They’re amongst Hollywood’s most trusted secret-keepers. They’re within the room when the robe goes on and the bride is handed the bouquet. They witness first appears, kisses and dances. They’re the marriage photographers behind the lens for a few of the most well-known “I dos” — and so they’re cordially inviting us into their world.
With privateness a uncommon commodity for celebrities, the crew they assemble to hold out their wedding ceremony goals is important to a easy, completely satisfied day. Photographers play a key function; not simply documenting the event for the bride and groom, however capturing the essence of every love story within the handful of photographs that the star shares publicly.
Yahoo talked to Robert Evans, Sandra von Riekhoff and Lauren Truthful about documenting star-studded ceremonies. The visible storytellers say their reputations get them a gathering with shoppers, however reserving the job is about constructing belief, past the usual non-disclosure agreements, along with their shutter type.
Not solely are they snapping timeless pictures — the portraits a star may share on Instagram to mark their anniversaries for years to return — however celebrities are trendsetters and the imagery might be shared throughout social media and will stand out from the everyday Pinterest fare.
Their work isn’t merely finished behind the digital camera. They’re recognized to maintain paparazzi at bay, mix in with visitors on the reception — with a cocktail in hand — to be a good friend with a digital camera and keep up all evening serving to choose which photographs make the ultimate reduce.
“Capturing what folks name a ‘wedding ceremony of the century’ is all the time an enchanting expertise,” Evans, who shot Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’s Italian nuptials and Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s Malibu celebration, tells Yahoo. “The highlight is gigantic — and so are the precautions.”
A matter of belief — and NDAs
Superstar {couples} don’t choose their photographer on type alone. It’s simply as a lot about connection and selecting somebody who will hold each element personal.
“Belief is a key factor to creating certain that every little thing runs easily,” says von Riekhoff, who Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi employed to shoot their wedding ceremony in Tuscany in October 2024.
That begins with early conversations, in individual or over video, the place photographers hearken to the couple’s imaginative and prescient and assist them really feel comfy about how the day will unfold.
“Anybody who will get to the purpose the place they’re taking pictures superstar weddings … most likely has a very good variety of years and expertise below their belt,” says von Riekhoff. “So [it’s] coming to the desk and understanding their wants very properly.”
Von Riekhoff, who additionally captured Princess Eugenie’s 2018 royal wedding ceremony to Jack Brooksbank, storyboards upfront with shoppers. It aligns their artistic visions, lets her see photographs they might wish to emulate and helps establish key folks they need pictures with.
Not each shoot has that benefit. When Evans was employed for Aniston and Pitt’s wedding ceremony, he was advised he’d be photographing a company occasion. He solely realized the reality concerning the task two days earlier than the celebration.
Sitting throughout from two superstars, discussing what they need at their secret wedding ceremony, that you must keep cool.
“I see celebrities as individuals who simply wish to be handled usually,” Evans says. “I’ve all the time approached these weddings the identical manner: Seize genuine, emotional images that inform a love story.”
As soon as a pair selects their photographer, formal steps observe to legally shield their privateness.
“NDAs are all the time a part of the method,” Evans says. “Whereas I’m the type of one that believes in a handshake and belief, their groups and attorneys ensure that every little thing is hermetic.”
Paparazzi, superfans and the media — oh, my
Even essentially the most tightly run clandestine operations might be uncovered. The press might catch wind of the occasion, paparazzi may stake out the venue or an keen fan might attempt to crash the marriage.
“At Brad and Jen’s wedding ceremony, you possibly can see photographers camped out on the hills above the property,” Evans says.
An aerial view of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s 2000 wedding ceremony in Malibu, Calif. (Dan Callister/On-line USA through Getty Pictures)
There was a “million-dollar bounty” on the pictures, Evans says, so he organized a safety escort to take him from the reception to the lab, the place he developed greater than 1,000 photographs by way of the evening. The guard took the negatives, proofs and prints on to Aniston and Pitt’s crew. Of all the photographs, just one was ever launched publicly.
“It was my first high-profile wedding ceremony of that scale, and I wasn’t about to danger these priceless negatives,” Evans says.
Six years later, Evans was in a Fifteenth-century fort exterior Rome to shoot a good larger affair: Cruise marrying Holmes. It was a media circus.
“Tom and Katie’s was totally different — not likely dramatic, simply numerous stress,” he says. “It was a full-scale world spectacle — followers lining the streets, paparazzi in every single place, helicopters buzzing overhead.”
