Many couples gather their entire wedding party for a rehearsal the day or evening before the wedding. This wedding rehearsal ensures everyone who plays a part in the wedding is comfortable with their responsibilities before, during and after the ceremony. Usually immediately following the wedding rehearsal, the parents of the groom host a dinner for everyone who took part in the rehearsal.
While not a very common practice, photographing the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner presents some fantastic photo opportunities. Where the wedding can be a very formal event, the rehearsal usually has a much more relaxed and informal tone, allowing you to capture a set of images that can show a fun and playful side of the wedding party. Attending these events also gives you a chance to better get to know the bride, groom and wedding party before the big day.
Some photographers believe going to the rehearsal will stifle their creativity, but I believe if you can attend the rehearsal, you should. Often, the bride and groom do not think about having their wedding photographer at the rehearsal and dinner, but you should suggest it when you initially discuss your services with them. Explain that your attendance at these events can capture some very important memories as well as make the actual wedding shoot run more smoothly.
Wedding parties range in size. Sometimes couples only have two people, a maid or matron of honor and best man, stand up with them. Other couples have many bridesmaids and groomsmen. Either way, it is helpful to know who is who before the big day, and the best way to put names with faces is to ask the couple to supply a list of names and photographs of the wedding party before the wedding. Then if you go to the rehearsal events, you can greet each person in the wedding party by name and talk to him or her for a minute or two. This really helps when it comes to shooting the wedding because the wedding party feels they already know you, making it a lot easier to position them for the portraits and group photographs.
When shooting destination weddings, I am usually on site when the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are taking place. Even if I was not hired to shoot the rehearsals, I usually go and shoot some photos anyway. It helps the bride and groom, wedding party, and other guests become more comfortable having me around taking photos, and helps build a network of potential new clients when members of the wedding party and other guests see me with a camera as much as possible. Remember to carry business cards with you, in case someone asks.
In many ways, shooting the rehearsal dinner is very similar to shooting the wedding reception. Start with the overall shots of the room, including details about the meal, the tables and signage welcoming the party, if applicable. Then make sure you get shots of the bride and groom, guests, and any toasts or other special moments. There are usually toasts made by the father of the groom as the host the rehearsal dinner, and the groom. Because there is no real set of rules for the reception dinner, there may be many more toasts and more relaxed toasts than at the actual wedding reception. These can all yield great emotional photos.
In reality, most of the photos taken during the rehearsal will probably not make it to the final wedding album; however, there are many benefits to shooting the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It gives you a practice run for the wedding day and an opportunity to better get to know the wedding party, which becomes extremely helpful on the day of their wedding. For the bride and groom, having a photographer present at the rehearsal events means the whole wedding is covered. It can also result in great informal images, and capture some priceless memories.
