You don't need to have every detail figured out before we talk.

But a few basics make everything easier, particularly when there are multiple locations, grandparents, extended family and a room full of people running on a schedule.

It's one of the best opportunities we have to make beautiful photographs without trying to do everything while guests are arriving and somebody is wondering where the kippahs went.

We can photograph the Torah, tallis, yad, bimah and all the small details properly. We can make portraits without a hundred people watching. And if photography isn't permitted during the actual service, the rehearsal becomes even more important.

This is also a great time to bring grandparents.

We're not fighting the clock quite as hard, everyone can relax, and we can make the photographs that would be much more difficult on the actual day.

They're also not necessarily interested in standing around for 45 minutes while we photograph every possible combination of cousins.

If grandparents are joining us, give them a
specific arrival time.

I'll photograph them efficiently, make sure we get the combinations that matter, and then let them sit down, have a coffee, kibitz, or tell me that the last photographer did it differently.

The fastest way to lose twenty minutes is to decide family combinations while everybody is standing there.

Send me the important groupings beforehand.

Once we've got the photographs we have to have, I want people interacting.

Walking. Laughing. Talking. Parents embarrassing their children. Siblings being siblings.

Those are usually the photographs that end up meaning the most.

I want enough time to make strong portraits without turning your Mitzvah into a modelling session.

If we've got good light, a workable location and a little breathing room, we can get what we need and get everybody back to the actual celebration.

Portraits can happen at the synagogue, at home, at the party venue or somewhere outside.

The little things are part of the story too.

If there are small objects you want photographed,
put them together before I arrive.

I can photograph everything quickly instead of sending somebody on a scavenger hunt while we're supposed to be doing family portraits.

Some allow photography during the service. Some restrict where I can stand. Some allow photography without flash. Some don't permit photography at all.

I also want to know about the things that make your ceremony different.

Not every Mitzvah needs a giant Saturday-night party.

Some of my favourite celebrations are lunches and afternoon schmoozes where everybody actually has time to talk to one another.

The photography should fit the event.

I love atmospheric party lighting.

Your photographer and your DJ or lighting company just need to be on speaking terms.

Deep colour, moving lights and a great-looking dance floor can photograph beautifully.

But if every face is permanently blue, purple or completely dark, there's only so much anybody can do.

Most of the day I can follow what's happening naturally.

But surprises are considerably easier to photograph when they're only a surprise to the person being surprised.

Photo booths, signing books, signing boards and memory pieces are great.

But think about where they live in the room.

If the signing book is hidden behind a speaker in a dark corner, half the guests won't know it exists.

Give these things their own little bit of space.

Your planner and venue will usually have good suggestions.

Schedules slide.
Hair runs late.
Someone forgets a tie.
A grandparent needs an extra few minutes.

Toronto traffic does what Toronto traffic does.

The problem isn't one thing being ten minutes late.

It's when every part of the schedule depends on the thing before it being exactly on time.

Give yourself a buffer.

Ten minutes of apparently wasted time can save half an hour of stress later.

A few days before the Mitzvah, send me the
actual final timeline.

By then I want the real information.

Something will run late.
Somebody will refuse to be in a photograph.
The weather may not cooperate.
A button will come off.
A speech will go completely off script.
A kid will spill something five minutes after getting dressed.

The photographs don't need everything to be perfect.

They need the people you love, being themselves, on a day worth remembering.

That's the good stuff.