You have to chalk off certain tasks in advance since there will be an incredible amount of pressure on the wedding day to tick off everything on the to-do list and all will take longer time than expected. You may need the photographer to have all the time he/she to pose you, work with the light and find your favorite location. You might be lucky if all of this come together on your wedding day. So if at all possible schedule the important shot of the bridal portrait in advance of the ceremony day.

Disposable cameras, decorated with a wedding theme, are cheap and easy to find. The wedding photographer can provide and develop them for you or you purchase them yourself. The busy photographer cannot be everywhere at once. So even if you toss 80% of what comes out of the disposables, you might get some great shots that make the nominal expense worthwhile. Order these disposable cameras early enough instead of waiting till the last minute.

Better create your posing list minimum one week in advance. You might have got at least a few posed photographs with prominent party or family members who you will want. Ensure that the photographer gets this list in advance of the special day. Add thirty seconds per person to the time it will take just to organize a picture. Of course you and the guests want to get to or get on with the celebration at the same time. Give the photographer enough time to position people for the once in a lifetime images.

You may ask your guests to provide their e-mail IDs on the invitation reply, so that you can easily share your online photos with them. Unless you are indifferent as to who looks at your proofs, request the photographer to provide sufficient access encryption.

Also let the photographer know your wedding day plan of events, including all the details from the moment the bride first begins her hairstyle or make-up to the grand departure at the very end. This advance information will really help the photographer to know what to expect especially during the ceremony, so that he/she can locate the optional shooting angle. Don’t forget to include the ceremony location –contact information. You must send the photographer the name and contact information of the person in charge of the ceremony-location, so that he/she can talk the source about the lighting rules. While some venues allow flash and/or extra lighting others do not allow. Once the photographer comes to know about the lighting rules he/she might have a discussion with you about the implications of the lighting options. If you have a logistic coordinator, pass the information to the photographer. Almost at the event location, have a coordinator whose job is to keep the event sequence rolling. Your photographer will shoot better pictures when he/she is in the loop and is in place while these events start than when he/she rushes to catch up.

If possible, ask your photographer to spend a good amount of time near the bride in the last stages of preparation. If you have not hired a full day photographer, it is better to skew the amount of time with your shooter to the time before the ceremony rather than the reception, because some of the most intimate touching pictures come out of the final moments of the bride’s preparation and the interaction with the mother and bridesmaids.

Since all the hard work happens in advance you can do everything in a leisurely manner on the wedding day.