2ifbysea Photography

 

Portraits on your wedding day

 

By John Kiene -2ifbysea

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I have photographed 400 + weddings and so you can imagine the many lessons learned over the years...  I have developed a predictive sense of outcomes related to photography based on the quality of pre wedding planning. This is why I felt so compelled to write this article about portraits on your wedding day. Portraits are the centerpiece of your wedding pictures and so I want to share my advice with you that sets you up for success! 

 

Wedding day planning can be challenging but of course it's also a very exciting time. It's here where you will begin to organize a photography timeline which will eventually merge with your wedding day timeline along with the help of your Wedding Day Coordinator. 

What you learn here (and with me in person), will help you understand what's important to capture great photography. I encourage you do the same with all your vendors. No doubt they all have their own wisdom to share, do's and dont's etc.

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One of the first things to consider when planning your wedding is to determine what time the sun sets on your wedding day. It's important for my couples (along with your photographer's input)

to carefully balance the desired ceremony start time with pre & post ceremony portraits. Who and when these portraits occur are influenced by a myriad of things; What portraits are most important to you?, How many hours of photography coverage do you need?, what are the family sizes, the length of ceremony and the subsequent time to sunset? etc...Ultimately I'm here to help you ask the relevant questions and get these answers unique to your wedding day! While the majority of weddings here in Texas are outdoor, the following is still useful for indoor weddings as formal portraits are often captured under the sun.

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Wedding Venue

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It goes without saying, but wedding venues & bridal suites with nice aesthetics: nice furniture, rugs, impressive art, big windows, cool doors & floors, white ceilings.. etc. will always help add to great wedding photography. There are many wedding venues to choose from. Your photographer should be able to provide good advice on what venue characteristics favor photography and the type of venues that are less than ideal. Room sizes i.e., bridal suite etc... can affect photography - the tighter the spaces the fewer lenses photographers have to choose from. Ask your photographer if they've ever photographed that particular venue before. They may have some good insights about that venue.

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What to bring

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Here's a list of items to bring and/or have present at your wedding. This is not an exclusive list, but it's a list with photography in mind.

 

1) Tennis/comfortable shoes 2) nice hangers for your dress & bridesmaids 3) Wedding rings 4) Wedding invitation w/envelope 5) Bouquet & bridesmaid's flowers (find out when the flowers arrive). Perhaps some extras like flower pedals, extra bouquet ribbon, 7) Clear umbrella if rain is expected & hand towels, 9) Any letters/gifts to be exchanged, if applicable and really anything you want in pictures that can be taken in the first hour of your photographer's arrival. Detail images like these mentioned are great for wedding album backgrounds, design etc..

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Photographer's arrival 

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As mentioned, have these details ready to photograph in the bridal suite before photographers arrival.

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Bridal Suite: The bride & her bridesmaids, hair & makeup setup should be facing the window light with the photographer's ability to move to and from the windows because they want to see natural sunlight on your pretty faces. Keep clutter to a minimum and perhaps use an adjoining room if available, for food, soda cans, purses, suit cases, garment bags, phone charging, food boxes etc. Be sure to delegate a bridesmaid to be in charge of keeping everything tidy.

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Allocate a minimum 1 hour for hair & makeup photography for the bride. There are some factors that will require more time: Are your bridesmaids also getting H&M done here? Are family members getting ready here too? How many hair & makeup vendors? etc. Just remember, a rushed bride = stressed bride!! Be sure your vendors provides an accurate time estimate of when the final hour of H&M will finish. Also I recommend that your make-up be done BEFORE your hair ....so you might discuss this with your stylists.

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This time during H&M should be coordinated with the photographer's arrival time which is determined based on how many hours of photography are in your package: For example, what time does your wedding day end? When is the exit? well, you simply count backward the number of hours booked in your package... and that would be my start time! Many brides coordinate the photographer's first hour of arrival with the last hour of H&M finishing.

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Getting Ready

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This time should be contemplative not rushed! It should be a time to anticipate,.. and a moment to enjoy with your relatives & friends. Again I see it too many times, a rushed bride (& groom), translates in images!! So plan for enough time for getting ready at a relaxed, contemplative and stress free, organized pace & setting. Talk to past brides and get their do's and dont's, make a list. Be sure to delegate!.. that's what your bridesmaids/groomsmen are for. Factor in the number of bridesmaids/groomen all in one particular space.... what will that look like? The more girls & guys, the more clutter, stepping over things, losing important items...etc. Perhaps there's an adjoining room to store things. Also in Texas some venues wait too long to adequately cool these rooms so you might review this need with your venue. Again, this should take place in an aesthetically pleasing room, free of clutter with you facing the natural light! If one of your bridesmaid likes to style then have her set up the room, put her in charge of style and work with the venue if you need to move any furniture. Also have your flowers nearby so they're seen in the photos. 
 

