If you’re like a majority of the engaged couples l speak with, you’re a little worried that you won’t be able to spend quality time with your friends and family at your wedding. This is because you’ll either be:
A) too busy taking photographs
B) too distracted by the camera hovering around you all day
And it’s natural to think this is just how it is. Maybe you’ve heard horror stories from other people or witnessed it yourself.
Please know that this is not the case when you have a photographer with your best interests at heart and a helpful plan in place.
Let this post shed light as to how you can maximise time with guests and still get beautiful wedding photographs.
And all without feeling rushed, busy, or bombarded by a camera.
Create a Timeline
One of the best ways to maximise your overall time is by creating a photography timeline. A timeline is an essential resource to you, your photographer, your wedding vendors, and pretty much anyone involved in making your big day happen as smoothly as possible.
Think of your timeline like a recipe. The ingredients and steps are the who, what, when, and where of your photographs. And just as a recipe will show you how to bake a cake, a photography timeline will show you and your wedding team who needs to be where and when. It keeps things organised and on track.
It also gives your photographer an idea of what’s important to you. You’re reading this post, so it’s probably safe to assume that spending quality time with your friends and family on your wedding day is a big deal. As your wedding photographer, we’ll work together to create a detailed photo timeline shaped around these important goals.
Have a First Look
I could write a whole post about why you should have first look photographs – alone time with your love, calms your nerves, more photographs! But for the sake of this post, a first look enables you to spend more time with friends and family because it saves time elsewhere.
For example, if you have a first look, we’ll be able to take formal portraits sooner (pre-ceremony), which gives you more time after the ceremony to mingle.
Having a first look also helps spread out photo-taking time, meaning you won’t have big blocks devoted solely to taking photographs. Getting a bulk of the portraits and formals finished after the first look and then photographing the rest in smaller chunks of time makes for a more relaxed process. And one that allows you to spend more time with guests.
Extend the Wedding
An entire wedding weekend ensures you’ll spend more quality time with your loved ones because you’ll actually have more time!
After the past couple of years that everyone has had – and the fact that many couples have had to postpone their wedding at least once – wedding weekends are more popular than ever before. People are excited about getting together again, and couples want their celebration to be like a mini getaway for their guests.
Extending the wedding is a great way to treat you and your people to a much-deserved celebration of love and meaningful time together. AND you’ll have even more beautiful, heartfelt photographs to put in your album.
Minimise Travel Between Locations
Traffic delays, late transport, wonky GPS directions. Travel issues can throw off a schedule like nobody’s business, so it is essential to limit the time it takes to travel between your ceremony and reception venues.
Not only does minimising travel maximise your time, but it cuts down on stress. If you can’t have your entire event in one location, consider choosing sites that are relatively close to one another. But no matter the scenario, I’ll make sure to add buffer time to the photography timeline just in case any travel challenges (or any others) arise.
Hire the Right Photographer
It’s one thing to have a photographer who can take beautiful photographs. But it’s another thing to have a photographer who can take beautiful images AND keep things running smoothly on your wedding day.
My 14 years in the financial industry gave me strong organisation and attention to detail skills, which I now use as a wedding photographer. And with those skills, I’m able to create detailed timelines, stick with a schedule (but remain flexible when needed), gently guide, direct, and support you in whatever way you need.
And to ensure you receive all of the photographs you want while still getting ample time with your friends and family, I remain as inconspicuous as possible. This approach allows me to capture the moments as they naturally unfold around you.
Of course, there will also be times when I’ll step in and direct you to help you feel comfortable. But for the most part, I’ll remain “in the background.”
If you’re still looking for the right photographer to capture your special day, I invite you to reach out and talk with me about how I can be that person. I’m just a click away!
Xo, Sonya
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