Do yourself a favour and get hold of your parents' wedding album. Now, try and find a single photograph where you can identify a prop. Good luck! Props at weddings are fairly new and it's quite debatable if this is simply a trend or the future of wedding photography.

The golden rule about photography: the star of the show is the person in the photograph, not the prop! So when do you use props or should you even consider using props at all.

Props At Engagement Shoots

Would we recommend props at an engagement shoot? FOR SURE!

An engagement shoot allows you to get fun and funky. There are simply no rules! We usually ask the couple to bring along any props they may have and we go crazy with it. An engagement shoot usually allows enough time to play around which is ideal for the photographer as the photographer can see what the couple love and how to interact in front of the lens. These props can include wooden hearts, "&" signs, balloons, speech bubbles, funny moustaches and red lips or even a power paint session.

Props At Weddings

Would we recommend props at your wedding? Um ... Not really

Snap Photography believes that any picture taken must be timeless. So if you look at the photographs in 30 years' time it must look like it was taken yesterday. Props may be a trend and hence the reason why we would not encourage you to make use of props during the couple shoot on your wedding day.

However, we do recommend that you do have 2 props available

1. "Thank You" - This is where the bride and groom holds a banner or prop which simply says "Thank You". The perfect ‘thank you’ gift for your wedding guests.

2. Mr & Mrs - This is surely a winner prop and truly timeless.

Will you have a photo booth or a photo corner? If so, then yes, bring along those props! Your wedding guests will love the props and the energy at the photo corner will be so stunning as everybody wants a photograph taken with the newly-weds. Not to even mention the group photographs! This is surely the place to use the props and go all funky with it!

It's critical to understand when and where to use props. They can really compliment a photograph or just be overwhelming and annoying.