With more than six years of photographing Rhode Island weddings under his belt, it’s safe to say that Matt Celeste , owner of Blueflash Photography, knows a thing or two about the subject. Read on as he shares his top tips for recently engaged couples and predicts what will be #OnTrend this coming wedding season.
By Alison Greene
So what’s the most common question couples ask about wedding photography?
“Do we get the files?”. This comes up pretty often (as it should). It’s important to know what you’re in for when the wedding is over. What do you actually get? Will you be able to print your photos independently if you want to? Can you share them online? Or will you have to purchase your images through your photographer for the rest of your life? We always provide the high resolution final images with rights to our clients. You should always check so there’s no surprises after the fact.
What trends do you foresee being popular for the 2016-2017 wedding season?
Aerial photo and video (aka drones). We got ourselves one last year and have been practicing our flight skills. We love using it and our clients that have added it to their wedding video are really looking forward to it. It gives an awesome perspective on the day that you can’t get any other way.
What is the biggest mistake that you see couples making when planning a wedding?
Ditching video! Lots of people will cut having a video when the budget starts to get squeezed. One thing we hear from already married relatives of our clients all the time is “I wish we got a video at our wedding”. Don’t be the one saying that after your wedding! There are other places to save in the budget that won’t leave you with regret afterwards. Think long term when trying to decide where to put the dollars for the wedding day.
If you could give couples one piece of advice for choosing a photographer, what would it be?
I’m going to give two – sorry! Make sure you like them. That goes obviously for liking their work but you also want to make sure you gel with their personality and approach to everything. This is so important. The second is to be thorough with looking at their work. Ask to see full wedding and engagement galleries so you can be sure they’re consistently taking great photos. Portfolios can be misleading. If they’re not willing to show you full galleries, run away!
Does Blueflash Photography offer any fun add-ons for their photography packages?
We’re a little bit unique in that we offer cinematography and the Bluecube (our photobooth) in addition to photography. With that said, we would definitely recommend getting all three. The photobooth is great so guests have a fun diversion during the reception and it creates great photos. Cinema adds another dimension and preserves the memories in a way that photos can’t. Photo and video are extremely complimentary and each do something the other can’t with respect to capturing moments. But you said fun – how about doing an underwater shoot the day before or day after?! We can make that happen!
Got any fun facts?
Besides the annual Blueflash Christmas party, we also like to get together as a team for things like bowling and obstacle course team building!