The ULTIMATE posing guide
for your wedding day
Nearly 40% of brides have REGRETS
I remember when my wife and I got married. She was absolutely ecstatic when we had finally received our wedding photos.
As we were invited to meet with the photographer to view out photos, I remember her having a huge smile. Suddenly, the look on her face changed to disappointment as we got to the end of the slideshow.
After the slideshow was finished, I asked why she had that look on her face, and she said, “You know… I honestly didn’t know at the time… but really thinking about it, I just didn’t like the way our photographer posed me for the portraits. I just don’t think I look very flattering or beautiful in those poses at all.”
What a disappointment.
This statement was in a blog article that we had been subscribed to, and to be honest, that resonated with us precisely.
To have that one day in your life in the most beautiful dress, but to not be happy with the way you are posed in the portraits.
From that day on, I made sure it was my mission to be a master in the art of posing brides and couples.
Sadly, a lot of photographers don’t understand that it’s not just about the the beautiful compositions, backdrops, and even moments. Though those are all important, it is an absolute necessity to be a master in the art of posing to ensure the bride and the groom look absolutely dazzling on the best day of their life.
So we decided to do some research
We came across this study that mentioned that close to 40% of brides had regrets when it came to their wedding photos.
“Wow!” we thought to ourselves.
We couldn’t believe that percentage was so high!
We started digging deeper to really see the reasons why these brides were unhappy, and this is what we found…
“Our photographer got drunk, and you can see the photos in the gallery getting blurrier and blurrier as you scroll through.”
“He just really didn’t seem to know what he was doing! He didn’t guide us during the portrait session and we were just standing there awkwardly!”
“They only captured moments of my husband and I, but not of our close friends and loved ones. That was really disappointing.” and that was just the tip of the iceberg…
We take pride in our work, so seeing nearly half of brides disappointed something had to change. I can’t help but be extremely proud of what every single one of my couples have said about me.
Like Bryan & Shelly said, “we hired Picture Me Hitched to provide video only. But when our photographers didn’t show up, they changed their game-plan and conformed to our needs.”
And if you keep reading, we’re going to share with you as much value from our expertise in posing wedding couples. Now, you can ensure you look your best and have no regrets for your special day.
How to Look Your Best In Your Wedding Portraits
Posing is an ART. But understandably it's an art that a lot of couples are nervous about, and SADLY that a lot of so-called "professional" photographers actually don't know how to direct correctly.
So if you happen to have a photographer who doesn't know how to pose you with expertise and intention, here are a few things you should remember?
Here are a few pointers that we call “THE FOUNDATION of posing”
1. Imaginary String:
First off, you want to ensure that your spine is straight, but NOT stiff and unnatural. We often ask our couples to act as if there is a string on the back/top of their head pulling up. Maintain a straight spine and natural curve in your lumbar(lower back) as well.
2. Shoulders:
Push your shoulders 1 inch back. This will further bring confidence and beauty in your pose.
3. Weight Distribution:
You want your weight distribution to be uneven or else your pose will look unnatural. There are two ways to do this. Either cross one leg over the other or put more weight on your back leg. Look at the photo below. Each of these techniques were used in this image.
But what about posing the head, eyes, and hands?
Or making sure you portraits look authentic and not "posed" or “cheesy"?
Remember these are just the "foundations". We'll go deeper into more techniques, KEEP READING!
How to NOT Have CHEESY and FAKE Wedding Portraits
Even though wedding portraits are posed... no one wants portraits that LOOK posed. The more candid and authentic your portraits look, the BETTER.
Now there are tons of ways to ensure this... but just in case you have a photographer who doesn't know what they’re doing, here's one of the MAIN tips you can do.
It’s called the “NOSE X-FACTOR.”
So what is it?
Imagine you have an imaginary line coming out of the tip of your nose and eyes.
X FACTOR
When posing with your fiancé you always want those imaginary lines crossing making an X. Meaning you never want to look directly in the eyes of each other for the portrait.
Why?
It looks cheesy and fake.
So Instead of having couples look at each other in the eyes, we’ll have one of them turn their chin slightly to the side and down, and drop their eyes down. This gives the portrait a more CANDID and AUTHENTIC appeal.
Fake and Cheesy
First, we did not take this photo. Notice how the imaginary lines DO NOT cross and make an X. There is no "Nose X-Factor".
The truth is, couples don't actually do this, which is why it makes the portraits "look" posed... Photographers make couples do this all the time.
The Nose-X-Factor
gives the image a sense of candid, as if it was caught in the moment.
In reality, some of the best images thought to be candid, were shot using this technique.
From the Nose-X-Factor to the eyes, hands and arms, everything is posed.
So what about the eyes, hands and arms?
Keep Reading!!!
Posing Your Hands and Eyes
We could write a book on how to pose hands and eyes... it's the photographers job to not just "memorize" poses, but to learn how to "build" a pose for brides and grooms.
But here a few pointers so you'll know what to do on your wedding day.
Cigarette Pose
The hands and arms can be used to lead attention to the right places. With this cigarette pose, it looks as if she's holding a cigarette, almost! It leads the viewers attention toward the subjects face, but is also very natural and beautiful. With her other arm we could either make it out of sight, behind her, or where it is across her waste. This also looks very natural.
Holding Something
When you hold something, it naturally gives your hands something to do, but also brings attention to that object. In this image, the subject is holding her veil. This is a beautiful way to lead attention and show it off.
In this image, we had the bride stitch out her arms while extending her veil. For this particular case, it worked out beautifully. If there is nothing to hold onto a pose and hold may look better with hands and arms NOT straight down You can place one or two hands at the waist if need be as well.
Having your elbow at more than a 90 degree angle gives a more elegant pose than having it at 90 degrees or less.
Avoiding the "Floating Head”
Photographers who don't know how to pose the hands and arms often give brides and grooms what is called the floating head (you don't want this to be you). It's when you have a close up shot of the face, but no hands and arms in the photo.
You can use hands and fingers to lead attention to where you want with a close up. In this portrait, the attention wanted to be led to the eyes and lips. As you can see, the hands are gently directed in this position to bring attention. As you can see, this portrait does not look forced or rigid, even though the hands are in a place that you would not expect. This can enhance a close up portrait in a really beautiful way.
Posing the Eyes
So where should you look?
Where you look can dramatically change the feel of the portrait. As you can see in the all of the photos, the bride looks in many different directions. This gives an almost candid feel of the portrait. Just remember, no matter where you look, you want to avoid only seeing the "white" part of your eye.
In the portrait above, the bride paid very close attention to the lipstick...
Why?
When you focus on something very hard, it triggers the Parietal Lobe in the brain. This brings out a VERY captivating look in the eyes.
Stay with us for future blogs and content to better assist you during your wedding planning journey!