Five things I've learned shooting weddings in the North West
Ten years. Hundreds of weddings. Three catastrophic downpours, one marquee that blew down an hour before the ceremony, and more first dances than I can count.
Here's what I actually learned.
1. The best photos happen when nobody's looking
Every wedding photographer says this. We say it because it's true, and because it still surprises couples who've spent months choreographing the day.
The moments worth keeping are the ones between the moments you planned. Dad's face as you walk down the aisle. Your nan mouthing the words to a song from the nineties. Your partner's hand finding yours during the speeches. My job is to be ready for all of them, and to be invisible while I am.
2. Weather isn't the enemy
Nothing ruins a wedding album like grey light, except maybe the panic that sets in when the forecast turns. Grey light is flattering. Rain gives you umbrellas, and umbrellas give you intimacy. The worst weather I've ever photographed produced my favourite gallery of the year.
Pack a towel for your shoes. Everything else is fine.
3. Timetables matter more than moodboards
Brides and grooms arrive at the first meeting with Pinterest boards. I arrive with a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet wins, every time.
If the ceremony starts at two and the golden hour is at seven, I need to know that at the first meeting — not on the day. A half-hour buffer between courses is worth more than any creative brief.
4. Hire someone who shows up twice
The best wedding photographers show up before the wedding. We walk the venue. We meet the families. We find out that your dad's a bit deaf on the left and your mum will cry during the first song because of the way her dad used to hum it.
When you turn up on the day already knowing which side of the aisle your uncle's sat on, you make better photos. It's not magic, it's homework.
5. The photos that matter most aren't the ones on the wall
You'll frame two, maybe three, images from the day. That's fine. The rest — the 500-odd you'll scroll through at one in the morning five years from now — are the ones that matter.
Hire a photographer who'll bother with all of them.
Alex O'Neill shoots weddings across Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. Check your date.