Your photographer plays a crucial role on the day of your wedding. This is the professional tasked with capturing your big day so you can focus on living in the moment. While you want to rely on the creative vision of the expert you hire for the job, it is also a good idea to think about how you can make the best use of the service. You probably have spent some time thinking about the most important moments you want captured. Still, there are smaller moments you should have photographed, even if they don’t immediately come to mind.

You don’t want to be flipping through your wedding album and say, “I wish we had gotten a picture of…” To avoid this, it can be helpful to have a strong idea of what you want in advance. Here are a handful of ideas to help you get all the right shots.

Before the Ceremony

On the morning of your wedding, you’ll probably go through a range of strong emotions. You may even have a drink to help calm your nerves. In order to remember the last few hours of being single, you’ll want your photographer there to capture the process of getting ready. Whether you’re getting dressed by yourself or with a group of your family and friends, these moments can prove invaluable to have on camera. The morning will go by like a blur, and these pictures will help you look back on the moments fondly.

Also remember to have your photographer take “still life” snapshots. The most common examples center around the outfits you and your partner will be wearing. As you get ready, lay out each piece of clothing you’ll be wearing and have the photographer take pictures of it. These are simple, quiet images that will make you smile later on. If you’re getting hair and makeup done, you may also want to have a couple taken of the artists working on your look.

Group Shots and Solo Images

A lot of the pictures taken during the course of your wedding are going to be spontaneous or candid. Photographers can only control so much when they’re on the dance floor and trying to snap a shot of your drunken relatives doing the conga. This means you may want to set a certain amount of time aside for staged photos. If your schedule and the weather permits, try and head outdoors with your party to take some pictures.

You may want to take a mix of group shots and solos. It goes without saying that you’ll want plenty of you and your partner. Make sure your wedding photographer also takes plenty of snapshots of the rest of your party. Not only will it be nice to think back on how great your friends and family looked, you can frame these images and give them out as thank-you gifts later.

Special Guests

Of course, there are also going to be some people you want photos of who aren’t in your wedding party. To make sure you get photographed with all the people you desire, you’ll need to guide your photographer a bit during the course of the evening. Some couples find the easiest way to capture a moment with everyone is by going table to table and taking a picture with each grouping. This is an effective way of covering all your guests, though you still might miss a person or two along the way.

Maximizing your time with your wedding photographer is all about thinking about your options in advance. Work closely with this person to capture the right moments and ensure you don’t miss any picture-perfect opportunities.