Top Tips on Capturing Insta-worthy Wedding Photos

DesignDawgs recently caught up with Daniela Grafman from Vision Event Co., a unique entertainment and event planning company based in New York City. The company has consistently produced and coordinated several events, which called for top notch entertainment captured with high quality images. Due to Grafman’s experience, we felt she would be one of the best people to give us her top tips on how to make sure entertainment and photography teams work together to create everlasting memories. Here is what she had to say:

An experienced photographer is certainly a part of the equation, but have you thought about how your entertainment team can help as well? We surveyed some of our area’s top wedding photographers asking how we, and other entertainment companies, can help get those cherished photo ops. These are the top 3 tips we received:

#1 Locate Everyone For Key Moments

“Experienced teams always make sure the photographer/videographer team are on location/ready before starting speeches, parent dances, cake cutting, etc.” says Nelson Diaz of NylaGray Photography. We always recommend that extra paper copies of a timeline be printed and shared with all vendors on the day of your event. Of course, everyone’s reviewed these details beforehand, but that extra reassurance doesn’t hurt.

#2 Lighting Makes all the Difference

“Uplights fill the room with color that makes for beautiful photos. It’s an inexpensive way to fill a ballroom (often empty, dull, and white) with some color. I tell everyone to get them.” says Sherry Sutton of Sherry Sutton Photography. On the flip side, we’re told that it is nearly impossible to compete with a moving dance light so keep the moving head lights for the dance party and simply have a white spotlight for the key moments (e.g. first dance, cake cutting, etc.).

#3 Your Emcee Makes All The Difference

Veronica Yankowski of VeroLuce Photography said it best…”the Emcee directs people as to when certain moments are going to happen. I love when we set up for cake cutting and the Emcee announces it and says that everyone needs to stand behind the professional photographer and reiterates that family and friends need to leave me room to do my job instead of blocking me with their cell phones. And during dances I usually let him know when I have gotten the photos I need and he can invite others on the dance floor to join the couple.” A quick meet and greet between all your vendors on the event day will go a long way for a seamless production.

As most event professionals can attest to, teamwork really does make the dream work.

Daniela Grafman is a Certified Wedding & Event Planner, coordinating and planning weddings, corporate, and non-profit events for a wide range of clientele. She has been assisting in the growth of Vision Event Co. as the Partner & Special Events Coordinator for the last 4 years focusing on event coordination and entertainment production. A native New Yorker, she received her BA from Fordham University and is fluent in four languages. She currently serves as a board member for the NJ North Chapter of the International Special Events Society.

Instagram: @visionsofd & @visioneventco

Facebook: Facebook.com/daniela.grafman & Facebook.com/VisionEventPlanning

Twitter: @visioneventco

Featured image of Marc and Drew captured by NylaGray Photography