9 Tips To Help Keep Your Energy Up At Weddings!
Shooting a wedding can be mentally and physically exhausting! Sometimes you can be running around like a crazy kid for 15 hours. This is why we have decided to create a list of 9 tips on keeping your energy levels up at a wedding, so that you can perform at your best and avoid burning out on the day.
Tip #1 – Get a decent sleep the night before
It’s Friday night, you feel like a few beers and a late night. Or you may prefer to sit up scrolling through shorts until late at night, eating sugary snacks! Perhaps you are like us and are addicted to be productive.
We know that these things can result in a broken, un-restful sleep, which will affect your entire day for the wedding.
Perhaps then, it would be a good idea to turn off your technology and read a book early in the evening so that your body can wind down and become sleepy early and naturally. This way you can be sure to be fully rested and full of energy the day after.
Perhaps then, it would be a good idea to turn off your technology and read a book early in the evening so that your body can wind down and become sleepy early and naturally. This way you can be sure to be fully rested and full of energy the day after.
Tip #2 – Stay Hydrated
This is a given, but something we all tend to forget. You’re going to run low on energy if you’re dehydrated and it’s so easy to dehydrate when you’re running around all day with kit on your back.
So keep a bottle of water on you, grab a coke and keep yourself topped up. It’s even better if the bar gives free drinks!
Tip #3 – Take Breaks
Don’t forget to take breaks. Sit down. Don’t think you have to be on your feet all day. Even heading to your car when the action has levelled out at the wedding. If you feel you can afford it, head to your car for a snack and a little rest. It’s all good.
Even sitting or stopping to talk to guests or the couple is a good way to take a sneaky break. Chill at the bar looking through your camera if it makes you feel better 😉
Tip #4 – Spread your energy thinly
Do you feel you need to be the perfect, happy, high energy and laughing entertainer type all day ,without fail?
I have learned from my years of shooting weddings that you can’t be giving out your energy all day long. Pick your moments, but don’t worry about pretending to be happy and high energy all day. This makes a huge difference to your energy levels.
Tip #5 – Keep your cool, don’t stress.
A lot of the time, we fret about whether we have set up our audio properly, or taken enough shots of the bride, details, venue etc. Sometimes a guest doesn’t play fair, or the coordinator has said something ridiculous etc.
Even if the stress doesn’t show on our face, these ‘micro-stressors’ will build up all of that cortisol, and overtime this will eat away at you and tire you out.
Our suggestion is to try and find a way to be more mindful, to relax your shoulders and quieten your mind, perhaps a little mantra you can whisper to yourself to bring your stress levels down and to level yourself out again.
Tip #6 – Stay positive, stop the venting!
We touched on spreading your energy thinly earlier, and we’re not saying you need to be smiling all day, but keeping a positive outlook on every section of the day is much better than falling into the trap of worrying and venting.
If we feed these small negative experiences with our attention and emotion, it’ll likely affect the rest of our day.
Make it a best practice to try swap out the negative thought for something more positive and move on. Or simply take a breath, and shake it off, and focus on something more positive.
Tip #7 – Get an assistant.
If you can, add a second shooter to your package. This has to be one of the best stress reliefs on a wedding day, ever! Have the second cover certain parts of the day so you don’t have to worry about splitting yourself in two!
Not only that, a second shooter is a great morale boost. You feel like you have a team mate who you can laugh with and keep the spirits up with. We would 100% recommend getting a second shooter if you are low on energy during wedding season.
Tip #8 – Eat small snacks, often!
Once you have a big meal it’s over! Your ready to lie down and have a nap, so keep it light, have small snacks throughout the day. Keeping snacks in the car is a good shout, nuts, fruit, chocolate will give you a little dopamine hit (but not too much chocolate or you will crash).
Another tip for food is to have a little breakfast at the right time. I’ve found on the way to the wedding is a good time, it’ll give you a little boost before you get to preps and then you can top up on snacks throughout the day.
Tip #9 – Stop over-shooting
Every shot takes thought energy. We have to think about the light, the composition, the action, the technical aspects of the camera, and everything else.
If we do this on 99% of shots, and we shoot above what we need, we are likely burning far too much energy for something we don’t even need!
Try to shoot less. Stop for a moment and ask yourself ‘will I really use this shot?’ and go from there.
Final Thoughts…
We hope these tips help to keep your energy levels up when shooting weddings. Even one of these tips could be enough to change your day, so this week just pick one and aim to accomplish it, let us know how it goes!