Former wedding photographer shares mistakes couples make

• Daria Sokol is a former wedding photographer from Ukraine currently living in New York.
• Sokol got married in May and said her photography experience taught her what to avoid.
• She said couples usually take too many photos and let stress get in the way.

Anyone who has been married knows that it can be an amazing yet overwhelming experience.

One person who especially knows this to be true is Daria Sokol, a former wedding photographer from Ukraine who married her partner Anton in May.

Sokol, 29, told Insider that her experience shooting weddings taught her what not to do at her own wedding, which took place at New York’s Top of the Rock followed by a reception with her family in Italy.

Sokol worked as a professional wedding photographer from 2016 to 2019, when she started her current job as a technical account in New York. She also posts travel content on her Instagram account @daria.newyork for her 20,000 followers and said she will occasionally take photography clients on an ad-hoc basis.

In her former job, Sokol said she saw couples make a lot of mistakes in their marriages. Here are two of the most common mistakes she says she’s seen and how she avoided them on her big day.

Couples often spend a lot of time taking photos

Sokol said some of her clients often feel like they need to take hundreds of photos on their wedding day, when in fact, that’s not necessary. He said this would make them stressed and spend less time enjoying their special day with their friends and family.

“It’s pretty common to have about 500 photos from your wedding. But how many are you going to use? I guarantee not 500,” Sokol said.

She added that an alternative to this would be to cover your staged post-wedding photos in 20 minutes, which is what she did when she got married in Italy.

A post shared by Daria in New York ❤️ (@daria.newyork)

“It was a very limited time that was very special for us,” Sokol said. “And the main photos I wanted were from the actual ceremony, not the staged photos.”

Sokol and her husband had their legal ceremony at the Top of the Rock with only one witness and one photographer. Three hours later, she said they were on a flight to southern Italy for their second wedding – the couple invited 34 guests, including Sokol’s family who had fled the war in Ukraine.

Some couples let stress get in the way of their special day

Sokol said couples who planned their own weddings without any help were often stressed and didn’t enjoy their day. She said that while she tried to make couples feel relaxed during their photos, they were always “in a constant rush” and struggled to balance their time and responsibilities on the wedding day.

Sokol said she recommends hiring a wedding planner if you can. She said she used Wedding House, an agency based in Italy and the French Riviera that offers personalized wedding planning services, according to its website. On average, US-based wedding planners cost $1,800according to photography company Shutterfly.

Whether couples decide to hire a wedding planner or not, Sokol suggests scheduling your wedding photos on a different day so you can “go for the photos,” without worrying about your guests, food, or anything else. marriage arrangements.