What is a Bridal Photo Session?
Information about a
Bridal Photo Shoot with Rob Dose
The bridal photo session is the time between the
wedding ceremony and the reception in which the bridal party and the photographer engage in a photo shoot with the sole purpose of producing fun and creative photography. Unlike much of the day, the bridal photo session is not documentary based and as such will require the active participation of all members of the bridal party. All photographer go about this time of day differently.
How long should we set between the ceremony and reception?
This question is tricky to answer as every wedding is completely different. There are basic guidelines that can help you with planning.
After the
ceremony ends, there is usually a time of congratulations where you can mingle with the guests and take their well wishes. This period can last as long as 45 minutes if it is a very large crowd and you get stuck talking to guests for an extended amount of time. It is advisable that you attempt to be quick and move onto the next guest so that you do not find yourself late for your own reception. For most weddings that I attend, I find that 20 minutes is enough time to quickly speak to all guests and get started with family photos.
Family photos do not need to take much time, however they are a very important part of the photography coverage as they will usually be the most treasured further down the line. I like to start with a big group photo of all of the guests that attended and then break down into smaller groups involving the direct family of the bride and groom. There is plenty of time later at the reception to take more photos with other friends and family. Family photos usually do not exceed 30 minutes.
At this point we are approximately one hour since the end of the reception and about to start on the bridal party. If your wedding is a single venue arrangement then you should organise to have at least one hour of photo time. If travel is required, you should work out all of the travelling time and then organise to have at least 30 minutes at each location. Remember the more time the better your photos will be and you certainly want to get your money's worth.
So the short answer is 2 hours at a bear minimum however I prefer to have 3-4 hours to work with.
What do the guests do while the bride and groom are away?
This is an extremely common question and the reason why many brides and grooms do not allocate sufficient time for bridal photos. Good planning can ensure that your guests never have to sit around bored while we run off. if the ceremony and reception are the same venue then you can arrange to have drinks and snacks served to keep everybody amused. Remember when you drop a large crowd of people together and serve up some champagne they are going to make sure they enjoy themselves!
If guests will have to leave between the ceremony and reception then you can organise for all of yoyr guests to meet up at a local bar or park. Sometimes it is as simple as giving the idea to a few and letting them organise it themselves.