An oft-neglected area of portrait photography – not just wedding photography – is public relations and the management of client’s expectations. But in no other niche is this more important than when you are engaged to shoot a wedding. One day, one chance. that’s all you get.

What should your clients expect from their wedding photographer on this day? What can they do to help you make sure they get the shots they want? What can they expect to encounter from “outside forces” that may influence their picture taking experience (i.e. mothers-in-law who want pictures of all her relatives)? What is a reasonable expectation? What isn’t?

This is why weddings are pretty stressful not just for the bride and groom, but for the wedding vendors. Nothing is as lasting as a badly taken picture. Or a bad experience for 100-200 people because the wedding photographer was a little too eager or too slow in posing groups.

I’ve only been doing this a year, but already I’ve worked three weddings where a groom or a bride either doesn’t like to have his or her pictures taken, or prefers to spend the day enjoying their party, and as such would keep the portraits to a minimum. Who can blame them? Modeling isn’t easy and when it’s your wedding day, you don’t want to just have memories of posing all day long (although I have a few friends who would gladly differ!).

My wedding photography strategy is to keep the majority of my pictures candid. That said, I try to make the process as painless as possible to transition from candid to posed and back again.

Out of, say, eight or ten hours of shooting, I try to keep the portraits under 1.5 hours (collectively, not at one go). This includes group shots and formals. If you have done this, you know this is a challenge with big weddings. How do I do it?

1) Managing expectations: I have a handy list of tips I give to my clients on the day they sign with me on how to work a photographer into their wedding planning. It includes scheduling a walkthrough and what we would be discussing at the venue a week before the wedding. This lets them know that they’re expected to have these things finalized (where they’re walking in from, where the toasts will be held etc).

2) Right when I arrive, I meet with the day planner or coordinator and go through the final plans one more time so I can make sure to be where I need to be and not to be bugging the bride or groom. If the B&G are doing First Look, I discuss this with the planner and coordinate the time and place for it while I grab the get ready shots.

3) While shooting, do not be afraid of stopping or slowing down the bride or groom. This is where the 20% portraiture comes in too. You can grab some portraits even when they’re transitioning from one place to another.

4) If there is no planner, I send a sample time line to my clients. More often than not, they start to plan around my timeline.

5) I also ask for pockets of 5-10 mins during dinner to give a chance for my B&G to sneak away for a breather. Usually two is sufficient.

6) If I see signs of anxiousness or irritation from either the B&G, I will stick to candids. This is why First Look is so nice to get all those squared away before the day begins. If there is no First Look, the only time left for B&G pics will be right after the ceremony, before the reception.

7) If your client is interested in framed pictures, albums or photo books at ANY point in the future (even if they make it themselves), they need to know from the get-go that they will need posed shots no matter how silly they think those are. Because even if you end up paying just $50 for a small photo book, you don’t want to be searching for one artistic pose out of 500 pictures. Photojournalistic, storytelling, candid shots are nice to look at on a slideshow or even in a family album of 4x6s but at the end of the day, it’s those portraits that make great displays and albums.

PLAN AHEAD AND SHOOT THROUGH! Poses, shots, sites to do First Look, group shots, couple shots, bridal party shots and what have you. The worst thing to happen is not knowing how to direct your subjects and what more on a day where time is a big factor. And whatever you do, do NOT say, “That did not work, let’s try something else.” Shoot through every single pose and reserve your judgments until you see it on your computer screen. Indecisiveness comes across as not professional.

The most important thing is to be alert and observant, to master the skill of listening. And to always touch base with your B&G on how they’re doing. As a photographer, making sure your subjects are taken care of and happy is crucial to producing great pictures. After all, your clients are taking mental pictures too. And you don’t want a bad mental picture of their wedding photographer!