I was recently talking to a friend of mine who was just about to begin her first double header weekend ever, and she was explaining to me that she was a little intimidated.  Pause- Before I go any further, I just want to pause and let you know that when I’m referring to a double header, I mean you’re photographing two weddings in the same weekend – and continue. I mean, as wedding photographers, we know how much work goes into shooting one wedding let alone starting the whole process over again in the same weekend!  I personally like double header weekends as long as they’re planned out wisely on the calendar! Last year I actually had photographed 4 weddings in 8 days and admittedly, that was a tricky spot to be in while still trying to maintain my normal workflow.  But double headers are a great way to be able to serve two incredible couples in the same weekend, and I just love that!

However, planning for a double header can be a little bit tricky when you’re trying to do double the work in the same amount of time – so allow me to give you a few of the things that I’ve learned help me get prepped:

1. Make sure that you’re getting hydrated. This is a good habit for a regular weekend too, but the week before a double header, I try to drink almost double the water that I normally do so that my muscles feel more relaxed and ready to go on a wedding day.  Carrying that much equipment around can be tough on your body, but if you’re thinking ahead it really does help take down the soreness on the second wedding day and the day after you’re finished shooting!
2. Wear comfortable attire. The last thing you need is your body feeling sore because you chose to wear an outfit that caused a bit of a wardrobe malfunction! Make sure the outfits that you’re choosing are breathable, don’t cause rubbing anywhere (especially on your shoulders where your camera straps lie), and aren’t something you have to fix constantly! The same thing goes for not only your clothing choice but your shoes too! You definitely want to make sure that your shoes are comfy so that you don’t find your feet being too sore on the second day!
3. Come equip with ibuprofen! I injured my back in high school and it ended up turning into a mostly-gone but sometimes randomly-reappears sort of injury, so I carry ibuprofen with me on a wedding day anyway, but I’ve found that taking one during the reception on each wedding day really helps take away any type of soreness the days after!
4. Charge all of your batteries ahead of time. If you’re anything like me, I have at least three camera batteries and way more batteries than I need for my reception lighting too, but on a double header weekend, be sure to have all of your batteries charged that way you won’t have to be trying to charge as many at one time in between weddings! Then during reception one, any batteries I’ve used get sorted out to be recharged that night, and all of the other ones are already all-set! Win, win!
5. Bring external hard drives and back your images up during the reception(s). I can’t even begin to tell you what a relief it is to have two copies of wedding images (one on my cards, one on my external drives) before I leave a wedding day.  While this is good practice all the time – to make sure that your cards haven’t corrupted – its especially important to do during a double header weekend so that nothing gets lost or mixed up between the two weddings!  This saves so much time the week after the weddings so that you don’t have to waste precious weekday hours importing your images – instead you have them all uploaded already and set to start culling whenever you’re ready!

I promise that if you’re prepared, shooting a double header isn’t as intimidating as it may seem to be! Happy Friday, friends!!