The best wedding photos rarely come from a pose. They come from the right place, the right light and something that is really happening. Below are 25 ideas for Italian wedding photos, taken from days I have photographed in Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio: for each one I explain what it takes to make it work.
This is not a list of poses to copy. It is a list of moments to leave room for in your schedule, because the photographs you will remember almost all need one thing: a few unhurried minutes.
Before the ceremony
1. The dress hanging outside the room. Under a stone archway, from an olive tree, on a pergola. Just take it outside ten minutes before getting dressed. At Tenuta del Gallo Audrey's dress hung in an archway with the garden behind it.
2. All the details together. Invitation, rings, shoes, perfume and a few flowers from the bouquet on a neutral surface. Put them in a box the evening before: your photographer will need five minutes instead of twenty.
3. The friends in the garden. Photos in matching robes work when the idea comes from them. Micaela and her friends went outside and jumped in front of the camera, and it is the photograph that best captures the mood of that morning.
4. The hands fastening the dress. Buttons, laces, a necklace fastened from behind. It lasts a few seconds and should happen near a window, with the room lights off.
5. The groom at the mirror. The bow tie, the cufflinks, the jacket. Grooms always end up with fewer getting-ready photographs: a quarter of an hour and a tidy room are enough.
6. The parent who sees you ready. A father walking into the room, a mother pinning on the buttonhole. You cannot stage it: you make sure it happens in front of the photographer, by telling them when it is about to.
7. The first look. Seeing each other alone before the ceremony takes away tension and gives the most sincere expressions of the day. It is done somewhere secluded, with the photographer at a distance, on a long lens.
8. The empty ceremony space. The church or the lawn dressed and ready, before people arrive. It opens the story, and in an album it gives breathing space between one scene and the next.
During the ceremony
9. The entrance in backlight. The door open behind you, light pouring in, the nave in shadow. In an Italian church it comes naturally, provided nobody uses flash.
10. The face of the one who is waiting. Everyone looks at the person walking in. The photographer must also watch the one already at the altar: half of the scene happens there.
11. Hands during the exchange of rings. A tight frame, no faces. Together with the wide shot it tells the same moment from two distances.
12. The parents during the vows. With few guests, this is the photograph that lasts. During the vows I photograph the couple but keep an eye on the front row.
13. The tear you were not expecting. It is usually the groom's, or a best man's. It cannot be asked for: you can only be ready.
14. The exit through rice and petals. It works when guests stand in two lines and throw upwards, not at your faces. It is worth telling someone beforehand.
15. Every guest in one photograph. In front of the façade, straight after the exit, while everyone is still there. Ten minutes later half the guests are already at the aperitivo.
The portraits
16. An avenue to walk down. Cypresses, hedges, a path through the olive trees. I don't ask for poses: I ask you to walk and talk. Perspective does the rest.
17. The veil in the wind. A long veil is the most photogenic accessory there is. Under the tunnel of trees at San Pietro Sopra le Acque, Micaela's did almost all the work by itself.
18. Under the veil. The same veil, held over your heads like a tent. The light softens and everything around you disappears.
19. Backlight at sunset. The last half hour of sun is the most beautiful light of the day, and it is short. It belongs in the schedule, even if it means leaving the table for ten minutes.
20. Small in the landscape. The two of you far away, with the valley or the hills around. It is the photograph that says where you were married, and printed large it is the one that ends up on a wall.
21. The view from above. By drone, when the venue allows it: the hamlet, the piazza laid for dinner, the villa lit up at dusk.
The party
22. The table before you sit down. Flowers, lights, place cards: a table setting exists untouched for a few minutes only. Let your photographer know when the room is ready.
23. The speeches, and the people listening. The speaker is photographed quickly. The best images are the faces of those laughing and those in tears at the tables.
24. Cutting the cake with the venue lit up. After dark, with the façade or the walls glowing behind you and no direct flash, to keep the atmosphere that is there.
25. The first dance, then the dance floor from inside. The first dance is photographed from far and from close. The party is photographed standing among the people dancing.
How to get wedding photos that don't look posed
Three things matter more than any idea found on Pinterest.
Light. Curtains open and lamps off while getting ready, no midday ceremony in high summer, portraits in the last hour of sun. I cover this in my wedding day timeline.
Time. Twenty minutes for portraits, written into the schedule. Without them, ideas stay ideas.
Few requests, clearly stated. Tell your photographer the three or four images you really care about and the people who must not be missed. A list of fifty poses forces them to look at a sheet of paper instead of the day.
If you want to understand the difference between constructed photographs and those caught as they happen, I have written a guide to wedding photography styles.
Frequently asked questions
Which wedding photos should not be missed?
Getting ready, the entrance, the exchange of rings, the exit, one photograph with all the guests, the couple portraits, parents and grandparents, the table, the cake and the first dance. Everything else depends on the day.
How do you get wedding photos that are not posed?
By choosing a photographer who works in a documentary style and giving them time. The most original photographs come from real moments in a place with beautiful light, not from a studied pose.
How long do couple portraits take?
Twenty or thirty minutes, ideally in the last hour before sunset. They can be split in two: ten minutes after the ceremony and ten at sunset.
Should we give our photographer a shot list?
Yes, but a short one: the family group photographs and three or four images you particularly care about. For the rest, it is better to trust the way they work.
Where can we find ideas for our wedding photos in Italy?
By looking at whole weddings photographed at your venue or somewhere similar. In my wedding stories you will find complete days, from getting ready to the party.
Every photograph on this page comes from a real wedding, told in full in the stories. If you would like to talk about yours, look at the portfolio or write to me: I answer every message personally.
