Dear Jasmine,
I have a question for you about time on the wedding day. I recently shot a wedding where they gave me an hour and 45 minutes between ceremony and reception to do shots of the bridal party and bride and groom. At first I thought this was enough time, but soon realized I wanted more time with the bride and groom.
Now, I am feeling like for my future brides and grooms that I want to suggest about three hours. Have you had to battle with this and if so what do you recommend?
Thanks,
Pressured Photographer
Dear Pressured Photographer,
I feel you, boo. On a wedding day, it feels like there's hardly enough time to take all the photos you need…and if I had to guess, it's probably the most common frustration amongst wedding photographers. But the key is to see thing from the bride's perspective. Once you do, everything changes.
From the moment after the ceremony, there's cocktail hour, dinner, and the reception. On average, this could range from 5-6 hours. If the bride gave you an hour and 45 minutes on her wedding day for photos, you procured anywhere from 20-30% of time allotted for her reception (depending how long the reception is in totality)…and that's pretty darn incredible.
Chances are highly unlikely you'll get three hours for photos on a wedding day, unless there's a large gap between the ceremony and reception. Large time gaps don't exist most wedding days, so I strongly suggest two things:
1. Educate Clients
I recently had a conversation with a bride who didn't want a First Look (seeing her groom before the ceremony), and she mentioned having one hour after the ceremony for family photos, bridal party photos, and bride and groom photos. I then explained that wouldn't be enough time to document everything I needed. At minimum, I need 25 minutes with the bridal party, 25 minutes for family photos (if there aren't lots of combinations or a vast amount of people), and 35 minutes for the bride and groom. Any more time I get than this is a total win, but this is pretty average for me.
Once I carefully explained what I needed, my bride opted to extend her cocktail hour to an hour and a half to ensure I had the time needed to document her day. If you need more time to facilitate the way you work, simply ask for it…and then let the bride decide what works best for her.
2. Work Faster
I felt very lucky to have my bride extend her cocktail hour, but sometimes this isn't the case. Sometimes I have one hour to document everything…and while it is extremely stressful, I must make it work. I have no other option. As wedding photographers, it's vitally important to keep the day on track, so if that means having 20 minutes to document the bride and groom, then I need to maximize time. I do this by depending on my second shooter to get an entirely different angle, having a clearly thought out photo plan (where I'll take them, what poses I'll recommend, and find a way to candidly shoot private moments), and explain to them our timing structure so we're on the same page. Learning to work fast in stressful situations has defined my reputation as a professional wedding photographer amongst industry peers and it makes me proud. I know you can do the same.
Pressured Photographer, I wish you the best as you explain your needs to your clients and also learn how to work faster. If other readers have tips to help, feel free to share them in the comment box!
Stay Fabulous,
j*
To read more Dear Jasmine posts, feel free to click HERE.
