You’re already taking incredible photos, but what other content should you be capturing during your weddings? Today’s episode is the second in the Shine Online series, all about creating content before, during, and after the wedding day. I’m giving you the timeline and the cheat sheet that you’ll need to record incredible behind-the-scenes footage during your next wedding.

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by the FREE Book More Weddings guide. Learn how to easily capture behind the scenes video for organic referrals, local followers, and increased brand awareness. You want to make sure you have this before your next wedding! 

Review the Show Notes: 

Wedding Day Break Down (5:47)

Getting Ready (8:00)

The First Look (10:19)

The Wedding Party (11:11)

The Ceremony (11:38)

Family Portraits (12:31)

Cocktail Hour (14:05)

Reception (14:41)

Sunset Vibes (16:52)

Last Dance Or Exit (17:29)

Bonus Triggers (18:25)

If This Is Too Overwhelming (20:16)

Mentioned In This Episode:

The Green House

Episode 027: Showcasing Vendors to Amplify Your Weddings

Review the Transcript:

Moments before we were ready to run out the door and start wedding party portraits. You know that chaos in the glam we’re getting ready room wear eyelashes are being glued on last minute. And there’s just so much chaos going on, people are scrambling and trying to put their shoes on and shoes are getting mixed up and dresses are being passed around.

There’s just so much going on in the morning before the wedding. Now we were in a hurry to go get some portraits done before the first look, but just the girls like just the bride and her bridesmaids and her mom. All of a sudden, one of the bridesmaids starts low key freaking out that there was no ribbon or string to properly secure the Locket of the bride’s grandmother onto her bouquet, like onto the bride’s bouquet. I saw this kind of unfolding and as soon as I started seeing what was going on and catching up with the panic mode, I just engaged right away and I just locked into critical thinking mode and how I can help make this happen.

I literally start searching for things. I’m not going to people’s bags, of course, but like trying to kind of like hint out like hey, like, you know, do you think you might have something for this? And one of the bridesmaids was so worried she was thinking, Okay, can I like run to target?

Can I go do something? How can I help find this string because you know, those little oh shit kits like little wedding day emergency kits, the thread in there, which is way too thin to hold this really heavy and obviously very special locket. And so that’s just wasn’t going to work. And so I had the opportunity to kind of step back and see all of this chaos unfold. I was second shooting for one of my besties in the industry. Her name is Courtney Bosworth.

We were actually photographing at the Grand ivory venue in Texas. So I mean, I was already in heaven photographing that wedding and stepping it up really hard to take a whole bunch of behind the scenes for Courtney and we were just having so much fun. And so because I wasn’t in it in it, right. Like I was just assisting, I took some time to think about this. And so all of a sudden, I just realized, you know what, oh my gosh, I was kind of scanning the room and I saw you know those Okay, they’re like really annoying strings. I was like armpit strings in the bridesmaids dresses are typically most gowns that you know, as girls get.

Well, I thought oh my gosh, I wonder if that is going to be long enough to wrap around the bouquet and secure the locket. I started going around to some of the bridesmaids and I was asking hey, do you mind if I cut this string out and one girl of course there’s always a bridesmaid it’s it’s not paying attention.

And she’s looking at me like what the heck and then another bridesmaid runs up to me with scissors. And it’s like I got it. I got it. And a couple more bridesmaids are reading up like shoving their boobs in my face. Like please cut mine out. Like I think that’s genius. So I use the scissors cut them out. And it worked perfectly. And then I took my phone.

While Courtney was actually you know, I grabbed the string and gave it to Courtney. She was the one that helped one of the bridesmaids secure it to the bouquet and I recorded it I just looked at my phone. And it is to this day, one of my most viewed tech talks like it really went viral.

I just wanted to share that little moment how that is a great example of showcasing your critical thinking, experience and ability to put out some smoke before it actually becomes a fire. Okay, so for date for today’s episode, I’m going to dive in really deep and wide actually going to give you tons of ideas to help capture behind the scenes and build a huge content bank during your next wedding. Okay, let’s go.

