Your wedding party is some of your closest friends and you (as well as them) will want to have some amazing photos with them all on your wedding day. These five tips will help your wedding party portraits go by a little smoother.
1. Make Sure Everyone Is On Time
Most wedding days do run behind a bit. To help with this, making sure everyone is dressed and ready to go for portrait time will make sure your day stays on schedule. Make sure each of the bridesmaids know when and where the wedding party portraits will take place. Appoint a person to keep an eye on the time and to make sure everyone is getting dressed and ready or to help corral the bridesmaids and groomsmens to the portrait location.
2. Allow Enough Time
Along with making sure everyone is on time for the wedding party portraits, you will also want to make sure you allow enough time in your schedule. You will want to allow about 30 minutes for your wedding party portraits. This will allow us to get individuals of the bride with each bridesmaid and groom with each groomsmen as well as the group shots and some editiorial poses.
3. Remember The Flowers
If you are using bouquets and boutonnieres for your wedding then you will want to make sure they are present for your wedding party portraits. Making sure all the girls have their bouquets and that all the guys have their boutonnieres pinned on will allow you to get started on your portraits right away instead of having to chase down a bouquet or pin on a bout.
4. Location Matters
Where your wedding party portraits take place will effect how the images turns out. You will not want to have your guests walking around and getting in the photo and you will not want to have distracting elements in the images. If you are getting married in a dark church or venue you may want to consider taking your portraits outside. I always prefer the look of outdoor portraits over the more traditional inside portraits. Ask your photographer what they think would be best, they've photographed a lot of weddings and will be able to steer you in the right directions. However, if you have your heart set on a certain location, let them know! They will be able to figure out a way to work around the light and make the location work. You will also want to consider the time. If you are having an evening ceremony then you may want to plan to have your wedding party portraits before the ceremony so you will have more light.
5. Have Fun!
Everything always goes smoother when you have fun! Your wedding party are some of your closest friends and there is no reason why you can't have fun during your portraits. You will want to have the traditional smiling wedding party photo, but there is no reason why you can't have a fun pose or incorporate something that is special to all of you.
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Monday Wedding Madness is a blog series that occurs every Monday and answers the questions you have about wedding photography. Have a question you would like to have answered or something that you wish you would have known before your wedding or are you a wedding professional who would like to contribute? Send your questions to jasmine@jasminenorris.com.
