After photographing 500+ weddings, and more than 50% of those having a first time officiant (usually a friend or family member), we thought it was about time to share a few of our best tips! If you’re a bride or groom to be and are going to use someone you know personally to officiate, send them this link to help them along!
1) Tell everyone to take their seats
We have photographed entire ceremonies with all of the guests standing. Go back and read that again. 20+ minutes with people standing The. Entire. Time. The poor officiant is usually nervous, and they totally forget to add in a key line to their agenda- “You may now be seated”.
Save the feet of your friends and family and let your officiant know how important this step is before they dive into the formalities of your ceremony!
2) Tell the couple to face each other and hold hands
Quite often couples get to the front of the aisle and totally freeze! So many eyes are on you and you’re experiencing such a big moment, sometimes you just don’t think to yourself “what should I do with my hands?!”. Have your officiant add this reminder in before they begin speaking to cue you two to cozy up and connect during this once in a lifetime moment. You’ll be glad they did!
3)Step to the side for the first kiss
While I don’t think this is 100% required, often times the officiant is making a funny face or standing really close to the couple during this quick moment! If you want to minimize any extra distractions in your first kiss photo, your officiant can simply take one or two steps to the left or the right before inviting you to share your first kiss as husband and wife!
We have lots more tips we could give, but for now we’ll leave it at the top 3 ;) Our JDP clients know they can ask us anytime for extra tips as needed.
Looking for more wedding planning inspo? Check out our blog on planning a wedding day without a first look right here.
Happy plannning!
Ashley