Welcome to Quianna Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at Kiana murray.com/podcast. Join me as I share with you motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Loves though. Okay, great.

So what should I be recording? Are we as photographers and wedding vendors just waiting for like, you know, crap to hit the fan? Like, are we just waiting for emergencies? So we can document stuff and then try to go viral on social media, right? I don’t want to put that energy out there. I am always good vibes. Like we don’t want to like assume that bad things are gonna happen. So what should we be looking for on a wedding day?

We are prepared and we are ready to capture and honestly like just creating these checkpoints is really going to help break things down because I don’t want you to feel like oh well since Kiana said I have to capture a whole bunch of behind the scenes like obviously don’t disregard like the reason why you’re there you are showing up on a wedding day to deliver an incredible wedding experience and to capture literally the most epic and genuine and editorial slash real life photos ever, right? So that is always our like badge of honor. But like I mentioned before in the previous episodes like, this is why this is so important for us to capture behind the scenes.

Other people can see your magic and want to invest in you and ultimately booking more business and booking more dream weddings. So back to my question earlier, like, okay, so what do we know what to look for? So we’re not just randomly recording a whole bunch of crap. Okay, so let’s break down the timeline with a trigger to help remind you to record and then stick around for the end for an even easier cheat sheet to help you develop a strong Content Collection at your next wedding.

All right, let’s start with a wedding breakdown. So I want to start with the getting ready stuff where you are like actually getting ready the morning of the wedding. And so you wake up in the morning, or what do you got going on? Okay, are you getting your coffee? Are you picking up your second lead photographer like are you guys actually carpooling together? Are you jamming through a Starbucks line? What are you wearing?

Are you packing snacks like for me, I love my my like crispy or burnt teas, it so whatever that is, I’m trying to get better about, like protein bars, and obviously lots and lots of water. Like, do you have a Stanley Cup? Do you have a yeti cup? Or are you just going through the nearest gas station? Because you forget your cup all the time, and you’re just picking up water?

Do you have a long drive? Like where are you actually going? Are you picking up a Diet Coke driving through your favorite drive thru? Like what does your morning look like? Do you journal in the morning? Or is it? No, this is a wedding day. And so it’s just pure chaos. The moment you open your eyes, like what happens? Do you have to drop off your kids to your mother’s house? Or does a babysitter and nanny come over? Like, these are all things that are happening in our daily lives. But most of us aren’t sharing it.

And like I mentioned before, I don’t want you to think oh my gosh, I’m not a TV show key. Like I don’t need to record every little living moment of my life. But I want to always bring it back to how can you be relatable, okay, most of our followers, most of our family and friends, like they can’t relate to the fact that we take gorgeous images and we literally have the best job ever. Most of them can’t relate to us. Okay, so how are we creating those little touch points to remind others that are real, and that we’re human, and that we are literally just living our best days.

Think of those moments that you could whip out your phone and record just three to five seconds of those moments. Okay, now, let’s break down the actual wedding day I have eight checkpoints to run through. And if you’re thinking wait a second, what do you mean like what’s going on? Like these checkpoints are just going to be triggers for you to help remind you to whip out your phone and record it whether you’re recording a three to five second video or like just an actual iphone pic. Okay, like it just a phone photo. That’s all you need. checkpoint number one getting ready.

So this is where you’ll be recording the morning chaos with the glam squad. Everyone just you know getting their hair and makeup done. Of course the details. So this is the dress hanging the invitations, sweet rings, all those sweet little heirloom moments, even if you are capturing these details next to a window on the floor in a hotel room, like well, what does that look like? Right? I love seeing the magic unfold. So I love starting up close and getting that little video of just like all the details and you know, just those gorgeous flatlays. But then I also love sharing kind of like the behind the scenes like Universal Studio moments is what I like to call them are like Disneyland moments where you pull back and you see that oh my gosh, like there’s a toddler sleeping on the bed right next to you while you’re photographing these details. Or there’s just like a whole bunch of luggage and just stuff like all over the room. But you have that little corner where you were making magic happen.

