I hope you have found this series helpful as you think about planning your wedding day. As a natural light photographer, it takes communication with my clients to create the images that fit my style of photography. I share because I am passionate about capturing your love story and I want to serve you to the best of my ability.

Today’s blog will cover the wedding photography timeline for bridal party portraits, family portraits, and bride and groom portraits. If you find yourself with additional questions after reading this series, please do not hesitate to reach out. I would be glad to listen and help with suggestions.

 

The Bridal Party Portraits

We have so much fun with the bridal party portraits. It tends to be the time during the day where things get really entertaining with all the inside jokes, laughter between best friends…and yes, even joyful tears of celebration. My husband is my second shooter and he is absolutely amazing at what he does. We work so well together and he has a great way of getting the guys to enjoy being in front of the camera. We truly love capturing these moments for our brides and grooms and want it to be a time of joy and light-heartedness during this portion of portraits. To accomplish a light-hearted atmosphere for the bridal party portraits, it takes a little planning ahead of time.

 

First, I suggest that the bridesmaids and groomsmen be ready and at the designated location 10-15 minutes before we start. This is the part of the day where we photograph the full party with the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. We also photograph individual images of each bridesmaid and groomsmen with the bride and groom. I like to designate 30 minutes to photograph the entirety of the bridal party.

Bridal Party Photo Tips:

1. Remember to have the bridesmaids bring their bouquets. The timeline can get pushed back because they get lost in the hustle and bustle of the day and someone has to run and find them.
2. Have the groomsmen wearing their boutonnieres when they arrive at the portrait location.
3. Have food and drink available.  Groomsmen seem to be willing to be more cooperative with food around! ha ha. Seriously though, it’s good to make sure everyone is staying hydrated and has a little something to eat.

The Family Portraits

I recommend allotting 30 minutes for family portraits. This is feasible if, again, a little planning is done ahead of time. I suggest emailing or texting anyone who needs to stay for family portraits. Encourage them to stay at the ceremony location and not to leave when the aisles are excused. This will help with making sure the people you want in your family photos are ready and available.

Another suggestion is to have a designated person for each side of the family to quickly group together the family members who need to be in each shot. Unfortunately, we don’t get to meet everyone ahead of time so it can be challenging getting the right people quickly.

 

Bride & Groom Portraits

I can’t encourage you enough to make sure you plan enough time for your bride and groom portraits. These are the images that will be hanging on your walls for years to come so we want to make sure to be intentional about making enough time for your portraits alone together.

Like your engagement session, I believe it is important that this part of the timeline be a quiet time away from distractions. The best images are captured when you are focused on each other and not everyone else. At least 30 minutes is strongly suggested for Bride and Groom portraits. Lastly, if possible escape your reception for 10-15 minutes (after you’ve eaten and your guest are finishing up) for sunset/golden hour portraits. These make for some stunning images. You definitely wont regret it!

And that’s a wrap for the Wedding Photography Timeline series. I will be sharing more on weddings in future blogs. Until then don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or want to chat. I look forward to talking all things creative with you!