When In The Day To Get Married For The Best Pictures

Unlike the venue for a religious ceremony, you do have a choice of your venue. Although many other factors do come into play when picking a reception all (location, quality, and of course cost) one of your primary drivers should be how the reception venue is configured for pictures. Some of the obvious things to look for are:

* Formal/Artistic Pictures Locations: You don't want to have to take your formal pictures in the parking lot. Make sure you have, either inside or outside, a place to take formal pictures which will allow room for your largest group AND your photographer. The more green, the better. The more unusual objects (statues, interesting trees, benches, a fountain) the better. However, don't fall in love with a river site or a lake-side venue whose only attribute is the river or the lake. If it is a cloudy day, or a sunny day, the sky will end up being white and your pictures will end up being boring. Best to pick a pond for a water view, which will allow for a lush background to balance out the scene. But whatever you do, don't plan to have your pictures at high-noon. Try to have your formals and outdoor ceremony pictures within three hours of sunset. The closer you can get (without going over) the better!

* Windows are great, except at sundown. Windows will lighten up the room allowing for more natural pictures to be taken, and are generally something you should look for. The exception to this rule is if you are having an evening wedding, you want to make sure the sun will not be entering the room at a low angle. Not only will this blind the guests looking out the window (if they don't drop the blinds) but will fill the room with a yellow tinted light. It will also produce heavy shadows which aren't generally preferred.

* Indoor venues for formals/artistic shots: Needed for both variety and if you have a nighttime wedding, indoor locations such as staircases, pianos, couches and niches will allow the photographer a lot more creative freedom in creating your picture.

* White ceilings and paint: The lighter the ceiling and walls, the more natural your pictures will be, as the flash on a camera picks up a lot of the natural color of the room when reflected. Green walls, green face. You ideally want the ceiling to be about 12-15 feet high, any higher it is hard to bounce flash, any lower, too much light is focused in one place.

* Easy access: If everyone is young and fit, having a wedding in an old lodge is a wonderful thing but if Grandma is invited, how is she going to get there?