Today's topic: wedding day schedule. When I meet with potential clients one of the first things I do is talk with them about the plan for their wedding day. And selfishly, I hope that plan calls for their pictures being taken during the 'golden hour' before sunset. I love when my couples meet with me early in their planning so we can work together to figure out a schedule that makes for the most gorgeous pictures!
The first thing I do, before I even meet with the couple for the first time, is I look up the sunset time for their wedding day. This is a really great website for doing that. Then I work backwards from there. I plan the photos to take about an hour (this includes pictures of the new husband and wife, and them with their family and bridal parties), then the ceremony before that, then guy photos before that, girl photos before that, then getting ready photos.
I let my couples know ahead of time that their wedding day is not about taking pictures. Pictures are important (of course I think so!), but the wedding day is a celebration, and the couple should be spending most of their time with family and friends. I've gotten pretty good at moving through the after-ceremony pictures quickly so the party can get started. I always start with big groups (extended families), then excuse people to the reception until we have smaller groups (immediate families). After the families I do the entire bridal party, but I don't spend too much time on this because: 1) by this point most bridal parties are a few drinks in, and 2) I already spent time before the wedding taking pictures of the bride with her girls, and the groom and his guys. Last, I do the pictures of just the couple.
If you're planning your wedding, please consider meeting with your photographer early in the process. They'll have a really good idea of the best way to plan your day, and I promise, it will make everything go a whole lot smoother!
If you would like to talk about your wedding, check out my website. www.nemecphotos.com
