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Proud pup mom, type A creative, lover of the outdoors, Top Chef fan girl, and wedding and portrait photographer. Welcome to the blog!
HI, I'M RACHEL!
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Today I’m going to help you pick your wedding venue! Yay! There are obviously lots of things to consider when selecting your wedding venue, but today I’m asking you to consider photography ready wedding venues when you’re making your list of places to check out. What do I mean by photography ready wedding venues? I’ll explain…
Let’s back up a little. Your wedding photographs are one of the few items you will have to cherish on a daily basis after your wedding day is over. You’ll have your wedding jewelry and your photographs – that’s pretty much it. That’s why we wedding photogs take this job so seriously! We want you to have quality images that will stand the test of time and be something you’re proud to hand down to the generations that follow you. IMHO, it’s best to set your wedding photographer and the photographs they create up for success from the beginning! Why not choose a wedding venue that’s great for photography?!
Here are my three tips to choosing great photography ready wedding venues:
1. Choose a venue that has white walls and ceilings.
The biggest component of photography is light. Light is the boss. As a natural light photographer (I use the sun as my light source to illuminate my images), my dream scenario is, of course, an entire wedding day that takes place outdoors. That doesn’t normally happen though! And that’s totally OK. A close second to the completely outdoor wedding would be if the getting ready locations have large windows and white walls & ceilings, as well as if any other indoor locations – like the reception room – also have white walls and ceilings. Natural light or even flash bouncing off white walls & ceilings provides nice, clean light for our images without any weird color casts and as a bonus, makes the editing process *much* easier & faster. This one is especially important to think about when choosing a location for an outdoor wedding. Why? What if it rains?? You’ll be moving your entire day indoors & you’ll want to be sure you’re still getting the quality of images you wanted for your outdoor wedding. A wedding venue with white walls & ceilings are sure to get you beautiful, clean, bright images.
This wedding took place at the Bellevue Conference Center in Chantilly, VA, and there large windows & tons of natural light in the bridal suite, as well as white ceilings & walls in the ceremony room & reception hall.
2. Choose a venue where you can get ready, get married, and celebrate all in one place.
This one might be a bit of a stretch, and I understand that. But even getting two out of three would be great! A major component to wedding photography is your wedding day timeline. In my experience, weddings where all events of the day occur in one place are much more successful at sticking to their timeline. Budgeting time for travel is smart, but that adds the variable of traffic to your day and sometimes important portions of the day get shortened to make up time. That often means cutting the newlywed portrait time down and that really breaks my heart! Doing at least two of the three things in one place will help ensure you get the photos that are important to you on your wedding day!
Julio & Liz’s wedding took place at Rust Manor House in Leesburg, VA, and was the perfect example of a wedding venue where they got ready, got married, and celebrated all in one (gorgeous) place!
I have to give a shout out to Rust Manor House because it actually encompasses all three of my tips! It has white walls & ceilings, you can get ready, married, and celebrate all in one place, and as the perfect segue to my next tip, has abundant portrait opportunities!
3. Choose a venue with abundant portrait opportunities.
This one is kind of a bonus, but hey – if you’re already considering photography when choosing a wedding venue, might as well think of a bonus item as well! It would be awesome to have some variety in your newlywed portraits, right? Great photography ready wedding venues will have abundant portrait opportunities in the vicinity! From gardens, to long walkways, the edge of the woods, to a field and a brick building to tall glass windows to a covered porch. Ahh! Those would all be great spots for portraits and just shows how much variety you can get in one wedding venue. If you have even three different spots in the area to switch up your portrait locations, that would be ideal!
Karlee & Matt were married at Morrison House in Old Town Alexandria. The venue is situated just off the main drag (King Street) and has abundant opportunities for wedding portraits in the surrounding quaint side streets!
HELLO@RACHELEHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
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Rachel is a wedding and portrait photographer
Serving brilliant, elegant couples in Washington D.C. + Beyond
Copyright 2022 Rachel E.H. Photography | Website by Alex Collier Design
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