The wedding photography glossary


As you begin to organize your D-Day, you have stepped into a world that you may not have known, that of wedding photography. And you have certainly noticed that there is a certain jargon!

Here is a small glossary that will give me the opportunity to explain my approach:

Couple photos

This is the portrait session done on the wedding day. It can be very short, but we can also take our time, if we have it and if you feel like it! You may think that you are not photogenic? It’s normal and it’s my job to accompany you, to entertain you to get the most natural expressions without making you pose! In any case, I want this session to be for you a parenthesis of calm and serenity in the middle of a busy day!

The Love Session

This is a photo session that we will organize a few weeks or months before the wedding. It has several interests: spending time together to get to know each other better and help me take even better photos on D-Day, breaking you into the exercise of the portrait (and realizing that it’s very easy and fun!!), having images for the invitation cards, etc.

The Day After

The course of a wedding day does not always allow for a couple’s photo session under good conditions. The Day After session allows you to take all the necessary time, to choose a more suitable place, which was inaccessible on D-Day. And it’s especially an opportunity to have fun! To take creative and offbeat photos! In the city! In the middle of a field! A forest! In the water!!! The wedding being over, the only limit is our creativity!!! When the Day After session turns into a crack and a big mess, we call it the Trash The Dress session!

The First Look

On the wedding day, it is at the time of the First Look, that you discover yourself in wedding attire, usually just after the end of the preparations and before the ceremony. It is most often a moment charged with emotions, so you can well imagine that as a photographer, it’s something I love to shoot!

Group photos

We have all, as guests, experienced unpleasant situations reaching each other, in full sun, during endless group portrait sessions! I will not impose this on you! It is possible to take beautiful group photos and even make it a cool moment! This will simply require a minimum of organization.

Documentary photography

Beyond the portrait sessions, I love above all the report and its narrative and documentary approach. The idea is to photograph the event as it unfolds and according to my gaze, my sensitivity. I focus on the interactions between people. You will see, a wedding day is often an opportunity for members of your family and your friends to express the love they have for you. Tears, hugs, laughter, small moments of tenderness, unusual situations, etc. There are so many beautiful things to photograph on D-Day when you have this reportage approach! You understand, what interests me is not the photo of the signature of the registers with camera look but rather that of the bride who melts into tears in her father’s arms just next to it!

Photobooth and selfie box

As a reportage photographer, I prefer unposed photos, taken on the spot. But if you or your guests want to pose and have fun in front of the lens, there are a lot of solutions for that: create sets, use countless accessories, print your photos live, place a polaroid next to your guest book, etc. Laughter is guaranteed with this type of animation and I would be happy to recommend the service providers who will implement all your ideas!

The engagement ceremony

Many couples do not have religious ceremonies and are not satisfied with the expeditious nature of the passage to the town hall. The secular ceremony allows you to build an event that looks like you! You can design it yourself, entrust it to your friends or to a ceremony officiant. Vibrant speeches, songs, pagan rituals, etc. The secular ceremony is often a unifying moment and very emotionally charged that I love to photograph!

Welcome dinner and brunch

A wedding is above all a party that brings together people sometimes coming from different regions and countries. So it’s good to take the time for a weekend to meet! The welcome dinner on Friday night and the brunch on Sunday are moments during which I can also accompany you!

I am convinced that there are still plenty of terms specific to the world of weddings and whose subtleties escape you. The articles on this blog will help you see more clearly. Even better, contact me to talk about it and ask me all the questions you want!

Contact me

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Jérémie Morel photographe