Wedding photography is such a large and varied market these days and there’s really an opportunity to have some once in a lifetime portraits that you will cherish for a lifetime.   If these type of portraits are important to you (and they should be, when else will you ever feel so beautiful and in love?) … if this is important, consider arranging your wedding day schedule around making sure you get the shots you want.

My typical wedding day shooting schedule goes a little something like this:

• Arrive at prep location about 3 hours before ceremony
• Quickly grab group shots with bridesmaids and family; snap a couple of quick shots of bride alone before rushing to church
• Grab some quick shots of groom and his guys, family as well as some quick ones of him alone
• Ceremony followed by a very quick session of formals (everyone is in a rush to get to the reception)
• Towards end of reception, grab the bride and groom for a few quick shots together
• Everything ends

There isn’t much time to fit in additional time, unless the bride and groom want to miss a significant part of their reception, which most done.

So what are your options?

One thing you can choose to do is to build an extra hour into the day.  Some couples choose to have a cocktail hour immediately following their reception.  Their guests can mingle and enjoy hor d’oerves while the couple gets to spend some time together and take some great, relaxed shots.  The couple as well as their wedding party can make a stop at a local park or other location to do some fun and unique shots.  The couple are generally relaxed and glowing, basking in the happiness of just being married.

Another option is to see each other before the ceremony … I know, I know … bad luck and all of that.  But really, that’s just superstition and just imagine this for a moment.  You’ve spent months, maybe years planning for this day … you look and feel more beautiful than you ever have in your whole life and you are anxiously awaiting the moment that you see each other for the first time … and you get to share that moment with 100+ of your closest friends and family.  Romantic, huh?  Now picture this … you slowly walk up to your groom, his back is to you and there is no one else around (except the photographer, of course!).  He slowly turns around, you lock eyes and you can see the love in his eyes as he looks at you in awe.  You get to spend some quiet moments together, sharing your thoughts on what you are about to do.  The good thing about this option is that its easier to build into your day.  No additional time is needed for the reception hall and you can hurry to your reception after a few formal shots.  This is actually being done more and more these days!  Take a look at the latest weddings by my friends Corine and Beebe of Studio Tran Photography in New Orleans.  Many of their couples choose to meet before the ceremony and the photos from those moments are breathtaking!

If neither of these is an option, we can take some time during the reception to do some portraits of the two of you.  I typically do this, but try to keep it really quick, maybe a 5 minute session outside of the reception site.  I don’t really like to pull the couple away from their guests once they are enjoying themselves, but if its something that is important to you, please let me know during our consult and we’ll be sure to make the time to get some great shots!

The final option for getting some unique and beautiful photos of you as a couple is to schedule a post-wedding session.  These can also be lots of fun because there’s no worry about getting your dress dirty and you can even include some “trash the dress” photos if you choose!

Whatever you choose to do, I want to be sure you have photos from your wedding day that you will love and want to display in your home.  I have a grouping of photos from my wedding in my hallway that I look at several times a week and will always cherish.  I want you to have these same memories!

Don’t you just love this little one’s name?  And she’s just as sweet as you’d think!

Kayla and Nick were married at St. Bernadette church in Bayou Vista with their reception following at the Bayou Vista Community Center.

This little guy did not want to close his eyes for his session!  He was wide awake despite being soothed, warm, fed … we tried everything!  Its ok, though, because I think he looks quite cute with his little wide-eyed stare

This is my friend Rebecca’s little guy, Nicholas.  I took his newborn pictures a few months ago and can’t believe he’s already 3 months old!  He’s being baptized this weekend, so we took some photos of him in his outfit as well as the outfit his daddy was baptized in.  I also had to experiment with some of my new hats :-)  Enjoy!

Congratulations to Jen and Joe who were married at The Balcony in Metairie last weekend.  I hope you guys enjoyed the Bahamas!

Congratulations to Candace and Larry who were married a couple of weeks ago!  Here’s a quick photo from their wedding day:

Kristen is a previous client that I was thrilled to hear from when she emailed to let me know she was expecting.  I know that she and Seth have been anticipating this little baby girl for so long and its been a long road.  We weren’t sure Ms. Emmarie would stay put long enough for her mommy to get pictures done, but thankfully she did and I’m now anxiously awaiting to hear when she makes her arrival!

Brittany and Coty were married at St. Bernadette Church in Bayou Vista then had their reception at the Bayou Vista Community Center.  Brittany and her sister Katie were married in a double ceremony, you can see Katie’s photos in another post.  Enjoy the memories from Brittany and Coty’s day!