In my job I deal regularly with a lot of people. Suppliers, colleagues and obviously couples about to get married.
Sometimes I face people who are truly disoriented. People who for various reasons don’t involve a wedding planner, who have to organize a wedding all by themselves.
It seems impossible, but often they arrive a few months after the fateful date that they have planned everything, but they don’t know what in practice will happen, step by step, throughout the day.
This is why I decided to write this article which briefly explains what are the basic steps of a typical wedding day.
A typical wedding day pt.1
Getting ready
The day obviously begins with the getting ready of both spouses.
Usually I start with the groom who has shorter preparation than the bride and above all once dressed, if there is still too much time left at the beginning of the ceremony, he can always take off his jacket.
As I have already explained in my article dedicated to the details, I start each service by taking all the accessories that will be worn by the groom and I find a nice spot to be able to photograph them properly.
Then once I become familiar with the environment and the people around me, I start photographing the groom or bride as they get ready. Sometimes it happens that the spouses are in the same location, so everything becomes much easier.
But it happens that the two future spouses get ready each in their own home, or rather in the home of their respective parents.
The location certainly offers more inspiration because sometimes it happens that there is a bit of mess or too many people around in the houses. So is much easier to find spots with good light and not too many thing in the frame.
It is a festive moment in which, beyond a little nervousness and impatience, people usually toast and get ready in joy with their closest relatives and wedding witnesses.
First look
Some couples, before the ceremony begins, sneak away for a first romantic look before becoming husband and wife.
It’s a very intimate moment, the emotion is sky high!
It is the first time that the two meet in wedding dresses. Newlyweds can take their time to look at each other, kiss and hug each other before anyone else sees them.
It is a wonderful moment to capture, and more and more couples in recent years decide to treat themselves to this magical moment. Think about it!
The ceremony
The ceremony is the highlight of the day. Finally those two people on the altar are declared husband and wife! yay!
The ceremony can be civil or religious. The religious one usually takes place in church. In Italy we have a huge amount of beautiful churches, full of frescoes and statues of important artists. And, for those who decide to get married in the summer, the church is certainly a cool place where guests can refresh themselves from the sultry heat.
Usually the religious ceremony lasts about an hour. It really depends on who says the mass. If the priest knows the bride and groom, it can happen that he goes on talking and having fun stories about the two newlyweds.
Photographing the religious ceremony has times and rhythms that the sacrament unfolds. There are moments, such as the blessing of hosts, for example, when photographers, out of respect for the spouses and the Church, stand still and listen to the mass. Usually it last about an hour.
The civil ceremony instead is much freer from all the rules of religious marriage. Often they are held outdoors, and to celebrate the wedding there is usually a close friend or relative of the two future spouses. Surely you can give free rein to the imagination in carrying out the ceremony, which in many cases lasts much less than the religious function.
Usually the foreign spouses who come to Italy to celebrate the wedding are already married previously in their hometown, so the ceremony is a purely symbolic moment in which the exchange of the wedding rings takes place, the spouses say their vows and the celebrant makes a nice speech about the two in front of him.
Surely this kind ceremony lasts much less than the religious one.
The shortest one I attended lasted 20 minutes!
Okay, with the ceremony we can say that we arrived about halfway through the day!
Read the next article to find out how many other emotions your wedding day will make you experience!
So thi article was about a typical wedding day pt.1. Read part 2 here!
All the photos were taken for Clementin Photo | Les Amis Photo | Joy Photographers | Laura Stramacchia
