Tips for Timeless Wedding Photos That Will Not Date

While your wedding photos may be perfectly on-trend today, how well will they stand the test of time over the next five or even ten years? One of the most important aspects to consider as you begin to plan your wedding’s photography is the question of classic vs. trendy. Although it’s completely understandable that you may want to inject some of your current style and tastes into your wedding photos, you certainly don’t want to be stuck with dated pictures that leave you wishing you’d left a few items out of the frame. So what’s a couple to do?

We’ve gathered advice from some of the best wedding photographers in the field to provide you with these helpful tips for truly timeless wedding photos:

Focus on the Emotion: No matter how fabulous the fashions on display, they tend to come in and out of style. What keeps wedding photos compelling and beautiful is the love story they portray. That’s why we recommend that you nix the sartorial focus and zoom in on the meaningful glances and the tender moments that make for fantastic wedding photos that will never fade. After all, true love is always worth a close-up.

Avoid the Pose of the Moment: We see it every wedding season. A handful of poses become de rigeur and are seen in nuptial photographs across the nation, but while it’s fun to jump on the bandwagon, these poses may not be how you want your special day immortalized.

Instead, consider natural, simple and eternal poses and actions like holding hands, kissing or simply taking a stroll. These simple actions will never definitively date your precious photographs, while the same can’t be said for poses of the moment.

Tread Lightly When it Comes to Post-Production: Some photographers rely heavily on post-production to produce wedding pictures. The fact is, however, that all of those filters and coloring tricks can end up making your wedding photos look less than classic. While a certain amount of edit work is appropriate and even desirable, you’ll want to steer clear of the "filter-of-the year” effect, for ageless pictures.

Interview Potential Photographers Thoroughly and Examine Their Portfolios: If classic, elegant photographs that don’t immediately declare the year they were taken in are your goal, make sure that your wedding photographer understands and shares this aim. Ask questions and take a close look at portfolios.

If a photographer appears to use excessive post-production techniques or unnatural, overly-dramatic poses, you may do well to avoid selecting them for your event. It’s important to remember though, that while photographers may oblige your requests, if their usual shooting style differs widely from your choices, this will likely lead to sub-par photographs. If a photographer’s preferred style links up with your wishes for a more natural and eternal look, then you know you’ve found a winning match.

These useful hints can help to safeguard you from future disappointments by ensuring that it is the beauty and emotion of your wedding day and not the tastes of the moment that come through in your photographs. Your wedding photographs are one of the most important mementoes of this once-in-a-lifetime event and they definitely warrant special attention.