Soon after getting ready you may consider a "first look" with your fiancé and/or with bride’s father/mother etc. This can also be a good time to exchange cards/gifts with your fiancé and/or family if applicable. Let the photographer know if you want photos of this moment. Q: do the groomsmen all have their boutonnieres on prior to their portraits? Flowers should arrive early and ready to go for the entire wedding party and on and on...

 

Texas weather can be unpredictable so a pair of sneakers or comfy flats can be helpful when walking across the venue property. Sometimes the grounds may be soft/damp or full of fire ants!!. and you may be asked to walk a bit to a preferred photographer location. These shoes are important to have and will save you from sore feet. These shoes can be worn provided your dress is long enough to hide them during portraits.  Also delegate a bridesmaid to be ready to style your look by working closely with me as we shoot. This helps to catch anything out of place etc. 

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Formal Portraits

1) B&G Portraits - together and separate

2) Wedding Party Portraits - meaning bride & groom parties together and photographed separately. 

3) Family Portraits

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When should each of these portraits happen? well there isn't one right answer for every wedding,

it depends on what you want. Let's take a look at some considerations and options:

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Option 1 - Let's assume the sun is setting at 6pm and you want the bridesmaids & groomsmen portraits (wedding party) taken pre ceremony  (right after B&G getting ready) Note * churches and wedding venues ideally, should have shady trees nearby as these are desirable when portraits are taken early to mid afternoon because the sun is too often high in the sky and too harsh on the face for portraits so finding shade is important. You can also consider family portraits at this time too provided all family members can be there somewhat early in the afternoon.

 

The benefit of some of these formal portraits captured before the ceremony is that you're saving the best light for post ceremony portraits, most important to you. The other benefit is to free up time (post ceremony) for you & family to attend any cocktail hour with the guests and get to dinner sooner. Under this scenario the first look (pre ceremony) is necessary with your fiancé to knock out bridal party portraits and also capture family too. Just know that any combination of these three portrait events mentioned, can be pre or post ceremony of course. It's your preference but I'll help you figure that out.

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Considerations: So with a 6pm sunset, the Ideal ceremony start time would be between 4:15 - 4:30 pm. The time considerations are: How long is the ceremony? (outdoor average is about 30mins)

Typically the first portraits captured right after the ceremony is family and then sunset photos of the B&G 1/2 hour before sunset! All this said, I can help you estimate the amount of time needed for portraits via direct conversation with you! 

 

Option 2 - again with the sun setting at 6pm

1) All portraits are post ceremony with a photography emphasis that is more heavily-weighted to freeing up more time prior to the ceremony for; getting ready pics, details, venue, cake, tables, rings, flowers, invitations and the desire that all formal portraits are captured post ceremony for the best light. Also consider some family members may not be arriving at the venue early-to-mid afternoon on the day of weddings because of airline flights arriving late, or grandparents who don't want to get there too soon and be there all afternoon etc.. The safe bet here is to have a minimum of 1.5 hrs of light post ceremony for families, the entire wedding party and B&G portraits. This option 2, I think is best suited for smaller families/weddings. 

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The Benefit? You’re capturing the best light for all portraits. The potential downside somewhat, is being away from cocktail hr/guests longer and getting to dinner later, but again depends on the number of family etc. The main takeaway here is to prioritize which portraits are most important to you and reserve for the best light of the day for them:  2 hours up to the setting sun.

 

I know this is a lot of info but I hope this helps you learn a bit more about my approach to plan for wedding portraits. If you've read this entire article then you're my kind of bride & groom!, thank you! ha ha. I'm now confident you will be better informed about what choices and options are yours to make when you create your photography timeline. Contact me or simply use this link to my photography timeline form. 

 

I believe there's a photographer for every bride & groom. If you like this process then let's discuss your wedding day. Contact me! I'd be happy to help you with your wedding photography whether I'm your photographer or not.

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All my best to you & yours!

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John Kiene

2ifbysea

512-909-6161

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