BLOG.DOUGFORNER.COM: When to Do the Pictures?

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Unique observations and ideas for a FABULOUS wedding

BLOG.DOUGFORNER.COM: When to Do the Pictures?

When to Do the Pictures?

One question I'm always asked is how long it will take to complete formal portraits, after the wedding ceremony. There are many reasons a bride is concerned about that, but the most important one involves the scheduling of post-wedding activities, for example a time frame for the limo driver, the length (and resulting expense) of a "cocktail hour" and the timing of the food preparation for the reception. Yet, tradition dictates that poses including both the bride and groom take place after they've been pronounced husband and wife.

A good solution has been made available in recent years, by photographers who offer to do all of the posed "altar returns" before the ceremony. I say "recently," because many of today's engaged couples aren't so concerned about abiding by tradition or superstition -- including the one that holds it is bad luck for the groom to lay eyes on the bride before she walks down the aisle.

I know of many photographers who, for obvious reasons, prefer this approach, as do many other vendors who stand to benefit from doing it this way. What can be lost in all this is the consideration of what's best for you, the bride and groom.

Personally, I have never pressured an engaged couple to agree to doing the formal portrait session before the ceremony. However, I'm willing to scheduled one, if that is what the bride and groom are committed to doing. In some cases, the idea comes from the bride herself, especially now that it's become a more acceptable trend. In other cases, when timing seems to be of critical importance, I've suggested it. If it turns out to be acceptable to the bride-and-groom-to-be, I'm more than happy to do it!

When we do such a session, it is typically starts out at a time and place where there are no other family members or wedding vendors in the room. It can be the ceremony site or an alternate location. The bride usually puts great emphasis on capturing images of her and her groom when they first see each other. Sometimes the bride is the first in the room, then the groom enters--or vice versa. Sometimes they come in at the same time, through different doorways. Either way, I try to remain as much in the background as possible, capturing their reactions and emotions with a long lens. This can make for a very special, touching, and private moment--which simply isn't possible during a typical ceremony.

After those initial candid photographs, we begin capturing the bride-and-groom-only poses. Then at some point, the wedding party and family members enter the room to join in the session.

The end result is, when the wedding ceremony is over and you and the

groom walk back down the aisle, you're free to move on to a receiving line (if you're planning one) or directly to the reception and the celebration with your guests.

Granted, this idea often doesn't go over well with mothers and other members of the family who hold to tradition. If that's the case, the bride and groom must decide which is more important--convenient timing or not offending important people in their lives.

Finally, there are a couple of other important considerations I feel I should mention, if this is a decision you find yourself facing.

Some engaged couples believe they can address the issue of getting to the reception quickly by eliminating the posed portrait session altogether. While many photographers would be happy to oblige, I think you should serious thought to whether this is really what you want. Today you might believe all you want is photojournalistic images -- but someday you'll look bac

k and wonder why you didn't have any simple straight-forward portraits done, especially one or two of you and the groom. Plus, consider family members who may not be so convinced of the photojournalistic-style. Most likely they will want a portrait of the bride and groom with everyone who is important to them (especially Grandma and Grandpa). At least for those folks, hit-or-miss candids probably aren't going to be enough.

Finally--and this may be the most difficult part--if you do decide to have all of your posed portraits before the ceremony, it will involve a solid commitment to having everyone there and ready for pictures 90 minutes to 2 hours before the ceremony. Remember, we'll be photographing the traditional pre-ceremony groupings, including the bride with everyone important to her and the groom

posing with everyone im

portant to him. Then there will be some of these same groupings with both the bride and groom, in addition to poses with the entire wedding party. If everyone you want in the portraits isn't persuaded of the importance of being ready on time, the entire scenario can be in jeopardy. Portraits that are missed because certain people weren't in place may have to be done later--in a less desirable reception site setting--if they're not given up on altogether.

No matter whether you decide to do your formal "altar return" portraits before or after the ceremony, it is of critical importance to the flow of your day that your photographer is a qualified professional, with plenty of experience handling the posed portrait session, as well as wedding day "surprises".

Learn more about wedding photography by visiting my website

http://dougforner.com