Okay, so think of those moments. Ladies clasping jewelry gentleman figuring out how to tie ties. So during my brother’s wedding day, he had such a hard time tying his tie, like they were looking up YouTube things. They were googling things. And honestly, this was a great moment for me to mention. And I think I did this one of my stories like our dad, he never tied to tie like he didn’t know how to tie a tie. My dad is like just an old school blue collar guy. He was a roofer. Even to this day, we’re actually celebrating 25 years that he became our angel and so for us like moments like that just flood so many memories.

I want you to think of things like that, that you can kind of relate to your life and they don’t have to be sad like they they don’t have to be emotional, but it is something to think about. Then of course I have one here like what are they eating for breakfast or lunch like I know this is Elliot. But typically during those moments, we sometimes have like a little mini break, like you have like a little breathing moment. So that’s a great time to capture that the guys are eating their burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches or BLTs on the deck at the golf course, right? That’s where you can get a great little pan of that. Check Point number two, the first look, walking to the first look, first look with parents, maybe a brother or a grandparent or their special family member. Time lapse for these moments are gold. Literally, you don’t even have to stress about it either. What about your tripod, which sometimes I laugh Mike who has an extra arm or an extra like armpit to hold their tripod, as we’re juggling so many things. But you don’t even need a tripod for that.

You can literally just put your phone up on something, or be really brave and ask someone to do it. Maybe there’s a sister of the bride that’s just standing there and like googling everything. Ask her to hold your phone and record it like it’s, it’s possible. And then, of course, like gift exchanges or really love notes, those are really, really special moments. And you don’t even need audio for that.

Just a little little clip of them exchanging those gifts can go a really long way. checkpoint number three, the wedding party. Okay, so this is where you’re capturing floral details, wedding dance party moments, laughter and just all those googly moments, which honestly, like to be honest, between you and me, like can be sometimes really difficult and frustrating for us because we’re trying to like corral them and stuff. But that’s a really great time to capture a lot of motion in your videos. Okay, and your behind the scenes. Checkpoint.

Number four, the ceremony, location shots, okay, this is gold for like the entire wedding vendor team that you can tag, literally every single human or every single brand or business are working on that wedding in the shots, okay, so think about wide clips, maybe even going across the street from the church, or far back enough from the ceremony site to capture it all in one shot. So capture the entire oak tree, if you’re outdoors or the entire greenhouse, like whatever is the magic of that ceremony space, make sure to go really, really wide. And then of course, keep going and closer and closer. And don’t forget to capture even more florals and decor and any special reserved seats.

So these are really special, as you know, to have reserved seats either in the front, or in the back or just somewhere that honors a guest that may be in heaven. Those are great little moments to share. checkpoint number five family portraits. All I can say is I say chaos a lot.

But just record the chaos. Okay, I have a time lapse of one of my weddings. And of me doing the it was like a wedding party. Like it started with the wedding party. And then family started trickling in. And it was like this, it seemed like a 10 minute time lapse.

Okay, maybe it was just a couple minutes long, but it went like it’s like a 22nd time lapse once I like sped it up. And I just can’t believe how many photos I had got done in that amount of time. So that is a great way to showcase your efficiency, your knowledge and your expertise when it comes to a wedding day. And I know it’s silly like it’s just all you see is you looking around like just buzzing like a little bee on a wedding day. But those are the things that matter. And that’s what future couples are looking for. Right? Like I’m not saying they’re Googling.

I want to see a time lapse of photographer photographing and family portraits. But do you see what I’m saying is like when they stumble across it, you’re going to be aligned as an expert. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to capture with these behind the scenes moments. Okay, don’t forget about family moments with the kids. Do you you know anticipate one of the groomsmen throwing his daughter who happens to be the flower girl like up in the air? Like, what does that look like grandparents and parents watching everything unfold? Like there’s nothing sweeter than having a grandparent just watched their family portraits, and you could just see how proud they are.

