Published on Brown Paper for Bessie on Tuesday 12 March 2013
What’s in a kiss? JEMIMAH CLEGG explores the importance of the wedding kiss…
The day is finally here. You’ve been waiting so long, you’ve been talking about it for what seems like forever and you can barely contain your excitement anymore.
It’s your wedding…photographs finally arriving on a disk in the mail! You hurriedly open the Australia Post CD pack and tap at the desk impatiently as your computer makes that whirring, disk loading noise.
But wait…ughhh…what is that? And what!? They missed it. They missed that pivotal moment where you became a ‘Mrs’ instead of a ‘Miss’. The kiss.
Earlier this year, a Victorian couple sued their photographer for failing to capture ‘the kiss’.
So should the kiss be a staple of all wedding albums?
Brown Paper for Bessie wanted to know, so we went straight to the source – a professional wedding photographer.
Jen Regan from Anna Rose Photography says she missed the kiss once, back when she was new to the business.
“It was quick and I wasn’t as au fait with the elements of different church ceremonies. Catholics generally kiss before Protestants, for example,” she said.
“I knew I hadn’t captured it and before I could recover they had already pulled apart. I felt a pit of despair in my stomach. In my mind I was already reading the email, ‘Dear Jen, Thanks for all our photos. Just one question … there was no kiss shot…’”
Luckily, this particular couple never mentioned the kiss miss and were happy with their photographs.
Jen said moments like the first kiss are on every couple’s hit list when it comes to their wedding photographs.
“For all the arty stuff we love to capture, there are still key moments that I consider essential to telling the story of this rite of passage – the first kiss being one of them.”
So what are the other key shots people expect their wedding photographer to get? Here’s what we think….
- The bride’s dress hanging up before she puts it on
- Detail shots of the bride and bridesmaid’s accessories
- The bride looking bride-y
- The bouquet
- The rings
- The bride with her family and bridesmaids…in all different combinations
- The groom waiting for the bride
- The bride in the car, getting out of the car and standing next to the car
- Details of the ceremony setting, decorations and people waiting
- The bride being escorted to the place of marriage
- Exchanging of the rings
- THE KISS
- Signing the official documents
- The bride and groom holding the marriage certificate
- Meeting and greeting friends and family after the ceremony
- All the posed, traditional family shots with all the possible family combos
- Bride and groom looking love-y, posing traditionally and being silly
- Bride and bridesmaids and the bride and groomsmen
- Groom and groomsmen and the groom and bridesmaids
- Entire bridal party – some posed, some silly
- Details of the reception room
- The cake
- Bridal party entering reception
- Speeches
- Toasts
AND…if your photographer is staying all night…
- First Dance
- Cutting the cake (Some photographers will do a ‘fake’ shot of this if they won’t be there for the real moment)
- Throwing the bouquet
That is A LOT of photographs! We really do expect miracles from our wedding photographers. Jen said couples should remember it takes a professional to get all these shots…and get them beautifully.
“More and more couples are placing professional photography further down on their list of importance. After all, their uncle has a good camera and he has offered to do it for free.”
She said there are times when these moments can’t be captured, but for the most part a professional should be able to get them.
“Weddings are fluid events. We cannot control all the players. We can’t step in and stop a ceremony. We just need to roll with it and try to have the presence of mind to capture all these fleeting events as professionally as possible.”
In her nine years as a wedding photographer, Jen has never missed the kiss again. “I am in full concentration mode during every ceremony,” she said.
So make sure you do your research when choosing your photographer. Check out their previous work, get personal recommendations from friends whose wedding photos you like…and maybe linger a bit longer when you kiss your groom!
Jemimah Clegg 