Evans on the job in Italy for Cruise and Holmes’s 2006. (Courtesy of Robert Evans)
Being a professional at dealing with paparazzi throughout a heightened occasion like these takes ability — and typically a jab.
“[They] might be fairly aggressive, so it is essential to keep in mind that you are in cost … and for them to know that is the case too,” von Riekhoff says. “So holding your area and telling them the place they must be with a wink and a smile or an elbow, if required, is typically one thing [we have] to do.”
Reporters, paparazzi and followers exterior Orsini-Odescalchi Fort in Bracciano, Italy, for Cruise and Holmes’s wedding ceremony. (Elisabetta Villa/Getty Pictures)
Getting the precise pictures — and dealing with the VIPs
“Usually superstar weddings are extremely fast-paced, with large groups in place and safety to work round, in order that’s actually the place an skilled wedding ceremony photographer is available in,” says Truthful, who Issa Rae employed for her 2021 nuptials in France. “While you’re solely given 5 minutes to shoot portraits, it’s a must to go in confidently, with a smile and an upbeat method, whereas nonetheless transferring in a short time to seize the pictures you need.”
Von Riekhoff describes her method as a “wedding ceremony visitor with a digital camera” — mixing in with the gang whereas capturing genuine moments. Whereas snapping the occasion photos throughout the reception, she likes “to have interaction and create a robust rapport” — usually with a martini in hand.
Photographers additionally should delicately deal with VIP visitors.
“They are surely simply visitors who’re there to like their folks, so I deal with them the best way I’d every other,” says von Riekhoff, who had Jon Bon Jovi as the daddy of the groom at Brown’s wedding ceremony in addition to Stranger Issues forged members. If somebody is “slightly bit hardened by seeing a digital camera whiz by them, l often ensure that to say whats up and introduce myself … in order that they really feel comfy.”
That method led to playful pictures at Brown’s wedding ceremony — together with a memorable one the actress posted to social media wherein she’s blowing a bubble with gum whereas carrying Bongiovi’s bowtie.
Von Riekhoff says she had that setup in thoughts previous to the marriage, explaining, “I attempt my greatest to get inspiration from sources exterior of the marriage sphere… Storing issues I see in my head [in] notes which I will return to earlier than the day to fill my mind up with concepts.”
How social media is altering the sport
Within the Instagram period, the place stars share photograph carousels to social media as a substitute of releasing a single picture to the press, it’s about creating one thing visually contemporary and novel.
“Folks get bored rapidly, so dreaming up a brand new concept that feels slightly harmful and out of doors of the field is simpler to get folks behind lately,” says von Riekhoff. “I discover individuals are far more playful and keen to attempt new issues now, and I am keen to wager {that a} large a part of that’s social media-driven.” One instance is a photograph von Riekhoff took of Bongiovi standing on a mattress over Brown. She’s since seen it “changing into fairly a factor on folks’s temper boards and … being finished time and again.”
Nonetheless, stars are after each the viral pictures in addition to capturing the “large, traditional moments,” says Truthful, who photographed magnificence influencer Mikayla Nogueira’s 2023 wedding ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.
“Her wedding ceremony was a contemporary, black and white, clear strains type,” says Truthful. “It was actually stylish and traditional.”
For social media stars like Nogueira, there may also be emphasis on content material creation all through the marriage weekend. Which may imply highlighting a sponsor or capturing particular appears for vogue designers the influencer couple collaborated with.
Evans sees social media as a double-edged sword. Whereas it lets {couples} regulate how they share their pictures and offers them countless inspiration, it’s led to brides and grooms chasing tendencies.
“I’ve seen fads come and go — filters, staged appears — however the images that final are genuine, emotional ones,” he says. “[News outlets] and social media usually spotlight the ‘anticipated’ pictures just like the cake reducing and aisle walks, however essentially the most significant photographs are often unscripted — a father’s response, a pair’s personal snort, mates caught in pure pleasure — and stand the take a look at of time.”
One shot to get it proper
For sure, capturing a star’s wedding ceremony day is a pressure-filled job, particularly when the pictures can even be circulated and inevitably criticized.
“I’ve by no means checked out it as, ‘tens of millions of individuals will see these photographs,’” says Evans. “My mindset is straightforward: I shoot 90% of each wedding ceremony for myself. If I stroll away enthusiastic about what I captured — the candid emotion, the timeless moments — then I do know my {couples} might be thrilled.”
Von Riekhoff agrees, “If I believed [too much about it], I’d freeze like a deer within the headlights.”
