Your wedding photography guide & questionnaire.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this. I know there’s a lot of things to fill out before a wedding day so I’ve kept my part as short as possible!
I’ve included some suggestions below about each part of the day. These are all tips, not rules - it’s most important that your wedding is about you and what you both want from your day, not just what works best for photos. If in doubt, prioritise what feels comfortable for both of you.
1. preparation
Pick a clean space with lots of natural light. It’s important to have all the clutter out of the way. I recommend about 1 hour for each partner. For boys & girls, I recommend beginning with boys first. For LGBQTIA and non-binary couples: scissors-paper-rock for who gets to go first.
I recommend hair & make up to be complete, and everyone mostly dressed (or near the time to get dressed) by the time I arrive, including the wedding party.
2. ceremony
As a guide, most ceremonies are approximately 30 minutes long. Traditional ceremonies with extra formalities (such as a mass) can be up to 1 hour.
Upon finishing the ceremony, I always strongly recommend setting aside some time to be hugged and congratulated. It’s such a wonderful part of the day and allows for lots of beautiful, candid moments.
I recommend setting aside 30-45 minutes for family photos, to include a bit of time for congratulations.
3. portraits
I recommend doing a few portraits between ceremony and reception, and this only takes a very short amount of time (about 10-15 minutes). We can do this with or without the wedding party.
The absolute best time to do this is after cocktail hour, and during the time where guests move to the reception and are busy finding their seats. This means you don’t miss any time with your friends and family, but get some beautiful soft afternoon light for your portraits.
I broadly recommend against doing portraits before the ceremony in most circumstances. You may have been recommended this by well-meaning friends or family, but, to be blunt, they are usually wrong.
It is often based on a misconception that portraits take a long time and take you away from your guests, which isn’t true anymore for modern weddings (thankfully!), and there are a number of key drawbacks to consider carefully.
If you’d like to see each other before the ceremony, a first look is a wonderful way of doing that.
Please feel free to chat with me if you are considering pre-ceremony portraits. I can help you decide if it’s something that will suit your plans for the day.
If the portrait session timing doesn’t line up with sunset (common in summer!), I recommend also setting aside 5 minutes to duck out during reception (you can tick this option box in the questionnaire to let me know).
4. reception
As mentioned above, if our portrait session doesn’t line up with sunset, a 5-10 minute window for us to ‘duck out’ for some golden hour photos is highly recommended.
This is a great option to get the most incredible photos on the day - the light will be soft and it also gives you a moment to breathe and be together. I will often be conscious of this and give you some time to yourselves during this wonderful part of the day.
I recommend coverage for full day weddings conclude approximately 30 minutes after your first dance. This gives me time to capture some great dance floor moments before I finish up, but also lets you enjoy the last moments with just your friends & family.