Siri, play “Let’s Get Married”

Dear Couple,

Thank you for hiring us to photograph your wedding day! Your wedding day is one of the many beautiful milestones you two will celebrate in your marriage. It’s Day 1 of your married life and one of the many parties you’d throw with your loved ones.

It can be a bit overwhelming with the many decisions you two will make to ensure you have an amazing wedding day. This guide we built is based on our experience in the industry photographing Guam weddings and based on our experience as well. Alongside the photography side, we’ll give some tips that sometimes we overlook from planning your engagement session, choosing outfits, makeup and hair tips, timeline tips, what to pack the night before, photo requests, and more.

Let’s make saying “I Do!” Easy, Breezy, eeeee-adai!

We want to help you feel at ease when it comes to photos. We all freeze up when a camera is pointed towards us so we get it… We want to make this as easy as possible.


A little companion from us to you as you plan your wedding day.

All the best to you both!

Cheers,
Sarah + Dave
21 Pixels

Wedding Checklist

    • Set a realistic budget and talk about priorities (what matters most: photos, venue, food, guests, décor, etc.).

      • Set a minimum and a maximum to guide you.

    • Create a rough guest count and decide on general vibe (formal vs casual, church vs outdoor, day vs evening).

    • Choose a date (or date range) and book the ceremony/reception venue(s).

      • Highly recommend prioritizing booking the ceremony/reception venues before booking other vendors to fortify your wedding date.

    • Book key vendors that affect the day’s flow: photographer, videographer, officiant, DJ/band, and caterer (if not included with venue).

    • Once you confirm your venues, send a quick message to guests who need to fly in to your wedding a heads up about the date and location of your wedding.

    • Finalize wedding party and let people know what’s expected of them (time, outfits, travel).

    • Send your Save the Dates to off-island guests (the earlier the better)

    • Choose ceremony time and work backward/forward to set a rough day‑of timeline (getting ready, photos, reception).

    • Confirm major vendors: decorator + flowers, hair and makeup, transportation, cake/desserts, lighting specialist, specialty vendors (Photo Booth, live musician, decor rentals, etc.)

    • Shop for wedding attire and start alterations; think through shoes and accessories too.

    • Reserve hotel blocks or share lodging suggestions for out‑of‑town guests if needed.

    • Plan your engagement session with your wedding photographer or another photographer.

    • Order rings, invitations, and any signage or stationery.

    • Reserve hotel blocks or share lodging info with guests, if needed.

    • Plan reception details: entrance, dances, speeches, cake cutting, special traditions.

    • Send invitations and track RSVPs (have one central spreadsheet or doc).

    • Finalize menu, ceremony details (readings, who walks when), and reception events (entrance, first dance, speeches, cake, etc.).

    • Create family photo list and choose “family wranglers” for each side.

    • Confirm timeline with photographer, DJ, officiant, and venue.

    • Meet or call with key vendors (wedding coordinator, photographer, videographer, venue manager, etc) to confirm:

      • Day‑of timeline

      • Must‑have moments and photos

      • Any restrictions from venue or church

    • Get marriage license from Vitals and Statistics. Give them a call of what you need to apply.

    • Confirm final guest count and seating plan.

    • Share final timeline and contact list with vendors and wedding party.

    • Prep day‑of details box (rings, invites, jewelry, vow books, perfume, etc.).

    • Pack a small emergency kit (needle and thread, fashion tape, pain relievers, snacks, water).

    • Confirm final headcount with venue/caterer and pay any remaining balances due before the wedding.

    • Confirm arrival times and contact info for all vendors; share your final timeline with them and with wedding party/family.

      • If you have a day of coordinator, they will do this for you.

    • Prepare envelopes for tips/final payments and assign a trusted person to hand them out on the day.

    • Pack wedding‑day essentials (rings, marriage license, vows, shoes, jewelry, emergency kit, change of clothes, etc.).

      • Start packing your luggages and wedding items 8-10 days before to cut the panic.

    • If you have the time to book an appointment with a hair salon for a hair spa treatment, which includes blow drying so your scalp is fresh and ready for the next morning.

    • Do a final check on your luggages before check-in to your hotel/airbnb.

    • Eat dinner and hydrate with water. Avoid alcohol if possible

    • Prepare your getting rooms for the morning of for the Media Team and coordinator if they’re grabbing any decor for the ceremony + reception.

