One of the questions I get most frequently, is" how long will will it take to do group photos" ?
Or,"how long should I allow for a trip to the park for pictures"?
These are very good questions,and they are ones I can answer for each bride individually,
depending on the size of the wedding party, the size of the families,and on Park trips,
the travel time involved,( the distance from the church to the park and from the park to the reception).
But your wedding schedule revolves around more than just photographs. You have a large number of guests to consider, and it's wise to plan your day so as not to keep them waiting too long for you especially if they are from out of town. they may not know what to do with themselves for long stretches of time, while you are busy doing photographs.
There are a number of ways you can plan ahead to keep your day going smoothly with a minimum of wait time for your guests. Consider starting photographs early if you can be ready and dressed for photos an hour or so early. That can greatly cut down the amount of time that you'll need after the ceremony to do pictures. And just in case things run a little late, which really can happen at a wedding !... believe me.... It's better to be a little ahead of schedule to start with, than to try and spend all day catching up.
The one focal point in time for your whole wedding day, that you need to keep in mind, and not be late for, is dinner at your reception. The caterer is preparing food for all your guests, and has a specific time to have it ready. If you are running late, the food may get cold... and after all, you are spending a lot of money for it. Your guests would certainly appreciate the food being fresh and hot.
So allow enough time for photographs after the ceremony, and perhaps a trip to the park, but pad your schedule a little bit in case you are running late. Remember, it takes longer just to get in and out of the vehicle in a wedding dress, than in jeans and sneakers. and limos take longer to park, and offload large groups of people.
I personally don't enforce a time limit or number of hours to photograph a wedding. I think time limits are dumb. Weddings are unique events, and you just can't time them with a stopwatch. But many photographers do enforce a limited number of hours, so it's best to use them to your best advantage.
Here are some things to watch for, that have tripped up many a bride on her wedding day.
Failing to allow enough time to get dressed. Wedding clothing is complicated, and takes longer to get on. Hairstyling and makeup will take longer than you think they will. The last thing you want is to go down the aisle late, because you were struggling with the dress, trying to get ready to make your grand entrance.
Failing to allow time for receiving line. The receiving line is where you greet guests at the back of the ceremony venue, after you come down the aisle as a married couple.
If you have 100 guests, and they all spend 30 seconds with you, that means it will take 50 min. for your receiving line. Receiving lines are an important part of your day, but be sure to build them into your schedule.
Failing to make sure all of your relatives and close friends know to stick around for photographs after the ceremony. It's easy to lose a half an hour, looking for family who have wandered away from the photographs to smoke a cigarette, or they have left for the reception,or just plain didn't know they were supposed to stay for pictures.
Thinking you can stay in those four-inch stilettos all day long without bringing a pair of flats for comfort. I know you want to wear the cool shoes all day,but tracking through wet grass, or a big hills at the park, can make the heels a lot less fun. Bring a pair of flats you can hide under the wedding dress, and you'll be able to move around a lot more easily out-of-doors.
Forgetting to bring in your toss bouquet , and give it to the DJ. I can't count the number of times we got all the way to the bouquet toss, and the bride had to stop and frantically look for her toss bouquet.
Well, enough for now. It seems I got a bit long-winded in my first post.
But I have a lot more to say! So look for more posts in the coming weeks and months, and I'll try to give you the lowdown on what real-life weddings look and act like, and how to make your wedding one of the best days of your life.
Bob
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