Recently I was reminded of the importance of having a reasonable and working itinerary for your wedding day. As we all know, things can sound good in theory but its putting these ideas into practice, that can be problematic.
One of the biggest problems that we as photographers run into on the wedding day is not enough time. That can happen because of delays of course but more often than not, its because not enough time has been allotted. Granted no one wants the bride to get dressed and sit around uncomfortable or wrinkling the dress or even break with tradition and see one another before the ceremony. The problem is however that given the rules of certain churches and venue sites, many times we are given only a short amount of time to take all the family portraits after the ceremony. Add to that any delay in getting the family together, signing the marriage certificate or the like and now we are running a race to get at minimum priority shots to say nothing of any creative or artistic work.
The bottom line is this...I think its important to know exactly what your priorities are on your wedding day. If your photography is a top priority than by all means you should allow not only enough time for your photographer to get your family shots but also enough time to creatively capture your day. If the rules of your venue site prohibit photography beforehand or limit the time afterward, than discuss different options with your photographer. If its a race to get to the reception or if your focus is drawn away from your photos, than you may be missing some glorious shots that your photographer may have otherwise captured for you.
One of the biggest problems that we as photographers run into on the wedding day is not enough time. That can happen because of delays of course but more often than not, its because not enough time has been allotted. Granted no one wants the bride to get dressed and sit around uncomfortable or wrinkling the dress or even break with tradition and see one another before the ceremony. The problem is however that given the rules of certain churches and venue sites, many times we are given only a short amount of time to take all the family portraits after the ceremony. Add to that any delay in getting the family together, signing the marriage certificate or the like and now we are running a race to get at minimum priority shots to say nothing of any creative or artistic work.
The bottom line is this...I think its important to know exactly what your priorities are on your wedding day. If your photography is a top priority than by all means you should allow not only enough time for your photographer to get your family shots but also enough time to creatively capture your day. If the rules of your venue site prohibit photography beforehand or limit the time afterward, than discuss different options with your photographer. If its a race to get to the reception or if your focus is drawn away from your photos, than you may be missing some glorious shots that your photographer may have otherwise captured for you.
