I you're anything like me, I dreaded the idea of being photographed in front of all of our wedding guests, but I also didn't want to miss out on cocktail hour AND my husband didn't want to see me before the ceremony, so we opted to do our wedding portraits at our favourite camping spot a few days after the wedding. It's unusual, sure, but I can't tell you how much I loved the experience! My husband and I got ready together, we had all the time in the world, we were still very much in our wedding haze and there was zero pressure. I've done this with a few clients now and can't recommend it enough!
Omg, we're so nervous about wedding photos
If you're a bit of an introvert and know you'll need a breather, doing your portraits after the ceremony is a great idea. You get to sneak away from all of the chaos and when you get back from portraits you're ready for round two of everyones excitement.
your wedding day is NOT JUST ABOUT PHOTOS. You might think you're supposed to be whisked away for 2 hours in the middle of the day when everyone else is having fun, but that doesn't have to be how your wedding day goes. If your goal with photos is for me to capture the candids, the hugs, the emotion of your day with your guests that love you so much then we can absolutely make sure that's the focus. For couples that feel like this is the most them option (you know who you are my "we're so awkward in front of the camera" peeps) I suggest skipping those long portrait times, schedule in 30 mins for wedding party photos at some point during cocktail hour, and then another 20 mins for just the two of you, and the rest of the day will be all candids full of love.
Your wedding is not just about photos
If seeing every guest and having a drink at cocktail hour is important to you I'd suggest doing all of your portraits before your ceremony. This allows you to soak up as much time as possible with your guests while they eat the food and play the lawn games that you've paid for! If this is the route that feels best for you I'd also suggest carving out 20 minutes around sunset for some evening portraits. The light is better than time of day so you'll get the perfect balance of fun daytime portraits and romantic evening portraits alone.
How to maximize time with guests
For all of you introverts
Light is like, THE most important part of photography. I mean, I literally can't take photos without it so choosing the right time of day to do your portraits will make all the difference in the photos you get.
Because light is so important I like to suggest (well, request) that portraits be scheduled for a time of day when the light is at its best, which means not at high noon. The best times are in the later afternoon when the sun is a bit lower, or in the hour or two before sunset. For the couples portraits sunset is the most magical time, so fitting a bit of time at sunset can definitely pay off! If your timeline doesn't allow for scheduling around the best lighting feel free to ask me about our options, or to run through your timeline with you. I can work with pretty much anything but, again... we could do EPIC!