Those are just really special moments and I love being there to witness that. So capture those moments to check point number five, cocktail hour. Does your couple have signature drinks and maybe their dog like turned into a logo on their napkins? I have what are those details look like? Obviously, the guestbook table, do they have a very unique way of displaying their guestbook like are people signing a globe or a bench or maybe just a book made of their engagement photos like flip through that.

Then of course appetizers and guests mingling, this is another great way to capture just like a really far away shot. That’s really fun and a great way to encompass the entire situation. checkpoint number six, the reception, location views think the waterfall the lake view or some type of focal point. Oftentimes our couples literally invest like the biggest penny on their wedding venue.

They’re gonna want to see it right. So this is of course a cheat sheet for actually like your wedding gown. Are your photos, right? But think about that too, for your behind the scenes, they’re gonna want to see their like landscape views of their reception and their entire wedding experience, right. So make sure you’re capturing that for them, obviously with their photos, but of course, they’re behind the scenes capture the entire ballroom. This is where all the magic comes to live. Our couples are investing so much of their time, energy attention to detail. And of course, their hard earned dollars into this. And they haven’t seen everything coming together. Like they’ve been pinning things.

They’ve been looking at inspiration boards and mood boards from their wedding planner, and you know, all their design team, or maybe it’s just their mom and their hands throwing this together, right. But they haven’t seen everything come together at once. And I know our photos will absolutely do it justice. And of course the videography team hired, you know, will capture all the magic. But like, I want you to think about that, right. Because oftentimes, our couples unless they do a little preview, they just typically just get like ran in to the reception space, and they don’t get to see it untouched. So think about that.

That’s so important for us to capture those behind the scenes for that. And then of course, seating chart details, the bar area, the cake, don’t forget the cake and the dessert bar. If you have moments to capture the speeches, sometimes people talk a lot. So after you have a handful of photos, captured, typically we’re just kind of waiting around. So whip out your phone and capture some of those speeches.

The first dance, oh my gosh, the first dance is so special. Once again, sometimes we have a moment or two after you get those like solid shots. You can capture that and then of course, open dancing, dance party stuff with wedding guests and the wedding party, like don’t be afraid to get in there. And just kind of swirl around like Don’t make yourself dizzy with the video you’re capturing. But just capturing the life of the party is so much fun. Checkpoint.

Number seven is the sunset vibes. So walking and holding hands with your couple with them holding hands with each other, and then you capturing it and slow dances in the glowy light like this is their time, sometimes my couples will just have a moment, and where I’m just kind of like a fly on the wall or I’m kind of zooming into them. And that’s just a beautiful time to capture their love.

Make sure to capture that. And then lastly, checkpoint number eight, the last dance or the exit. So slow dances with just a couple of this is totally a like Midwest or East Coast thing that I think is getting more popular here on the west coast. But it actually wasn’t until I photographed another wedding in Texas with one of my best friends Amanda rose with AGS photo art. That was the first wedding that I ever experienced, like kicking everybody out to line them up for the sparkler exit like literally it was like 1130 at night and then the couple enjoyed a slow dance together just the two of them. That was a really sweet so anyway, just make sure that you’re capturing that the end of the night. And then of course, the the sparkler exit that is just so much fun.

Now remember, this was a lot of information. And literally I just went through like almost an entire timeline and of the wedding day. And so I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed that I’m just encouraging you and challenging you to capture three to five second video clips per checkpoint.

Okay, I hope these are just kind of like ingrained in your mind at your next wedding to just capture these little moments. Now that we developed our checkpoints and the moments to look for, I want to share some more triggers or important moments to be aware of that hopefully will help you easily record some more behind the scenes highlighting vendors check out episode number 27 showcasing vendors to help amplify your weddings.

