CHICAGO WEDDING RECEPTION PHOTOGRAPHER
It doesn’t matter what kind of wedding you choose to throw—your reception will undoubtedly feature many classic moments, from your best friend crying from laughter during their speech to cutting the cake and even your daddy/daughter dance. Our prominent Chicago wedding reception photographer has the creative experience and technical knowledge to capture the emotions, styles, and life-long memories of when you celebrate the moment you say “I do” and dedicate your life to spending it with your best friend.
WHY SHOULD I HIRE A WEDDING RECEPTION PHOTOGRAPHER?
While we understand that costs for weddings add up pretty quickly, but when it comes to wedding photography, that’s one aspect you may not want to skimp on. We’re here to tell you the facts about wedding photography so that you can make an educated decision when it comes to hiring a professional to capture photos of your wedding reception.
For starters, a wedding reception photographer is much more than just owning an expensive camera. A professional will, yes, have the right expensive, but even more important, will actually know how to use it! Professionals are able to walk into any room, assess the lighting conditions, and set up their equipment to perfectly capture every detail. An experienced wedding reception photographer will understand that a wedding day can’t be redone, and come prepared for any calamity. At Lake Shore Photography and Video, our wedding reception photographer never attends a wedding reception without multiple memory cards, battery packs, lenses, and even cameras! The last thing we would ever want is to miss a once-in-a-lifetime shot of you on your big day.
While you may be considering asking a friend to shoot your big day and save a few bucks, we are here to tell you that this isn’t the best idea. For one thing, the lighting in reception venues can be very obscure, ranging from dark, various colored lights to too bright of spotlights while cutting the cake. Basically, what we’re trying to say is, a smartphone just isn’t made to handle the lighting conditions in the same way a professional photographer’s equipment and knowledge of how to use said equipment can. If you try to take the easy way out, you’ll definitely miss some shots of some of the greatest moments of your wedding day just because you didn’t have the right camera or lighting.
Even more important, perhaps, is that hiring an experienced professional will make sure to capture all of the key moments that occur during the reception. Whether it’s the best man toasting the groom or when you dance for the first time as a married couple, a professional wedding reception photographer doesn’t miss a beat. Even if you are not planning a traditional wedding and don’t plan on doing speeches, or having a wedding cake, or playing wedding games, it’s essential to hire our wedding reception photographer to capture those real, personal moments.
With experience, we can easily say that some of the happiest and best wedding photos we’ve taken are those moments that show the raw emotion of the day and truly show your personalities. The chances of you having all of your loved ones in the same room again for a celebration is highly unlikely, and getting pictures of you and your best friends huddled in a circle dancing and singing to your favorite songs are surely moments you’ll want to relive over and over again. The candid shots of you and your favorite people all acting crazy, showing off your best moves on the dance floor with drinks in your hands, are the moments you’ll actually end up wanting to cherish forever.
Another key reason it is so important to hire a professional wedding reception photographer is to capture all of the details and decorations that you spent so much time and money on. If you don’t hire a photographer for your reception, many of these details will likely, unfortunately, go unnoticed. Your wedding day goes by in the blink of an eye so trust us when we say that you, yourself, won’t even notice those large centerpieces that you spent hours making. But once you get your wedding photos back from your reception, you’ll be thrilled to relive those moments by seeing all the tiny details that went into planning your wedding.
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PROFESSIONAL WEDDING RECEPTION PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
As a premier wedding reception photographer in Chicago, Lake Shore Photography and Video understands our job and the importance of not only capturing the speeches, the dances, and when you cut the cake at your reception, but also capturing every detail of the environment, location and atmosphere. After all, the bride spent so much time and energy preparing each of these details to make her wedding look as stunning as possible. That being said, although she may not think so now, when the bride sees her final wedding photos, she will be ecstatic to discover these thought-out photos.
Before your cake gets eaten and the place setting cards are thrown away, it’s our job, as your wedding reception photographer, to make sure that no detail has gone unnoticed or forgotten. Each little decoration tells more and more about the personalities of the couple and helps tell how their story as a married couple began. Below are some useful wedding reception photography shots that a professional wedding reception photographer recommends taking:
1. First and foremost, you’ll need to capture all those classic moments that happen during the reception, like the toasts. When the best man is in tears from telling a story of his childhood past with the groom or the bride’s mom is tearing up at the sound of her daughter thanking her for helping with such a big day, it’s really important to capture these candid and genuine moments.
2. Be sure to take photos of the first dance, and any other important dances, like a father/daughter dance. While this seems obvious to say, some of the most emotional photos are the ones that share the love between two people, and showing the intimacy of loved ones embracing in a dance really demonstrates that and helps share the couple’s story.
3. Cutting the cake is a vital wedding photo that the couple will want to have and cherish for years. As the bride smears frosting across the groom’s face instead of feeding it to her spouse, it’s a small but very important aspect of what makes them unique as a couple, and can really help in showing off their personalities.
4. Photograph the details! These are some of the most important shots that you will be kicking yourself later if you don’t take. Photograph the flowers, centerpieces, bouquets, silverware, napkins, and any personalized items. All of these details were carefully selected by the bride because she thought they represented her and her spouse well and were beautiful. When she gets her wedding reception photos back, she’ll be delighted to see pictures of each small aspect of her wedding that even she didn’t notice on her hectic day.
5. Shoot pictures of the desserts and dessert table. A good time to do this is when the guests are eating their main course. Many times, couples will include custom made pastries or include desserts that mean something to them, like a shared favorite candy. Either way, you definitely want to capture these delicious goodies. Some of these dessert bars can be quite expensive, and are generally absolutely gorgeous, so it’s a really great idea to photograph these!
LEADING CHICAGO WEDDING RECEPTION PHOTOGRAPHER
Wedding receptions are, in our opinion, one of the main reasons couples spend so much time preparing and planning their wedding; it’s when everyone let’s loose and has fun together. Not only is everyone celebrating the love of the two getting married, but also, is one of the only times that all of these individuals will be in the same room together. Wedding receptions create truly magical moments that our wedding reception photographer uses to capture authentic and genuinely emotional photos.
Based in the heart of Chicago, Lake Shore Photography and Video is more than willing to shoot your wedding reception, wherever it may be. As experienced travelers, our wedding reception photographer is well-trained to adapt to any environment and produce gorgeous photographs of your wedding reception in the style of your choice. We offer different packages to fit within your price range. Feel free to contact us today at 847-687-2336 or send us an email here for a free quote and we’ll be happy to assist you!