      • Unpack your wedding attire, jewelry and accessories, shoes

      • STEAM the dresses or any articles of clothing TONIGHT. Ask your entourage members to bring travel size steamer if they have it to speed up the process.

      • Move unnecessary items and clutter to the closet or a corner of the room to keep the getting rooms clean and organized.

      • Move items needed to be brought to the ceremony or reception closer to the entrance door for an assigned member or coordinator to pick up.

    • For bridesmaids, it’s better to wash their hair the night before the wedding day. Hairstylists prefer your hair to be dried and ready for styling. For skin, toner + moisturizer after washing your face in the morning for makeup.

    • Eat, hydrate, and give yourself buffer time; avoid stacking too many events into one block.

    • Keep your phone and questions away from you—assign point people for logistics, vendors, and family questions.

    • Have all detail items in one spot for your photographer (rings, invites, jewelry, perfume, heirlooms, etc.).

    • Stick to the order of the timeline more than the exact minutes; small delays are normal and okay.

    • ENJOY YOUR DAY!!! ^_^

Planning your Engagement Session

Our Easy Pixel and Mega Pixel Wedding Packages include Engagement Sessions. It’s a way to build rapport with our couples, to ease them in front of our cameras, and to allow them to have some fun in the midst of planning and chaos.

Your Engagement Session is not only a photoshoot to show off your ring and announce you’re about to be married. It’s also a photoshoot to show how happy and in love you are. It’s a glimpse to your love and bond.

We can discuss your vibe, your aesthetic, your vision and choose location(s) + outfits based on those ideas. We love collaborating with our couples to build a session based on them and their love story.

For the exact time, we’ll set the time for the start of the session once we figure out the date of your engagement session.

Outfits: Raid your closet or buy?

We emphasize wearing outfits that make you feel the most beautiful and comfortable. We have a Pinterest board that we added a bunch of clothing ideas and color palettes to have a starting point when planning your outfits.

Tip: You don’t have to wear a wedding attire (wedding dress + suit) to your engagement session. Unless you want to!!

You can match head to toe or mix and match, go bold, go chic, go minimalist, go loud, go monochromatic, go neutrals, go bright, go towards any direction you feel is right to both of you and the location for your session.

Pinterst Board: Clothing Ideas
 

Additional Engagement Session Tips

  • Plan your hair and makeup bridal trials for your Engagement Session. This will help you and your HMUA (Hair Make Up Artist) plan accordingly for the wedding day based on your session experience and the photo turnout.

    • Coordinate with your HMUA to finish at least 1-2 hours before your session starts to give you time to head home to change and grab a little snack!

    • For skincare, start prepping your skin at least 2-3 months before your makeup trial + wedding day. Do not do any facials you have not tried a month before your wedding day.

      • If you haven’t, check out J-Beauty Guam as they have amazing Korean skincare products and their staff can assist you if you have any concerns.

    • For haircare, discuss with your hair stylist what’s the best timeline if you plan to dye your hair or do any perms. The night before your hair style appointment, wash your hair and dry it well.

  • Clean your ring the night before: 2 drops of dawn dish soap + warm water, a toothbrush, and 15 minutes of your time. Check TikTok, Instagram Reels, or Youtube Shorts of tips and tricks on how to clean your jewelry.

  • For outfits, I know I said “go crazy,” but I recommend not wearing anything neon or with loud patterns/logos on outfits.

    • Do a quick “sit, hug, walk, carry” test at home to make sure outfits are comfortable and not see‑through or fussy.

  • For 1 Hour Engagement Sessions, a strong outfit is better than trying to squeeze in 3 outfits and another location. We can maximize more photos when you don’t have to change your attire in the middle of the session or drive to another location.

  • 2 Hour Engagement Sessions allow you to have at least 2-3 Outfits: Dressy (e.g., long dress + heels, dress shirts + chinos + dress shoes); Casual (e.g., shirt + jeans, jumper, sundress)

    • 2 Locations will have to be in close proximity to each other to minimize driving time cutting into the session time.

 

Location Guide for E-Sessions

Your outfit and vibe has to match the scenery. And if you’re not shooting against a plain white backdrop in our studio, outdoor locations matter depending on the vibe you’re going for: beach, city/urban, forest/jungle, cozy at‑home, café/bar, etc.

