Chances are, a sizeable portion of your wedding budget has been allocated to your photographer, and rightly so – they document the day for you, helping you to remember every little detail, from slipping on your wedding dress, to walking down the aisle to dancing the night away. But even the best photographer in the world can’t capture every single detail from the day, which is where your guests come in.
There are times in your wedding day where your photographer will be busy snapping photos of you and your husband / wife (your couple portraits for example), and they’ll miss lots of special moments, such as your guests seeing your reception venue for the first time, or all of your loved ones mingling over canapés and champagne.
Photos of your wedding day from the guests’ points of view are a great way to see a different side of your big day – a more laid-back, casual way to document the best day of your life.
To let your guests know you’re keen to see their version of events, why not slip a little list into their invites, letting them know the things you’d love to see from their point of view? Add a link to Wedding Photo Swap on there too, so they know where to share their snaps.
Read on for our suggestions of what to ask your guests to take photos of at your wedding.
The receiving line
Guests standing at the far end of the receiving line will get great photos of everyone stood in a line in their finery, waiting to wish you well, post ceremony. Official photos will focus on you and your new spouse, but guest snaps will capture the joy on everyone’s faces after watching you tie the knot.
The journey to the reception
The guests’ journey to your reception is part of the wedding day the newlyweds almost always miss out on. Ask your guests to snap selfies of their journey to reception, be it on foot, in their own cars, or especially if you’ve organised a wedding bus to transport them from ceremony to reception. It’s the perfect time for candid photos of your loved ones all getting to know one another.
Reception arrivals
Remember that “it’s the one!” feeling you experienced when you saw your venue for the first time? Your guests are likely to be struck by the wow-factor as well. Make sure to ask them to take photos of everyone’s unguarded reaction to the amazing reception venue and all the décor you spent months planning.
Place settings
Your official photographer will undoubtedly take dozens of photos of your amazing wedding table decorations, but a quick photo by your loved ones of their painstakingly created name card will mean a lot to you too.
Favours
Similarly, photos of your guests enjoying their handmade wedding favours will be shots to treasure. Friends tucking into homemade fudge your grandma made will be just as special as professional photos of the favours neatly placed in position.
Tables filling up with guests
Photos of your guests finding their name on the table plan and making their ways to their seat make for cute wedding day memories. Reaction shots of people seeing the table names are lovely too – agonising over how to name your tables will all seem worth it when you see your guests appreciating them.
The bouquet toss
This is one of the most well-documented wedding moments, with dozens of shots of the jubilant bouquet catcher, but a less captured moment is everyone congregating to catch it, waiting patiently to see if they’re “next”!
Cake snaps
Photos of the big cake cutting moment are often treasured by couples, but you rarely see photos of guests tucking into the cake – ask your guests to snap a pic of their cake before they start nibbling for proof that they loved the cake as much as you did!
