This might seem silly and obvious, but this post is about making time for pictures on your wedding day. More specifically, making time for posed pictures of the bride and the groom. I am a big advocate for doing a first look session before the ceremony, but I understand that some couples like to follow tradition and not see each other before the wedding. (You can learn more about first looks here).
So this post is more for those couple that aren't interested in a first look. It's harder for them to find time after the ceremony to get pictures taken together. A lot of brides tell me when I first meet them that they'll just get pictures taken together during the group pictures after the ceremony. That's a great idea and it's what I suggest, but if you don't sit aside time for the one-on-one pictures - they won't happen.
This is typically what happens on a wedding day: The bride has been up since 6am doing last minute things and has barely eaten because she's nervous. She just spent anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes standing in front of everyone she knows. Her feet hurt and she's hungry. And now hungry guests are pressuring her to rush through the group pictures so they can eat. A wedding day is magical and wonderful, but it's also stressful and hectic.
So in my first meeting with brides I like to challenge them to commit to putting 15 minutes aside for just the bride and the groom and say no to peer pressure! Take the bridal party shots, the family shots, and then send everyone away for 15 minutes. I know everyone's hungry and I know we all just want to get to the fun part: the drinking and the dancing, but I also know that when you skip the pictures of just the bride and the groom in a close, intimate setting - you'll regret it.
Below is a great example of an amazing couple who made time to take some one-on-one shots after their wedding. Tommy and Jen got married in Newark, Ohio in December (luckily it was a 60 degree December day). After the ceremony we took a five minute car ride to a theater downtown that meant something to them. Then we ducked into an alley nearby for some amazing, posed shots. Tommy and Jen's bridal party was with us but when it came time for Jen and Tommy's moment, I sent them around the corner to hangout so Jen and Tommy could be alone (and more comfortable in front of the lens). There's a reason that prom pictures look so awkward - it's because there's a line of 50 of your peers watching you take them! Go somewhere private for the pictures - you'll thank me.
I'm not just going to harp that you need to take pictures and then leave it to you to figure out how. I do have a few suggestions on how to make time for pictures on your wedding day. The easiest one is to take same sex group pictures before the ceremony. Tommy and Jen did this and it led to some amazing and fun pictures of the guys outside the church before the wedding (there was a jungle gym involved). This made the group pictures after the ceremony go a lot faster. Second, give yourself a buffer between the ceremony and the reception so you know you have time and you're not rushing yourself. A great way to keep your guests happy during that time is by having a cocktail hour. Lastly, make some plans for the bride and groom pictures. Pick out a location (and maybe a back-up just in case)- it can be at the church, at the reception, or somewhere else entirely and let people know ahead of time that you want it to be just a one-on-one thing.
I know I may be a little bias about the important of pictures on a wedding day, but I also know that there are brides out there that feel the same way. So if you're one of those brides, take my advice and make some time to take the pictures you'll want on your walls for the rest of your life!
Keep smiling,
Kaylina
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