The following is a brief example of what would occur with the photography on your wedding day. Some of these may not happen depending upon the type of package you choose or the emphasis you place on specific segments of your day.
The Groom:
This should take no more than 1 hour but no less than 30mins. We can do getting ready shots but it is common for the guys to be set and ready to go before we get there. This coverage needs to start early enough to leave the photographer time to leave the guys and get to the Bride in time for her preparation coverage. Some points worth remembering:
- Preferably the guys will be almost ready if not fully dressed by the time the photographers arrive
- This is where we will get the guys together, individual portraits, details shots of the rings and shots with the groom’s parents if they are present.
The Bride:
At the bride’s place we will spend an hour covering the bride and bridesmaids getting ready. Some points to remember:
- We capture the details (bouquets, dress, shoes etc), the bridesmaids helping the bride put on her gown, fussing with the bridesmaids, one-on-one portraiture of the bride and bridesmaids, and the finally the shots with mum, dad.
- Having the hair and make up finished before we arrive will allow you more time for photography.
- Its good to allow time for us to leave ahead of the bride so we can be set up and ready to go at the ceremony.
The Ceremony:
At the ceremony we will be covering the bride’s arrival, the groom waiting, the ceremony, vows, the ring and the kiss. The time here is pretty standard and normally takes between 30-45mins. Though I did read a blog recently where the ceremony took less than eight minutes (wow).
Family Photos
If family photos are well organised they should only take 30 minutes (depending on the size of the family of course). One of the tips to avoid time wasting at this point is proper planning of the family groups.
You will need:
- A detailed list of family combinations
- A dedicated and motivated person with a loud voice to keep the family members organised.
- It is also best to advise those who you want in photos to hang around for family photos or they are likely to leave before they are herded in. Most ministers and celebrants will be happy to make an announcement for you before they conclude the ceremony.
Creative Session
The time required to get the location shoot done can be easily missed in your planning for the day. If you want good photos plan a decent length of time. The best session we have done so far was planned with a three hour gap between the family photos and reception. This plenty of time to travel to locations and get good shots without stressing out. Our advice is limit the number of locations you want covered and spend more quality time at each. Most definitely though, the closer the time gap between ceremony and reception the fewer places you will be able to go to.
Reception
We like to spend about 1 hour at the reception. Ideally we like to shoot some shots of you outside the reception venue will one of us gets inside to capture some details before you ‘arrive’. This is sufficient time to capture:
- Detail shots of table settings and atmosphere
- Arrivals
- Cake cutting
- Table shots of guests
We recommend not having a professional photographer stay right through the evening for a number of reasons but most importantly you want to be able to relax.
But I don’t like mock cake shots?
If you want a cake shot before we depart but don’t like the idea of it being faked. No problem, do the actual cake cutting then. It is becoming very popular for couples to plan their reception around this so that straight after they arrive they cut the cake. This would also work for the bridal waltz if you want us to capture that to.
