Hey friends, happy Friday! I am off to photograph a lovely couple’s wedding at Hudson Farms in Urbana, IL tomorrow. The past two weeks I have had wedding free, soaking up as much summer weekend fun as I can. Prior to these past two weekends, I photographed not one.. not two.. but THREE weddings over Memorial Day weekend!
With that being said, I wanted to share with you all some insights from those three days. Oh, and a handful of behind the scenes photos.
The week prior to the weekend, I prepared in any and all ways possible for the weekend. I communicated frequently with my brides as well as any vendors to make sure we were all on the same page for each wedding day.
The biggest ‘prep’ was a master schedule. I spent an entire afternoon mapping out each and every aspect of the weekend. This preparation included hotel reservation info, determining where we would eat breakfast before each day and even reminders on tasks (ie backing up, culling, editing 3-5 sneak peeks) after each day.
^^^on the morning of wedding #3, this chocolate peanut butter banana pancake was a MUST have to share for our table.
31 hours of work in 3 days is A LOT! Healthy snacks, water, liquid IV (obsessed!), comfortable shoes, ibuprofen, etc.
In addition to trying to hydrate frequently and pay attention to how I was feeling, the best decision I made was to have an assistant tag along all weekend. Alison was INCREDIBLE! She tagged along for the weekend made sure my second shooter Alisa and I were taken care of. Whether that was helping me switch lenses quickly, fluffing veils, carrying equipment.. she was the go-to girl and it was amazing.
And by don’t sweat the small stuff.. I mean, don’t be afraid to rent a car if it means keeping your sanity. On the Thursday before the weekend began, my parking brake sensor decided break and let me know by beeping at full volume the entire time the car was in drive. I’ll be honest and admit at the time it happened, I had a slight breakdown. With the nervous anticipation of the weekend, the tears were flowing as I called John to vent about what was happening.
After my brief freak out, I quickly realized that if my car was the only issue I had all weekend.. everything would be just fine. I made the decision to rent a car for peace of mind and sanity. Lucky for me, I got this bright blue RAV4 for the weekend!
While the concept of photographing three weddings in one weekend is a lot, remember it’s what you love to do. Take each wedding day one at a time and soak up all of the moments you love about each. After all, you get to witness not one but THREE couples saying ‘I Do’!
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