Why You Should Book Rehearsal Dinner Photography | Mike and Sarah Gather With Family The Day Before Their Wedding
One of the things to consider when planning your wedding day photography is whether you would like to have the rehearsal dinner portion captured.
Whether you’re doing a formal or informal rehearsal dinner: a sit down dinner or a casual BBQ, like Sarah and Mike did, there are lots of good reasons why you should have your rehearsal dinner photographed.
What are they?
Here are my top reasons to have a wedding photographer photograph your rehearsal dinner:
You can thank visitors and spend more personal time with guests. The wedding day can get busy, and having the chance to connect with guests at the rehearsal dinner - and have those memories in photographs - will just add richness to your wedding memories.
You can get LOTS of great candid shots when you’re not in your wedding attire, which is really nice for allowing you more freedom of movement and making you feel more comfortable
You can make time for group or family shots - reducing the number of group photographs you need to take on your wedding day, and leaving you with more time to enjoy yourself at your wedding
You have a little extra sneak peek into your life before you got married!
Your families can meet the photographer and feel more comfortable with them on your wedding day
Photographing Sarah and Mike’s Rehearsal Dinner: The Family Photos
When we planned to photograph Sarah and Mike’s rehearsal dinner, we really wanted to make sure that all the important family shots were captured.
They weren’t looking for anything stuffy and formal, mind you. They just wanted the folks who were near and dear to their heart photographed as a group!
This is why having me, their photographer, at their rehearsal dinner made so much sense.
We could take time to get a bunch of group photos on the Friday at the rehearsal, and reduce the amount of time we would need to take group photos on the Saturday, their actual wedding day.
So that’s exactly what we did!
We made time for some quick and easy group photos! We did the majority of these inside the house, as it was really lovely and well lit. White walls are a photographer’s dream, you know! (well, at least… this photographer)
Photographing Real and Candid Moments During the Rehearsal Dinner
Once we got the group shots out of the way, the rest of the photographs during the rehearsal dinner could capture truly candid moments…
of Mike’s sister and her family, along with her adorable kiddo and his doting grandma!
the boys trying to find something to watch on Netflix, while killing time in the basement
the hilarious moments when Sarah and Mike embraced and made faces at each other, then laughed… in fact, I kept this whole series of photographs in their gallery because I simply couldn’t choose one.
the heartwarming photos of Sarah and her gran, giving each other warm hugs and then sharing a laugh
Sarah and Jess, trying to pose seriously, but then making faces and laughing.
finally, Mike hanging out with the boys (Sarah’s dad and brother) at the BBQ. I created a whole series, because it’s important to capture different points of view (just like in a movie!)
It’s difficult to put into words exactly how much more these photographs added to the overall gallery.
As you can see, there are moments we captured here that are irreplaceable.
I’ll be blogging their wedding soon, but until then, I hope you enjoy this little rehearsal dinner blog post. And I hope you consider having your very own rehearsal dinner photographed :)