Bride Hacks

How not to look awkward in wedding photos

Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life and you want to look good in your wedding photos right? What do you do if you're feeling really nervous about having your photo taken? North East based photographer Edward Ashley from our REAL Directory has come up with five really helpful ways to not look awkward in your wedding photographs.

Edward Ashley

When I meet couples who are planning their wedding, I always seem to get asked how the brides and grooms in my pictures look so relaxed and natural. Well, here’s the secret to not looking awkward and posed in your wedding pictures:

1. Get to know your wedding photographer

Dancing with crazy lights

This is so important. If you feel awkward around your wedding photographer, you will look awkward in your wedding photos. Regardless of price, the package on offer, or whether your photographer has photographed at your venue before, make sure you get on well with them.

If you feel relaxed and at ease with your photographer, this will really come across in the photographs. You’ll also feel more able to approach them if you want to suggest a certain idea for a picture, or if you don’t feel comfortable with a certain photograph they’re trying to take.

2. Have an engagement/pre-wedding photoshoot

Couple walking through forest

Having an engagement shoot can be really useful too. It means that you can get used to having your pictures taken, as unless you’re a celebrity or a model, it’ll probably be a new experience having a professional photographer walking round taking pictures of you. If you’re familiar with this process before your wedding day, then it’ll be super-easy on the day itself and any inhibitions you have about it will have already been addressed.

3. Keep your photographer in the loop

Bride with beaded gown and pale pink roses kissing groom

Make sure your photographer knows what’s happening and when on your wedding day. This means you can plan with them exactly when you want to have some portraits taken of the two of you. If you know this is all planned and sorted out beforehand, then you’ll be more relaxed on the day and can just enjoy the moment, which will make for much better photographs.

After an engagement shoot, I always pop for a coffee (or sometimes something stronger!) with couples so that we can chat all about the exciting wedding plans in detail and get to know each other properly.

4. Remember how good you look

Bride with hair in rollers

It’s your wedding day. This means you’ll have most likely spent ages choosing the right jewellery, deliberating what make-up and/or make-up artist to use, and choosing between different hair stylists. How many other days do you have trial runs at hair and make-up for? And you’ll have spent weeks, if not months, deciding on what to wear. So rest assured that you’ll feel totally confident and amazing. All of your lovely guests will comment on how much they love what you’re wearing – and they really will mean it.

So don’t worry about how you’ll look in your photos. If you feel amazing, you’ll look amazing.

5: It’s all about keeping it real!

Bride and groom laughing - bridal hair ponytail

When I’m spending time with brides and grooms taking their portraits on their wedding day, I’m looking for something real. A real smile, a real laugh, a real kiss. I want your wedding photographs to be an honest and true reflection of you and all the amazing emotions you are feeling on what really is one of the best days of your life. So the best piece of advice I can give is be real, be yourself, be who the person standing opposite you fell in love with. Be you.

Thanks to Edward Ashley for this fantastic article.

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Ed Ashley

Written by ed_ashley

​I’m Ed and I’m a photographer based in the North East of England. I love having breakfast outside in the sunshine, travelling to new places and spending quality time with my family. I also have an unhealthy obsession with cheese!