For private properties like hotels, cafes, and bars, you are responsible for contacting management to take photos at their establishments. Most places are nice to allow photoshoots to happen as long as we do not disturb other patrons and staff (and purchasing food/drinks is a plus to management.)

Beaches, parks, forests are free to utilize as long as there are public properties.

Here’s our Location Guide to help you choose a location for your session:

21 Pixels: Location Guide

  • 2-3 weeks from the day of your session, but you can also request to expedite for additional $50 if needed a week later.

    $150 if you would like 3 days from the session.

  • 8/10 times our Saturdays are booked for other weddings so we open our Sundays if we’re unable to do a Saturday.

    Weekdays are also still great especially if you’re doing a beach location because there are less people at the beach during sunset.

  • If you’re planning for Save the Dates, I recommend at least 7-8 months before your wedding date.

    If you don’t need it for Save the Dates, you can plan 4-6 months before or a month before your wedding. (If you chose Mega Pixel, the cut off is 2 months as this package includes a Guestbook.)

  • Yes you can!

    Unfortunately though if you need any decorative pieces, you may want to coordinate with your wedding decorator or another event decorator to rent out a piece you’re looking for. We do not have decorative props.

  • Absolutely! They’re part of your love story. We can do a few with them while still focusing mostly on you two as a couple.

    If you have children under then age of 8, I recommend bringing a family member or a trusted friend to watch over your child during parts of the session they’re not included in the photos.

  • Heck yeah! Especially for public locations like beaches or parks.

    Private properties may have different rules.

    For our studio, please make sure to bring treats, a leash, and a pee pad.

 

Back to Wedding Planning…

This next part is all about your wedding timeline.

Wedding timelines are guides. They help start a flow but they shouldn’t restrict you from having fun if they are too rigid. They should be helpful when it comes to know what’s next.

Even a simple one‑page timeline that will be shared with your wedding party and vendors will keep the day stress‑free and make sure we don’t miss anything important. We’ll add 10–15 minute cushions between the big moments so you can breathe, fix lipstick, or hug Nina Carol without staring at the clock.

Your timeline should include when each vendor arrives and finishes. I’ll help you plug in realistic times for photo coverage so everything lines up with your hours of coverage.

Even if you don’t hire a coordinator, choose 1–2 reliable people to be your ‘day‑of captains’ so you don’t have to answer every question.

 

Don’t forget to live in the moment…

It’s tempting to squeeze everything into the morning, but when the schedule is packed back‑to‑back, your wedding day can start to feel like a production instead of a celebration. If makeup ends at 10:30 a.m. and we try to fit getting dressed, first looks with parents and your bridal party, solo portraits, and full wedding party photos all before leaving for a 12:30 p.m. church arrival, there’s no breathing room. One tiny delay (hair running over, traffic, someone missing shoes) and suddenly you’re rushed, stressed, and cutting photos you actually care about.

Instead, we’ll prioritize what matters most for you and give each moment space. For example, we might choose:

  • Getting dressed and a meaningful first look with parents and your bridesmaids before we leave

  • Then save wedding party and most portraits for after the ceremony when everyone’s together and relaxed. That way you can slow down, soak it in, and still get beautiful photos without racing the clock

 

  • 6:00am: Start time for hair and makeup (your hair and makeup artist will make suggestions based on the amount of folks they have to work on as well as what time you are departing for ceremony)

    9:30am: Media Team Arrival: Photographers / Videographers - start wedding detail photographs + video

    10:00am - 11:30am: Groom Prep (Photographer B will be with Groom)

    10:30am: Bride finishes hair + makeup - start solo portraits, robe shots with bridesmaids

    11:30am: Bride + Bridesmaids dressed - Bridal solo portraits

    12:00pm: Media Team departs for Ceremony - Final bathroom break for Bride + prepare for limo departure

    12:45pm: Bride arrives to ceremony site

    1:00pm - 2:30pm: Church Ceremony

    2:45pm - 3:15pm: Group Formals

    3:30pm - 4:30pm: Couple Formals (additional wedding entourage group photos if requested by the couple)

    5:00pm: Couple freshens up, food + drink break for the couple / Cocktail Hour begins for guests

