Happy Monday, folks! What an incredible weekend. I kicked off my 2016 wedding season with Lauren and Anthony’s State Room wedding. It was an oh-so elegant Boston wedding, and more importantly, FUN! I can’t wait to share more photos of their beautiful day.
In today’s Coffee Break with SJP blog post, I’m going to talk about one of the questions I’m asked quite frequently: do you have a sample wedding day photography schedule?
This is a great question, and while every wedding is different, a sample schedule will give you a general idea of how a typical 8-hour wedding day photography schedule looks. My good friend and very talented wedding planner and designer, Alexis of The Little Things, recently interviewed me, and asked me this very question – along with several others – for her new blog series, “What Weddings Cost”. Below is the excerpt from her blog post – read on, and definitely click through to see what else I had to share!
Take me through a typical wedding day with you?
Every wedding day is different, and I like to make sure I’m customizing my approach for the day at hand. To start, I always like to chat with clients well in advance of the wedding day to ensure they know how to make the most of their wedding photos. For example, I have a couple who is getting married on Block Island next season, and a year prior to the exact date, I went to check out the venue, outdoor ceremony location and other portrait locations on the island to help advise on the best time of day for the events, as well as the best location for the ceremony based on the sunlight the time of year.
As we draw closer to the day, I like to create a wedding day photography agenda. I’m a big believer in setting expectations and being on the same page, so this document helps us do that. You can let me know any specific family portraits you want, any details that you want to make me aware of, and anything else that is important to you!
On the actual wedding day, it’s go time! I have a fly-on-the-wall approach, but there are also times when I need to be assertive to wrangle the crowds. The most common package is eight hours, and below is a sample outline of what that looks like with a 1pm start time.
- 1-2:30pm – Getting Ready photos
- 2:30-2:45pm – Travel to Venue for First Look
- 2:50-2:55pm – First Look
- 2:55pm-3:20pm – Bride and Groom Portraits
- 3:20-3:40pm – Wedding Party Photos
- 3:40-4pm – Family Photos
- 4-4:25pm – Refresh and Prep for Ceremony
- 4:30-5pm – Ceremony
- 5-6pm – Cocktail Hour (This is when I typically capture details of the decor and venue, as well as candids of folks interacting)
- 6-9pm – Reception! (During this time we get all of the dances, cake cutting and dance floor shenanigans, as well as sunset and/or nighttime portraits of the bride and groom.)
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