After my last two weddings were posted, I got the question: how do you get enough portrait time with your clients on a wedding day?  Well, it has to do with a number of things, but most importantly it’s about educating your clients.  Most of my couples have never been married before, so they have no idea of how long things take!  That’s why I do my best to be involved in the creation of their timeline! If you read the post about a Photographer’s Timeline, then you know that I ask for 90 minutes in between the ceremony and reception (if there’s no First Look) in order to get in Family Formals, Wedding Party photos, and Bride and Groom portraits.  I try and educate my clients about that from the beginning, in their contracts, so that they have that expectation in order from the start.

In addition to having a solid timeline that allows for portrait time, the other place that I can educate my clients is at the engagement session.  Each of my packages offers engagement photos because I believe it’s such an important “prep” for the big day! You get your make-up trial done, you have a rehearsal, so why not practice portraits too?  I could go on and on about the benefits of having an engagement session done with your photographer, but I think I’ll save that for another day.  The most beneficial part of having an engagement session is getting to know your photographer’s style and how they shoot.  For me, I create poses that flow one from the other, asking my clients to move once I’ve gotten my shot.  If they weren’t used to this, they might break apart in between, messing up the flow of each pose.  In addition, I teach specific poses at the engagement session and explain them thoroughly, that way on the wedding day, I can say “do the _____” pose, and they know what I’m talking about!

So are you a bride panicking that you won’t have enough time for portraits on your big day?  Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to take good care of you!  Happy Wedding Wednesday!