This is going to break down literally a whole bunch of ways that you can showcase those vendors and honestly provide an incredible content for them that they’ll be so thrilled to share which builds a ton of brand awareness and all the fun things that help it helps create like even more magnetic leads to your business. And then of course, recording the venue.

Think about location shots and developing brand awareness for your area or maybe that destination wedding. Okay, like, I know that a lot of us are working from our kitchen counters, were working from our offices, like in our home, and we don’t have like a lot of brick and mortar locations. So we need to establish that and by capturing that at your next wedding while you’re already frickin there is going to make your life so much easier. Transitions is another great one. So imagine your bridesmaids walking up the church steps.

This is going to be a beautiful shot. Of course we’re a big camera, but then also to capture behind the scenes. groomsmen fuddling, out of the Uber or the limo, your couple just walking into the distance maybe they’re walking to the vineyard or walking into the lake or to their ceremony space like just those transitions are so powerful, especially if you can capture the groom like swooping her dress and oh my gosh it’s just those moments are like oh my gosh like husband in the making like these things.

Those are So as we think about recording behind the scenes every time you run to pee or needed to go sip some water, okay, like just keep those running in your mind. stacking these triggers and checkpoints will help you confidently capture an entire bank of behind the scenes videos and memorable moments. Now I’m ready to share the easiest key tip of all.

If all this sounds way too overwhelming, or like you just can’t keep up with too many things on your mind, I challenge you not to worry about actually capturing behind the scenes, but to instead listen to the conversations during every checkpoint of the wedding day and take notes on your phone. either pick it up and jot it down ideas when you have a moment, brain dump everything while you wait for your vendor meal, or is the music in the car after you’re all packed up. Another idea is to literally record a video on your phone in your lap or in the center counsel of your car and just recap the day and have the during the drive home. This way, you can replay that dark video and take notes later.

I think Taylor Swift does this. I’m not even joking. There are I’m sure tons of apps, like voice recording apps that you can grab. But I just literally use my phone video. And I will just place that in the car somewhere. Typically looking up at me like in a super unflattering way, right? And then I just captured the audio and so I asked myself like, Okay, what went down that day? What are some things that I want to remember?

Did the father of the bride mentioned during his speech that he already knew the groom would be his son in law before his daughter discovered they were in love? Like those types of conversations are things that I want to repeat in that video or take notes on? Did the bride catch the bouquet at her maid of honors wedding and now it’s her turn? So maybe they have like a special? Like, you know, switch moment where that’s something you can easily talk about online was the wedding catered by the groom’s uncle and they shared some family recipes or maybe did the brides and make their wedding cake. Is this the fifth wedding of the season that you worked with that same makeup artist and their glam like squad?

Like that is something absolutely that you should be recording and talking about in your Insta Stories or creating tic TOCs and reels about did the wedding planner and you wear the same exact black jumpsuit. Did the flower girls slow dance but the groom? Was there an emergency like the locket and that string going down that you can record? Now I share all of these moments to help you seek them on wedding days. Look for opportunities to share stories. And honestly even if you don’t have behind the scenes moments captured on your phone. You can legit share a handful of your professional photos on social media. Paired with these stories and boom, you’re making an impact on your couples lives and your future dream couples are watching.

I challenge you to simply try capturing a handful of BTS moments at your next wedding. I promise. It’s possible to book your next wedding while working your next wedding. Check out the greenhouse your resource garden packed with education to help your business bloom. always cheering for you, babe, make sure to share this podcast with your photography besties screenshot and share that you’re listening on social media. It’s truly a joy popping into your ear and I am grateful for you beyond belief. It’s an honor. And I’m just so happy that you’re here on this journey with me. You’re amazing. Your heart is exploding with love for your clients and you’re incredibly talented. I see you. Let’s show up online to help us find more people like us. Keep on dancing, baby. Okay, love you. Right. That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly.

Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at Kiana murray.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.