Feeling nervous about having your photos taken? Check out my 5 top tips for relaxing in front of the camera!

It’s my number one priority to help you relax in front of the camera and prepare you to be camera-ready on your wedding day. Having a pre-wedding shoot is a great way to understand what sort of direction to expect from me on your wedding day and allows us to build up a connection to help us feel like old pals. I helped Lianne and Aron to plan the perfect afternoon at Haddo House, for them to celebrate their engagement, and prep themselves for photos on their wedding day. Read on to find out my 5 top tips for relaxing in front of the camera!

1. Consider your personality

Does PDA give you the ick? Well, you’ll be glad to know I don’t demand any elaborate displays of affection, especially if we are in a busy public spot. Getting to know my couples before your wedding day helps me to understand how you are together as a couple. I don’t want you to feel like you’re putting on a show for me. Try to keep in mind the sort of personality you have when deciding what you want to do for your shoot. If you are a little more introverted you probably aren’t going to want to go dancing in the middle of a busy street, but on the flip side, maybe you want to dress up fancy and shove ice cream in each other’s faces down the beach front! During the planning process I will help you nail your ideas down so we are doing something that feels totally YOU!

2.What do you LOVE to do together?

I always say your pre-wedding/engagement shoot is a great way to document the more day-to-day activities that you love to do together. Your wedding day is likely going to feel a bit more formal, you’re probably going to be dressed up a bit more than normal and I want you to be able to have the best of both worlds! So think about the stuff you love to do on weekends, what’s your favourite pastime together, or maybe you have a super special location in mind that you just want to have documented forever. This is a chance to think out of the box and create some fun memories together and what better way to help you relax than doing something that feels familiar?

3.Include your fur baby! ❤️🐶

If you’re anything like me – you want your fur baby to be a part of everything you do. So whether or not your pooch can be there on your wedding day, we can still include them in your plans in the run-up to it. Why not head out on your favourite walkies, or snuggle in your fav spot on the sofa. Snuggles with your doggie is one of my favourite top tips for relaxing in front of the camera!

4.Dress like YOU!

Have you ever been getting ready for a party, trying on a million outfits that you wanted to wear, but they just don’t feel like you?! Cause I know that feeling so well, and I always revert to my classics, even though they’ve been worn or seen before. Who cares?! I feel awesome in them!! This isn’t the time be be trying out a new fashion statement or wearing something that feels too fancy. Try to keep it simple, keep it comfy, and keep it like you!! You will feel great looking at images where you know you felt awesome in what you were wearing. If you want bonus tips, I recommend keeping it neutral, free of any distracting large logos or patterns, and trying to compliment one another’s outfits, as we want to keep it timeless and keep the focus on you.

5.Leave your baggage at home!

Both physically and emotionally! I want you to be able to fully switch off and enjoy this experience, so pop the phones on silent as we don’t want unnecessary distractions. I want you to be fully present in this moment with one another. I also totally understand that lovers’ tiffs can happen, usually over the silliest of things, if you’re anything like us – “Where are the car keys?! Arg!!” But try to get a good night’s sleep the night before and pop any silly little differences aside if they can’t be resolved beforehand. I promise this is going to be so much fun spending time together and you don’t want to look back at these memories with a cloud hanging over you.

Bonus Tip – What’s your end goal?

There are so many reasons to have a pre-wedding shoot. Firstly – to feel totally awesome and make memories you can love forever, you really deserve to do something fun with all the wedding planning you are doing! Secondly – Getting to know your photographer. This is so important to help you relax in front of the camera on your wedding day. But also consider the fact that there are several things you might want to physically do with your images. So, have a think beforehand as it might help you decide on a location or an activity to do for your shoot. Think along the lines of wedding invites, save the dates, a guest book, a welcome sign, and your table numbers, wouldn’t all these items look so cool personalised with images from your pre-wedding shoot?!

I hope I have inspired you to start thinking about why having a pre-wedding shoot would be really beneficial, and hopefully, you are starting to feel more relaxed about it already!

Ready to become BFFs and book me as your wedding photographer?

Get in touch here.

Or for more wedding day tips check out my super awesome Free Resources page.