and went a LONG way in client care when I coudl call them by name instead of by “ok the bridesmaid 2 to the left of the bride…yeah can you lower your flowers?”.  And if you can’t get them all, ask who the best man and maid of honor are ahead of time and at least get them and the moms down! It is so helpful (and shows that you really care!) the day of!
• Think about any extras you might use depending on your style: A stool, light stands, reflectors, rain protection for your gear…make sure all of this gets in your car! I recommend loading this equipment the night before if you can so it isn’t a part of the morning hubbub!

I hope this is super helpful- be on the lookout for part 2 and 3 of this mini-series in the next few weeks! Remember: your couple chose you for a reason, and it is an amazing responsibility- take a deep breath, and go get it, friend!

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