a double shot of espresso

7:30am. It’s wedding day, so I’m up early grabbing a double shot of espresso. In his vows, my husband JM promised to make or get me coffee every day we wake up together, and today is no exception. Typically my go to drink is a chai but a long day calls for a heavy hitter.

Even while the coffee starts kicking in, I like to start the morning of a wedding day as chill as possible. I don’t leave the house or run any errands so I can best prepare myself to be on my feet all day. Wedding days are looooong – like, real long sometimes – so conserving energy is a must first thing in the morning.

Then it’s getting ready time

Fun fact and a little behind the scenes story time. So the first wedding I ever shot I did a full face of makeup. I wanted to look and feel my best. To me, makeup takes on a form of creativity and I love playing around with it. But I quickly learned that number one, nobody cares about the way you look, and number two: I’m working my butt off on wedding day, which means by the end I’m a sweaty mess. These realities don’t mesh with a full face of makeup!

So when I’m searching for makeup, I’m no longer someone who finds something on social media or gets the next trendy product. (But don’t worry, like everyone makeup still stays in my algorithm.) Instead, I’m asking myself if this is something that’s going to make my face break out or can it be worn for 12+ hour wedding days. If the answer is no (and yes), it’s much more likely to be in the bag.

my wedding content creator personal attire

My go-to outfit comprises three things: does it match the vibe of the wedding day, is it uniformed, and does it feel like me?

Rarely but occasionally, the couple or the planner has requested something else. One of the benefits of getting to know my couples so well is that I learn a lot of different facets about them.

Some of my couples want me there as a vendor – which means I wear my outfit to blend in with my surroundings and the other vendors. Other couples want me there as a guest. If that’s the case, I will dress the part and take into consideration the location, attire and vibe they are going for at their wedding.

My absolute favorite go-to dress is this dress from Abercrombie. It comes in six colors, and yes, I do own them all. And okay, I may have more than one in Black. How else are you supposed to shoot two back-to-back weddings?

time to leave

Jenna and Ryan’s wedding was in NYC, which was so nice because it means I can drive to the venue. Parking? That’s always another story. JM is my logistics support for wedding day, so he always has that part figured out for us. Thankfully there was tons of parking at the venue in Brooklyn!

I showed up on time at 9am and by the end of the day, had stayed for about 13 hours of coverage! Even though this is a pretty typical day for me, y’all – if you’re getting married, don’t be surprised if other vendors’ packages are 6-8 hours. We all have a different job to do on your wedding day and each vendor is different!

laur’s tip for couples

I usually recommend 10 hours of coverage for all of my couples, though my minimum is 8 hours. When telling the story of your wedding day, I need to be there for enough time to really capture the many moments you never want to forget. By getting there early, I’m typically there before your photo and video team arrive, which has me there for the candid and fun morning moments, all the way through the dance party at the reception. That gets you a full & well-rounded day of wedding coverage.

There is an indescribable feeling on a wedding morning. It is sweet, it usually smells like bagels and mimosas, and there is a little anxiety in the air. This is why it’s my favorite time to show up because I get to be apart of these moments with you! I’m helping ensure things are running smoothly, you have everything you need, and always willing to lend a hand where needed. Mostly though, I’m a fly on the wall documenting you and your loved ones’ transformations!

By prepping before your wedding day, I’ve learned a lot about you and what you want to remember. There are lots of moving parts to your wedding day, so one thing we ask is if you want trend-forward content or if you want videos that tell the story of your day. As a wedding content creator, my time to grab content is added into the timeline by the wedding planner, so this is built in as part of that getting ready time.

Typically my couples want a mixture of both emotional content and trends. We make sure all of the morning things are filmed before you are done getting ready. With Jenna, we filmed a bit in the morning and made sure all of those trends she wanted were crossed off.!

my second shooter arrives

Around noon, John Michael showed up and we did a walk through of the venue. Jenna was still in hair and makeup, but I had a couple minutes to spare. When I can I like to take moments to scout the location we will be at – is there a cool wall, maybe an elevator to do some fun shots in, a different vantage point… So we headed to scout the location and in the process were able grab some photos and videos of the venue transforming.

laurs tip for couples

You’ve done a lot of work to prepare for this big day and have put so much time into all of the planning. But one unfortunate part of it being YOUR big day, is that you miss out on some of those things since there is so much going on. By having your wedding content creator capture behind the scenes photos and videos of spaces transforming, you are able to watch your big day come to life even though you don’t get to watch it in real time.

