You have a certain amount of time with your photographer on your wedding day. Maybe they included 8 hours or 10. For the majority of brides, this amount of time will be ample to cover getting ready through the last dance. But maybe you contracted with them for just 4 or 6 hours, in an effort to cut costs or get the best photographer for your buck. Or maybe there's some travel from the ceremony to the reception site involved.
In some cases, you could be forced to make a decision between cutting the "getting ready" portion of your wedding photography or forgoing photo coverage for that last hour of your party. How do you decide between the two?
A Vote to Photograph Getting Ready
Aside from the obvious images of the dress hanging up waiting to be worn, your mother or bridesmaid zipping up the back of your dress, maybe a cute shot as you put on your garter (all of which, through a professional lens, will look anything but obvious), there are other great moments that happen only during the getting ready portion of your wedding day.
Will your friends clambor around on the floor or climb up the walls to get that most flattering angle as they make a picture of you getting dressed for your wedding? Will you notice that look in your mother's eyes when she watches you inspect yourself in the mirror? These are the things that great wedding album pages are made of. And for your family who have spent their lives loving and supporting you, these are those last moments they will cherish of you as their little girl.
Plus, later in the day, you'll be running from ceremony to the family portrait session to the cocktail hour to the reception. Your photographer might not have time to make really cool pictures of the details that went into your look. If you plan for the photographer to get to you about 20 minutes before you get dressed, you can really maximize that time and get some great shots. Leave all of your special details laid out in one place so the photographer can quickly shoot some images of everything, and then get to the rest.
By the end of it, you, your family and your bridal party will be so used to being photographed that you forget all about it and relax for the rest of the day.
Also, just after you've finished getting ready and are about to leave for the ceremony is the perfect moment to take a bridal portrait. It only takes a minute, but your makeup is fresh, your hair is perfect, and you have those wonderful butterflies in your tummy that make the look on your face hopeful and sweet. And if your groom is also getting ready nearby, your photographer might have a minute to spend with him.
Later, you'll look at the pictures of each other getting ready for your wedding day, and you'll love to laugh and talk about all those quirky moments and feelings you had leading up to the ceremony event.
A Vote Against Photographing the Last Hour of the Reception
After a very full and busy day, perhaps with wind blowing through your hair and a full meal wiping off your lovely lipstick, and hopefully after much dancing and drinking and merriment, you and your groom and all your guests will be disheveled, to say the least, and much less photogenic.
I decided against posting the numerous underwear-peeking-out-on-the-dance-floor shots or people with one eye open and the other not quite able to keep up, the half-drunk (or totally drunk) smiles (read: leers), etc. that I've captured over the years. Those are in the vault. But it's true that the last hour of your party, however much fun it is to be there, could be just plain funny to see evidence of later on.
A Vote to Photograph the Last Hour of the Reception
That said, there are also many great moments that you don't want your photographer to miss at your party!
Less composure can also be a good thing, like when you and your maid of honor request a special song and grab the mic to sing it, or when your groom (who perhaps doesn't normally dance at parties) suddenly gets it on, or when your guests love the band so much that they chant "one more song!" until they get an encore.
The last hour is also a great opportunity for you to grab a few family shots you didn't have time for earlier, the ones that weren't on the picture list but are wonderful when they happen.
A Vote Against Photographing Getting Ready
Too much getting ready can be a bad thing. If you're running behind schedule, your photographer might show up while your hair is still in curlers, while you're putting cover-up on an unfortunate blemish, or just to witness and wait while your friends sit around. Some brides, too, feel more modest about having their pictures taken while half-dressed, or don't even really want the photographer in the room when they strip down to their bridal skimpies and step into the dress. It's totally your call!
When it comes down to it, this is your wedding night! Your party is ending, and how can you skip that wonderful picture of you and your newlywed sharing your final dance of the evening?
Other Options, Just to Confuse You More!
Try to plan your wedding day around short distances: get ready at the church, pick a venue for the ceremony that will also be a beautiful backdrop for your family pictures, or pick a venue where you can have everything at one location-- getting ready, ceremony, pictures and party!
Cutting out the travel time is always the best option for you, your wedding pictures and even your guests!
Many wedding photographers offer "all-day" coverage. Find out exactly what that means. Can you have your cake and eat it, too... literally? (ie. How much time for getting ready is included? Do they leave right after the cake cutting? Do they stay through the last dance? Ask questions!)
Your photographer might have an overtime rate, too. If you know in advance that your day is shaping up to be more like 9 hours long, talk to your photographer about adding an hour to your package. It might be worth the extra money not to have to mull this stuff over!
Hillary Harvey is not only a photographer specializing in wedding photojournalism and a long-time native of the Hudson Valley, but also a sentimental fool who has trouble making decisions herself. You probably shouldn't take decision-making advice from her altogether! However she loves to help people, whenever possible, and she wishes you very happy Pros-and-Cons-Lists!