You Don't Need a Wedding Shot List, You Need Trust! A Wedding Photography Guide
Here’s the truth, the best photos from your wedding day probably won’t be the ones you planned. They won’t be on a wedding shot list. They won’t be replicated from a Pinterest board. They’ll be the moments that just happen, raw, unscripted, and bursting with emotion.
That little inhale you take right before you see each other for the first time. The way your dad gets choked up walking you down the aisle. Your best friends twirling in their chaotic, colorful pajamas during a spontaneous morning photo shoot. These are the moments that tell the story. Not just of your wedding, but of who you are.
As a travel wedding photographer, my approach leans deeply into the documentary, less about checking boxes, more about chasing truth. I believe a great wedding photography guide doesn't start with a list of poses; it starts with curiosity and care.
Your Wedding Shot List Should Include a Photographer Who Sees You
When you hire a travel wedding photographer like me, you're not just hiring someone to check boxes off a wedding shot list. You're hiring someone to see, to notice the quiet glances, the belly laughs, the beauty in the blur. My approach is deeply documentary, rooted in feeling and honesty. Less posing, more presence. Less perfection, more truth.
Peyton and Chase understood that. They handed me their trust, and what I handed back wasn’t just a gallery, it was a love letter in photos. Art made from the messy, magical moments that lists can’t always predict
This day was full of color, laughter, and wild creative freedom. From bold daytime flash portraits that felt like stills from a movie, to unexpected moments that felt like retro postcards pulled from a dream, every image felt honest and intentional. One of my favorite moments was recreating a photo from her parents’ wedding, the marriage license shot at the reception. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t posed. It was rooted in memory, in meaning, in a desire to honor the past while living fully in the present.
They didn’t ask for 200 poses. They asked me to document what mattered. And when your photographer knows what matters to you? That’s when the magic happens.
Personal Connection Creates Better Wedding Photography
I always ask my couples what’s most important to them. Not because I need a wedding shot list, but because I want to know where to give a little extra love. Maybe it’s making sure your grandma is in every group shot or capturing the hand-stitched embroidery your mom worked on for months. Maybe it’s the way your partner looks at you across a crowded room.
For Peyton, that meant honoring the women who raised and shaped her. She wore her Nana's diamond ring while getting ready, a ring passed down from her grandfather, to her aunt, and finally to her. Though her Nana couldn’t be there, it was like having a piece of her close. When she slipped into her dress, she changed into her Mimi’s emerald and diamond ring, which paired beautifully with her wedding band, chosen with emeralds to honor their May wedding month. Around her neck? A pearl necklace gifted by her parents on her 18th birthday was always meant for this moment.
Her bouquet was another love letter to family. It was wrapped in lace from her mom’s wedding dress and adorned with charms: a small gold cross from her Nana, a pearl pin with photos of her Nana and Mimi, and a blue gem for her “something blue”, along with a gold charm engraved with their wedding date and a note from her parents. That bouquet now lives pressed in a gold frame, a forever keepsake.
And the detailed trunk from Petite Keep? A sentimental sanctuary for all of it. Peyton is someone who treasures legacy and love stories, and that trunk was the perfect place to preserve hers.
Intention in Every Detail
The day was full of carefully chosen pieces: silver goblets engraved with their initials, meant for wedding toasts and future anniversaries. A vintage Lenox cake topper now displayed on their bookshelf. A “Love That Came Before Us” table at the chapel entrance, with photos of their parents’ and grandparents’ weddings, a tribute to the legacy they’re stepping into.
Even the bridesmaid dresses told a story. Each color was picked with intention, blue for Peyton’s mom as her “something blue,” and hues that matched each bridesmaid’s personality: tangerine for vibrance, butter yellow for sunshine energy, and lavender for confidence. Every choice was made with heart.
This is what a soulful wedding photography guide looks like, not just a map of where to stand, but a reflection of what matters.
Real Moments Make the Best Memories
From dancing around the courtyard in silk feather pajamas, to running down the hill after the ceremony, to laughing over the groomsmen drinking beer in the Ole Miss room, the joy was real and abundant. Their last dance alone to “Stand by Me”? Magic. They even combined the parent dances to take the pressure off, dancing to “I Hope You Dance” as a shared moment with the ones who raised them.
Every piece of this wedding was lived-in and layered. It was full of reverence, sentiment, and deep belly laughs.
Let Go of the List and Embrace the Moment
So if you're wondering whether you need a shot list, here's my take:
You don’t need a checklist.
You need connection and trust.
And you need someone who sees the beauty before it even happens.
