I know, I know. People have made countless blog posts about why hiring a great photographer is important I’m sure. To be honest with you, I haven’t checked how many have been written but I wanted to share my experience with you about not only hiring a great photographer but hiring one who can capture your wedding details and why it’s important.
I was talking to my friend Cat Galleti who’s an amazing Fine Art Film Photographer and I was telling her about why I love detailed shots. We were talking about flatlays and why we both love them so much. What I told her is something I share with all of my clients but I realized it’s something I should share with you too because it’s information that shouldn’t be withheld from anyone. You see, I have been married for 12.5 years and I can now look back and see this important detail but if you just got engaged or are set to be married soon, you may not know this. So I wanted to share it with you today.
I think details are important, I have always thought that and on our wedding day I had our photographer take photos of my shoes on a pretty pillow and our wedding invitation in several ways as well as capture more details than normal. At the time (12.5 years ago) flatlays were unheard of and I myself didn’t even know what they were but I know I wanted detailed shots of everything I could possibly think of. So he took those shots! My makeup, perfume, shoes, wedding invitation, reception details, programs, you name it. We have shots of things that even seemed insignificant at that time but here’s the thing…..
What happens to our memory? What happens to your memory weeks from a special moment you had? What happens to your memory of a specific day a couple of years from then? What about 10 years later? What about 20 or more years from that date? You see, we can’t possibly remember every single day of our lives or in this case, the small little details. We remember special moments. We engrave them in our minds but after a while, those tiny details start to fade only leaving the big memorable moments behind. A good analogy is like looking at a photograph, now imagine it starts to lose focus on the edges only leaving the middle of the photograph in focus. Everything else around is blurry. That’s what kind of happens to our memories after time.
My 10 year old daughter swears she remembers every detail of when we took her to Disneyland at the age of 3. Do you have memories of when you were 3? I only have one memory at that age (my birthday party) but even then, it’s not all there. I remember lining up to take a picture with all of my cousins and I swear that I can still remember the taste of the buttercream from my cake, but that is all. You remember moments but they are faded. It’s just human nature unfortunately. Do you know why my daughter thinks she remembers Disneyland so well? I have a pretty great hypothesis…..It’s probably because we have 2 whole printed photo albums of that vacation and it’s something she used to look at on a daily basis. She used to ask us about the photos and what we were doing so those photos either became her memories or she still remembers because she looked at the photos all the time. Trust me, she doesn’t remember when we were at the hotel (no pics of that exist!).
A day such as your wedding day is different because we are older of course and we can retain memory much better than when we are young, but the same still applies. We start losing most of the details and only retain the most important parts. It’s not something that is supposed to be sad. It’s just how we are built. So now let’s talk about my wedding photos and my experience and why I can talk to you about this…..
For one, I don’t remember the whole day. I didn’t have a planner (that day lead me to want to be a planner but that’s a story for another day) and the whole day seemed like it flew by. So minus points for me on that one! The things I do remember from that day are the big important details such as walking down the aisle, seeing my handsome husband, etc. The BIG moments. I am lucky to say that I remember more from my day thanks to my awesome photos. One thing I can tell you for certain that I do not remember is what we ate. The only reason I know what we had is because of the photos my photographer took! I don’t have to look through my storage to try and find my wedding invitation, I have a beautiful photo of it. If my kids want to know what shoes I wore? Theres a photo of that. Our centerpieces, the decor, the perfume, lipstick and jewelry I wore, our food and even what the venue looked like (the venue doesn’t exist anymore so it’s not like we can go look at it, but it’s great having photos of that!)
But Erika, aren’t moments with your loved ones important as well? Well of course they are! I would like to think most (hopefully all) photographers know that but this blog post isn’t about that. It’s about the extras. Those details are important as well.
YOUR WEDDING DAY DETAILS ARE LIKE THE CONJUNCTIONS AND TRANSITION STATEMENTS ON A PARAGRAPH THAT HELP TIE EVERYTHING TOGETHER TO HELP TELL THE STORY OF YOUR DAY.
Trust me, not only am I speaking from experience but I am an expert at this. It’s a beautiful thing to look back at your wedding day photos 10+ years from now and remember the little details and be able to show your kids everything from your wedding day as if they were there. It’s a wonderful thing to see them and feel like it just happened yesterday. Hiring a photographer that will not only be able to shoot important moments but your wedding details is important because having these photos means you can remember more from that day, you can look back and reminisce any time you want helping you hold these moments for a lifetime.
SCHEDULE AN INTRODUCTORY CALL ⟶
A beautifully-designed celebration.
allow ERIKA SANDOVAL EVENTS to create