Tips and Tricks :: The Sunset Session

Wedding timelines are usually pretty easy to figure out, but for a Bride and Groom who have never done this sort of thing before, they can make a wedding day seem overwhelming. Trust us. Wedding timelines are a good thing. They make room for the photos you want, and provide your photographers with a run down of the important moments of the day. The one area every Bride and Groom agree is a priority within their wedding photography, is their couple’s portrait session. What most Brides and Grooms usually realize when planning their timeline, is how little time is actually available between the ceremony and reception. Typically just one hour, and that doesn’t include driving time if you are going from a church to a reception venue. Yikes! When we factor in at least 30 minutes for family formals and bridal party photos, this ends up leaving very limited time for photos of the Bride and Groom alone. Sometimes we have just 5 to 10 minutes. No good!  Of course the best way to avoid this problem is to do a First Look but another solution is The Sunset Session.

 

We’ve been practically insisting this year that every couple incorporates a second, mini photo session within their wedding day to provide additional portraits of the Bride and Groom. For couples who choose not to do a First Look, there’s hardly ever enough time to really indulge in their portrait session. So the idea of breaking away during dinner for additional photos, makes the issue of time something we don’t have to worry about. Even for those couples who do choose to do a First Look and did have plenty of time for portraits (something we also strongly recommend), by the time their sunset session arrives the mood,  energy, and light is totally different, and these portraits turn out to be a very unique set of photos. So we always encourage couples to sneak away during dinner for a few extra minutes of sunset photos.

To be clear, what we’re talking about is this: After the ceremony, formal photos, couple’s portraits, grand entrance, first dance and toasts… everyone sits down to eat. Once the Bride and Groom (who are always served first) finish their meal, they sneak out of the reception for a few minutes with us. While their guests are finishing dinner, we get to spend 10 to 15 minutes getting some really amazing photos with that divine, glowing, sunset light. This time away from the reception is well worth it, and always turns out to be one of the smartest things a couple can do for their photography.

Even when the sun sets behind heavy clouds, we are able to provide our couples with additional and unique photos to those we took earlier in the day. There’s always a benefit to doing a sunset session!

So when you’re working out your timeline with your planner and photographers, schedule some time for a sunset session. You’ll be happy you did!