Wedding Day Portraits
PORTRAITS | You’ll often see us refer to certain images as portraits in our blog posts or social media. And if we’ve worked together before, you’ve probably heard us talk about the portrait section of the day while planning the timeline.
The portrait section of the day is the time we set aside for the creative images of the newlyweds, along with family portraits and bridal party photos if you have a bridal party. All of these together make up the portrait section or sections of the day.
There are a few different ways we can arrange the portrait section of the day. Because there are several parts within the portrait portion, they don’t necessarily all have to happen at the same time.
That said, it’s usually most efficient to group them together so we can complete them and allow you to move on to the rest of the day knowing your portraits are taken care of. But if that approach doesn’t work for your wedding day, there is definitely some flexibility in how we can plan it.
So how much time do we need for portraits?
Let's talk about recommended time. Bridal party and family portraits can usually be done in about 30 minutes. For the most part, family portraits are done in one location. We pick one spot and put each combination you requested in that spot, similar to the images below. If you have an extensive list of family groups we may need to allot more time.
Bridal Party
Now with bridal party pictures, we usually start with an approach similar to family portraits (One spot, one background) and if we have enough time we can get a few more combinations and perhaps even get a little more creative. Again, family and bridal party together would account for about 30 minutes depending on the sizes of these groups and how many combinations you'd like.
For the Newlyweds
For the newlyweds, we typically approach the wedding day portraits the same way we would approach a session. Sessions are usually about an hour, which allows us enough time to create variety and explore some creative ideas without rushing. This gives us the space to capture those romantic, creative portraits while also taking the time to make sure you both look your best.
If you’ve done an engagement session with us, the wedding day portraits will feel very familiar.
All portraits combined should take about 2 to 2½ hours on your wedding day, depending on the size of your wedding party and the number of family groupings you’d like to include. Earlier we mentioned that there is some flexibility when it comes to splitting up the portrait time. Most couples choose to complete all of the portraits in one block, which we generally recommend since gathering groups on a wedding day can be one of the more challenging tasks. So whenever possible, it’s helpful to do it once and move on. 😉 That said, there are certain situations where it makes sense to separate parts of the portrait time. For example, you may choose to complete most portraits before the ceremony, but leave the family portraits for right after the ceremony during cocktail hour if certain family members won’t be present earlier in the day. Another option is splitting the newlywed portraits if you’d like to take advantage of multiple locations, such as a nearby garden or park and then the reception venue. In any case, the best approach is for us to talk through the plan together and build a detailed timeline that works well for everyone.