Why My Wedding Photos Mean So Much to Me

Here I am on the other side of the camera. 

That’s me with my wife Lily at Cabarita Park in Sydney

She looked so good that day. She literally took my breath away.

Quite an interesting experience for me having spent so long looking through the viewfinder. I didn’t think I’d be that nervous about having my photo taken, but it was.

I can tell you, on my wedding day 6 years ago, I learnt so much more than I ever did about wedding photography and why it matters so much to me and to my clients.

On the 8 June 2014, Lily and I were married in front of 120 of my closest friends and family in Cabarita Park.   We had the most incredible day. Seriously, best day of my life. 

My Aunty who flew for 2 days just to be there with us, a close friend of ours kindly donated her time and effort into making our amazing snack table for the post ceremony celebrations.

We had lots of help

We had people offering help left, right and centre, our wedding singer and musicians were my friends and groomsman, our MC and DJ too. It made it very personal to us having the help of people around you.

I even surprised my wife with a song on the guitar with my rendition of “Just the way you are” by Bruno Mars at our reception and have the whole crowd give me a standing ovation. 

Our DJ was a close friend of mine who played all of my greatest RnB hits from when I was out clubbing as a 20 year old. Everyone came up to dance with us the whole night long. It was the best party EVER.

For me that was a moment to savour for the rest of my life. I may not ever grace the stage ever again, so I thought I better make it count!

How did I feel on my wedding day?

Despite having been a Sydney wedding photographer for the past goodness knows how many years now, there were still things that took me by surprise that I simply didn’t expect.

I didn’t expect to feel waves of emotion at certain points, partly because it takes a lot to make me cry.

I’ve never told anyone this but I actually nearly cried at the wedding rehearsal reading my vows in front of our celebrant for the first time, because it suddenly hit me that I was getting married.

I didn’t expect to shed a tear when I saw my wife for the first time in her dress but I did.

We didn’t expect to feel so incredibly humbled by the attendance of all our guests. I didn’t expect to feel as I still do now… somewhat speechless and unable to find the words to describe what a wonderful day it was.

One special person who came to our wedding is no longer with us and I know she is thinking of us all.

There was one thing that i knew was certain. How quickly the day passes in front of you.

How quickly the day goes

Everyone will tell you to savour every moment, and  of course you will try to do that, but it’s actually harder than you realise.

There were so many special moments that I think it was impossible to take all of those memories in and hold them.

Within a few days, my memories had already started to blur into one another. Some were still clear and special.

Like that time when I saw my wife in her dress in her family home for the first look. Or our Chinese traditional tea ceremony that celebrated our family history.

When I pulled out my right hand instead of my left for my wife to then grab the left hand instead (it had the whole crowd in laughter).

The first time I saw how much effort my friend Jackie spent on that refreshment table. When I nearly dropped my wife during the final dip of our first dance (to me I had everything under control but to everyone else it looked like I almost did).

How sore my feet were at the end of the day but it was worth it.

My cheeks were so sore from smiling all day, I can’t describe the pain but you don’t know until it happens to you! 

A day after the wedding, my wedding photographers – Milton Gan Photography – sent through a selection of highlights from the day.

Beyond the wedding itself, that was perhaps one of the most incredible moments, to receive that email.

The Surprise

I still remember I was at the airport waiting for my flight to go on honeymoon and I was so excited to see some photos so quickly. We had a whole bunch of photos from our friends who tagged us in Facebook, but none of them were as good as Miltons.

When I looked through the photographs, the strength of those memories instantly came back to me and I genuinely had no idea the power of the emotional impact seeing them would have on me.

That moment of getting those highlights and reliving those precious memories was one of the best moments for me outside the wedding itself.

A week after our 1 month honeymoon Milton then delivered the rest of the photos to me, and the album along about 2 months after.

What impressed me most

And of course, it was hand delivered with a nice little gift to go with it.

I’m a photographer myself so wedding photography was always going to be high on my priority list, but what I didn’t fully appreciate was the impact it would have afterwards.

After learning what I did experiencing my own wedding,  I want all of my clients to have the exact same feeling that my Sydney wedding photographer allowed me to feel.

That feeling that my photographer understands what my wedding photographs will mean to me when I see them for the first time, and the many other times you will look at them in the years to come.

A bit of advice from me

So I thought I’d share my experience of my feelings, for both couples and photographers, and what I hope I can pass on to you about what photography really meant after the wedding.

First, to the couples looking for a wedding photographer.

Maybe you’ve read every photographers ‘about’ page, that use the same stock words and phrases – ‘precious memories’, ‘treasure forever’, ‘candid and natural’.

Perhaps you feel a bit jaded having read them so many times, that it’s someone trying to cash in on something intangible like a memory, to panic you into investing and playing on your emotions and feelings purely for the purpose of squeezing money from you.

I totally understand where that cynicism grows from. But please keep looking until you find the photographer whose work you love, when you look past the stock phrases, and you see something special, something magical. 

Don’t Skimp on wedding photography

Don’t skimp on the photography. Don’t settle. Book someone whose work makes your heart skip a beat when you see a photograph because that’s what you want. Blow the whole budget and then some if you have to.

Make sure you contact them early, as the good ones always get booked out early for a reason.

Beg, borrow and steal if you must.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ll only look at the photos once.

Don’t ask Uncle Bob to photograph your wedding

Don’t be fooled by people who try and make suggestions of quick and cheap ways to cut your photography budget or friends or family members with ‘really good cameras’.

It’s certainly not crazy  to want beautiful photographs of you, of your family and friends, of your day.

Don’t let people tell you it’s a waste of money or time, ignore them if they say you’re spending way too much on your wedding photography.

Having Milton and Amy there as our photographers was simply one of the best decisions I made (beside the words “yes” and “I do”). Had I booked anyone less brilliant, had I simply ‘settled’, I know I wouldn’t have what I have. They’d simply be “OK” or good enough.

The photos I have make it all real again, they’ve brought back those fading memories and remind us how damn awesome the day was.

I felt also the photos weren’t just for me, so my feelings about being in front of the camera weren’t as relevant as what they will represent to my kids in the future. 

These photographs are our legacy to our family history.

I’ve only ever read news articles about disappointed people who gambled on their wedding photography – and lost. I’ve personally seen this from a client whose photographer decided not to turn up and I came in to save the day. A great photographer is one who cares about your day as much as you do and do their job with love, care and honesty.

Final words

I guess my last piece of advice to you is….

Go with your heart and make sure you love your photographers work, who they are as people, and if you feel you can connect with their photography. And of course, they make you feel good. 

 This is why my wedding photos mean so much to me.

I hope this blog post helped you in some way, shape or form!

Please share your comments below. I’d love to hear them! 

Have a look at Milton Gan’s work here

Check out some more of my work here