You Probably Don’t Have an Hour for Wedding Portraits (Even If Your Timeline Says You Do)

If I’m being completely honest, one of the things that always makes me cringe when I see a wedding timeline is one hour scheduled for post-ceremony portraits.

I understand why couples do it. On paper, an hour sounds like plenty of time.

But the reality is…it almost never is.

Here’s why.

Let’s say your ceremony is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. and your timeline says portraits begin immediately afterward at 6:00 p.m.

They almost never do.

Before we can even begin family portraits, we have to wait for the ceremony space to clear. Guests aren’t intentionally holding things up, they’re simply enjoying the moment. They’re catching up with family/friends they haven’t seen in years, taking selfies, snapping photos where you just exchanged your vows, taking their own family pictures, figuring out where cocktail hour is, and just naturally lingering.

Depending on your planner and venue, someone may even have to gently encourage everyone to head toward cocktail hour before we can begin. Even when everything runs smoothly, that process takes time.

If your ceremony was outdoors, or there were lots of happy tears, you’ll probably want a few minutes to touch up your hair and makeup before portraits begin as well.

So while your timeline says portraits begin at 6:00, it’s often 6:15 or 6:20 before I take the very first photograph.

Next come family portraits. Even when everyone is organized and ready to go, these usually take about 20 minutes.

If you’ve chosen not to do a first look, wedding party portraits come next. Depending on the size of your wedding party and the variety of images you want, that’s often another 20 minutes or so.

Now we’re left with the two of you.

And more often than not, that’s only about 10-15 minutes.  Couples are now wanting to have a room reveal of their reception space before guests enter. So while you’d think we’d have the full 20 minutes, that time is cut short for the reveal that has to occur during the cocktail hour time.

Before you know it, you’ve spent months planning one of the biggest days of your life, invested thousands of dollars into your wedding and photography, and now the two of you have only about 20 minutes for portraits together.

In my opinion, that’s just not enough.

These aren’t just another set of photos. These are your wedding portraits. They’re the images you’ll frame in your home, look back on every anniversary, and one day share with your children and grandchildren. As your photographer, my heart hurts a little when I realize we’ve only got about 10-20 minutes left for the two of you. After everything you’ve invested in this day, I want to give you so much more than that.

That’s why, if you’re choosing not to do a first look, I almost always recommend planning 90 minutes after the ceremony for portraits. It gives us time for guests to clear the ceremony space, any quick touch-ups, family portraits, wedding party portraits, and most importantly, plenty of time for the two of you to take amazing portraits.

Think back to your engagement session. We spent at least an hour together, moving between locations, chatting, letting you settle in, and creating a gallery full of beautiful portraits. I don’t expect to have a full hour with you on your wedding day, but I also don’t want your portraits together to feel rushed or you get a small amount of portraits simply because there wasn’t enough time built into the schedule.

Another thing couples don’t always anticipate is that wedding days sometimes run behind. Maybe the ceremony starts a few minutes late. Maybe transportation takes longer than expected. Maybe hair and makeup runs over.

When that happens, planners and venues often try to make up the time somewhere else, and unfortunately, portrait time (Cocktail Hour) is usually the first thing to get shortened.

I always advocate for my couples whenever possible because I know how important these images are. But if the timeline has very little flexibility to begin with, there simply isn’t much room to recover lost time.

That’s why, if you’re choosing not to do a first look, I almost always recommend planning 90 minutes after the ceremony for portraits. That allows time for guests to clear the ceremony space, any quick touch-ups, family portraits, wedding party portraits, and, most importantly, enough time for the two of you.

If you’re open to doing a first look, that’s where your timeline becomes much more flexible. We can often photograph 30–45 minutes of your portraits before the ceremony and then finish with another 30–45 minutes afterward. It gives you a much more relaxed experience and a beautiful variety of portraits without feeling rushed.

When we aren’t racing the clock, everything feels different. You have a chance to slow down, soak in the fact that you’re finally married, and simply enjoy being together. And that relaxed feeling always shows up in your photographs.

After photographing so many weddings, I’ve never had a couple tell me, “I wish we’d spent less time taking portraits together.” But I have had couples tell me they wished they’d planned for more.

If there’s one place in your timeline that’s worth giving a little extra breathing room, it’s the time you spend with your new husband or wife.

Thinking About a First Look?

If you’re still deciding whether a first look is right for you, I’ve been interviewed on the Hue I Do podcast, where we talked all about why so many couples are choosing to do one and the benefits.

Listen to the podcast:  Your Photographer Wants You to Take First Look Photos with Ashley Strickland