‘The highlight is gigantic — so are the precautions’

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 among the most well-known “I do’s” — and so they’re cordially inviting us into their world.

With privateness a uncommon commodity for celebrities, the workforce they assemble to hold out their wedding ceremony desires is crucial to a easy, blissful 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 Honest 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 photographs — the portraits a star would possibly share on Instagram to mark their anniversaries for years to come back — however celebrities are trendsetters, and the imagery might be shared throughout social media and will stand out from the standard Pinterest fare.

Their work isn’t merely completed behind the digital camera. They’re identified to maintain paparazzi at bay, mix in with visitors on the reception — with a cocktail in hand — to be a pal with a digital camera and keep up all night time serving to decide which photographs make the ultimate minimize.

“Taking pictures what folks name a ‘wedding ceremony of the century’ is at all times an interesting 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

Movie star {couples} don’t choose their photographer on type alone. It’s simply as a lot about connection and selecting somebody who will maintain each element non-public.

“Belief is a key factor to creating positive that all the things 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 just about, the place photographers take heed 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 capturing celeb weddings … in all probability has a great variety of years and expertise underneath their belt,” says von Riekhoff. “So [it’s] coming to the desk and understanding their wants very effectively.”

Von Riekhoff, who additionally captured Princess Eugenie’s 2018 royal wedding ceremony to Jack Brooksbank, storyboards upfront with shoppers. It aligns their inventive visions, lets her see photographs they could wish to emulate and helps establish key folks they need photographs with.

Not each shoot has that benefit. When Evans was employed for Aniston and Pitt’s wedding ceremony, he was informed he’d be photographing a company occasion. He solely discovered the reality in regards to the project two days earlier than the celebration.

Sitting throughout from two superstars, discussing what they need at their secret wedding ceremony, it’s good to keep cool.

“I see celebrities as individuals who simply wish to be handled usually,” Evans says. “I’ve at all times approached these weddings the identical approach: Seize genuine, emotional pictures that inform a love story.”

As soon as a pair selects their photographer, formal steps comply with to legally defend their privateness.

“NDAs are at all times a part of the method,” Evans says. “Whereas I’m the form of one who believes in a handshake and belief, their groups and legal professionals ensure all the things is hermetic.”

Paparazzi, superfans and the media — oh, my

Even essentially the most tightly run clandestine operations will be uncovered. The press might catch wind of the occasion, paparazzi would possibly stake out the venue or an keen fan may attempt to crash the marriage.

“At Brad and Jen’s wedding ceremony, you would see photographers camped out on the hills above the property,” Evans says.

There was a “million-dollar bounty” on the photographs, 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 the night time. The guard took the negatives, proofs and prints on to Aniston and Pitt’s workforce. Of all the pictures, 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 outdoors Rome to shoot a fair larger affair: Cruise marrying Holmes. It was a media circus.

“Tom and Katie’s was totally different — probably not dramatic, simply a lot of stress,” he says. “It was a full-scale world spectacle — followers lining the streets, paparazzi in every single place, helicopters buzzing overhead.”

Being a professional at dealing with paparazzi throughout a heightened occasion like these takes talent — and typically a jab.

“[They] will be fairly aggressive, so it is vital 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 have to be with a wink and a smile or an elbow, if required, is usually one thing [we have] to do.”

Getting the correct photographs — and dealing with the VIPs

“Typically celeb weddings are extremely fast-paced, with massive groups in place and safety to work round, in order that’s really the place an skilled wedding ceremony photographer is available in,” says Honest, who Issa Rae employed for her 2021 nuptials in France. “Whenever 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 photographs you need.”

Von Riekhoff describes her method as a “wedding ceremony visitor with a digital camera” — mixing in with the group whereas capturing genuine moments. Whereas snapping the occasion footage in the course of the reception, she likes “to interact and create a powerful rapport” — typically with a martini in hand.

Photographers additionally must 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 might some 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 solid members. If somebody is “slightly bit hardened by seeing a digital camera whiz by them, l normally ensure to say good day and introduce myself … in order that they really feel snug.”

That method led to playful photographs 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 sporting Bongiovi’s bowtie.

Von Riekhoff says she had that setup in thoughts previous to the marriage, explaining, “I strive my greatest to get inspiration from sources outdoors 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.

“Individuals get bored shortly, so dreaming up a brand new concept that feels slightly harmful and outdoors of the field is less complicated to get folks behind as of late,” says von Riekhoff. “I discover individuals are far more playful and prepared to strive new issues now, and I am prepared to guess {that a} massive 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 completed over and over.”

Nonetheless, stars are after each the viral photographs in addition to capturing the “massive, traditional moments,” says Honest, who photographed magnificence influencer Mikayla Nogueira’s 2023 wedding ceremony in Newport, R.I.

“Her wedding ceremony was a contemporary, black and white, clear traces type,” says Honest. “It was actually stylish and traditional.”

For social media stars like Nogueira, there can be emphasis on content material creation all through the marriage weekend. Which may imply highlighting a sponsor or capturing particular appears for trend designers the influencer couple collaborated with.

Evans sees social media as a double-edged sword. Whereas it lets {couples} regulate how they share their photographs and offers them limitless inspiration, it’s led to brides and grooms chasing tendencies.

“I’ve seen fads come and go — filters, staged appears — however the pictures that final are genuine, emotional ones,” he says. “[News outlets] and social media typically spotlight the ‘anticipated’ photographs just like the cake reducing and aisle walks, however essentially the most significant photographs are normally unscripted — a father’s response, a pair’s non-public snicker, associates caught in pure pleasure — and stand the check 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 photographs can even be circulated and inevitably criticized.

“I’ve by no means checked out it as, ‘thousands and thousands 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 assumed [too much about it], I would freeze like a deer within the headlights.”