After a little scouting it was time for me to head back to the bridal suite and John Michael headed to hang with the guys!

When a bride gets into her dress, it’s a part of the day that I love so much because it goes from a chill, laid back, relaxing morning into game time mode. There’s a little more nervous energy and so much excitement. This is such a great time for us to capture those raw and natural emotions of every moment.

From then on we are dialed in on the timelines provided to us by the wedding planners. Jenna and Ryan opted to do a first look with private vows.

a well-oiled machine

Capturing our content primarily comes when everyone is ready and after the first look. We are a well-oiled machine when it comes to getting the shots we need. We use this time to film all of the endings of the TikTok trends you are wanting and cranking those out quickly. Also getting a bunch of shots of you and partner together – and also just capturing all the little things that are happening in the background. Like the flower girl who was playing with her race cars during family portraits, or how Jenna’s sister stood on her veil to make sure it didn’t fly off in the wind!

time to say i do

Before the ceremony starts, John Michael and I head to the ceremony location before the guests arrive. We can chat with the rest of the members of the media team to see where everyone plans to stand to get the shots they need. This helps us know where everyone will be so we aren’t in each others shots.

a favorite moment of laur’s

There is the moment I love right before the ceremony where there is so much going on and emotions are so high. Everyone is getting in place and you’re about to walk down the aisle. I love to capture this moment! I get to experience it with almost every single one of my clients and it’s an honor that makes me just love what I do!

I have a bit of a different philosophy on the ceremony. I capture everyone walking, lots of reaction shots, some pull back shots of the entire space and I do walk around a tiny bit. But I believe that your photographer and videographer are always going to get better shots of the ceremony. They have lenses they can change up and are able to move around and get farther away. I definitely get some shots of these moments, but this is a time where I let the other members of the media team shine.

the instagram takeover

We always joke that it’s not a wedding day until someone tells me not to post the bride online before she walks down the aisle – which y’all I promise I never have done!

Jenna and Ryan opted for an Instagram takeover on their wedding day. This is an optional add-on, but lots of my couples choose to do one. This means that I have been shooting and drafting posts all day, and this is the time when they come to life. I’m a mad woman during cocktail hour perfecting and posting all of these things we’ve been working on!

This is such a fun way to include your community (whether that is followers you have or family members who couldn’t make it) on your wedding day to make them feel like they are there with you on your big day. I like to call this the movie teaser – where it’s some shots and moments from the day (not all) but gets everyone excited for when the couples decide to post their photos/videos after their wedding!

dance the night away

With Jenna and Ryan’s wedding, my coverage time included some – but not all – of their reception. What does this look like, you ask? During the reception I’m out on the dance floor with your guests, capturing the many, mini-moments of fun and joy that guests share in together. Some families have a song they all sing together, and some cultures have a dance they all dance together. It isn’t just fun to take part in this, it’s often the best part of the job.

For the couple getting married, all of the stress of the day is behind you. It’s your turn to have fun with your friends and family

If you have an outfit change, I’m always there to capture this as well. Usually I stick around for a couple of the first dances and a little more reception before I head out for the next part of my job.

second shift begins

Every wedding vendor has their wedding vice. Like, I’m not normally someone who drinks Diet Coke. But on a wedding day you’re 100% gonna find me at the bar grabbing a Diet Coke. It’s like this craving that I only get when I work weddings. So before I check out for the evening, I make sure to grab a Diet Coke for the road because yeah, we’ve got a long night ahead!

When we get home, I begin to upload all of the raw photo and video files I’ve taken throughout the day. Because I shoot so many weddings with my husband, oftentimes this sounds like: “omg, did you see this? stunning” and “I can’t believe I got this on video – it’s incredible.”

Uploading mostly means that we are smiling at all of the photos and videos we have from the wedding.

My Roman Empire

Playing with wedding footage and transforming these photos and videos is my Roman Empire – I think about it constantly. Especially in the aftermath of a wedding day, I know what looked good while recording and know instinctually which moments will translate to amazing photos and videos. But, getting to sit down and sift through all of it and make magic out of it is so much fun. Most of the time, I can’t even believe this is my job–even when it’s 3am and I’m uploading the final clip and sending out the magic email…”your gallery is here!”