    5:45pm: Couple + Entourage meet by Reception Door to prep for entrance

    6:30pm: Wedding Reception begins, DJ/MC introduces entourage then the couple

    6:45pm: Couple’s Welcome Speech + Blessing of the Table

    6:45pm - 8:00pm: Dinner

    8:10pm: Speeches + Toasts

    8:20pm: First Dance, Father Daughter Dance, Mother Son Dance

    8:35pm: Cake Cutting

    8:40pm: Bouquet Toss

    8:45pm - 11:00pm: Dance Floor opens

    10:00pm: Media Team finishes coverage

  • They can definitely help you with a timeline. A professional can ensure there are buffers in between events and keep the flow going and relaxed for all the vendors, the couple, the entourage, and guests :)

  • We always prefer working with a professional wedding coordinator as they help guide us and let us do what we do best - taking photos of moments and getting creative with our photographs.

    However, if you don’t have one, we can always assist you to create a timeline to guide us through out the day.

 

Circling back to prioritizing images that matter to you…

We have our must shot list memorized and engraved in the back of our head from 10 years of photographing weddings, but everyone is different and your wedding day is YOUR love story that has its own moments.

Feel free to tell us the moments that matter to you that you want us to keep an eye out for. As you plan your wedding, keep those moments noted on your phone or send me a text about it - from specific family group shots to details you have curated to candid moments with a few special members of the wedding entourage and guest list.

Family Photos: Quick + Painless

After ceremony is the best time to catch those coveted group formals with the couple, however, majority of the time the church or chapel will only give the couple 30 minutes after the ceremony to take photos.

Make a short list of the groupings that matter most to you both (for example: immediate families, grandparents, godparents, wedding entourage, extended family groupings, etc.) And we’ll arrange them to go smoothly.

If you do not have a Day Of Coordinator, assign a family captain per side who knows who’s who and can help us call people up. Once people leave and scatter, it’s like herding cats… I highly recommend that you let the people know that they can’t leave the ceremony site if they’re part of the list.

For folks not on the list, we can politely tell them that we can do more group photos during reception :)

Tips for the Couple

In the age of Social Media, there are many, many more voices and opinions on how to plan and execute a wedding. To be frank, it’s however you want it to go. Whatever you want to wear, whoever you want to invite, your call on the activities for the reception, your choice on venues, etc.

Wear the outfits that feel YOU, do the activities that matter to you both or a call back to your interests as a couple or as an individual, choose the colors that you want not what’s in season or trending, and choose the people you want to be part of your entourage because you know they 100% want to be there for you every step of the way of the wedding planning.

Look at Pinterest for inspiration, scroll through TikTok and Instagram, but at the end of the day it’s what matters to you both. Don’t feel pressured to do ALL the trendy activities. Your wedding is yours.

When it comes to photos…

we value the Natural, Effortless, and Dreamy process. We are a mix of posed, directed, and candid; watching for moments to naturally unfold, stepping in when it comes to portraits with clear directions to make you feel more at ease and looking effortless, and allowing couples to feel and act as who they are in front of our cameras.

And yes, don’t worry, it’s okay to send us any inspiration images you come across.

We’ll add our own flare to it ;)

  • It’s a bit mixture of true to color and a hint of film simulation and a touch of warmth.

    We edit based on our style but we have had a few instances where a bride would prefer a certain film look. We do a test edit and get approval for it before we do the rest of the gallery. But this is case by case. We prefer editing our way.

  • Yes, we edit acne and smoothen skin. Very subtle.

    When it comes to the wedding gallery, we do our retouching on the bridal portraits, groom portraits, couple photos, and group formals.

    The other photos like during ceremony and reception do not get an extra retouch just because that will add on extra hours. It’s only for the portraits that focus on the couple we add extra love for.

  • This is a tough one… I’m not very good with body manipulation.

    I will try however to do in in camera but adjusting how your position your limbs.

    If you truly need me to do body manipulation, I may have to send it to a professional retoucher for an additional fee.

  • No? It’s your wedding day! We'd be happy if you send us your must shots.

    We have the basic and classic must shot lists and we’ve had couples request for the following:

    • Extra photos with an aunt/uncle/cousin/sibling/niece/nephew/godparent who flew in for the wedding

    • Photos of a family heirloom

    • Photos of a certain table during reception

    • Photos of their food

    • and many more!

    If it’s important for you, let us know!

  • You can WhatsApp me or email me the images or a link to your Pinterest board.

    For Pinterest boards, make sure they’re public so I can see them from the link you share.

For the Bride

When it comes