Planning your wedding timeline means you have a lot to consider. Some choose to hire a planner or rely on their venue to help with the timeline planning, but they may not give you enough time for your photography and videography!
Today, we're taking a deeper dive into planning your wedding party photography time and all of the variables to consider! We'll go into all of the specifics we share with our couples during their planning process based on our photography and videography package choices.
Wedding Photography and Videography Coverage Length
The number one thing you need to take a close look at when looking at any element of your timeline is your wedding photography and videography coverage! While we offer our couples full day wedding coverage, many wedding photographers and videographers do not! Keep their time in consideration while planning all elements of your timeline, not just wedding party portraits.
Second Photographers? Videography? Oh my!
Because we offer a variety of package choices, your timeline may look different than any of our other couples. Below is our ideal flow for wedding party portraits depending on what package you are using.
Videography Only
For a videography only wedding day, we follow as your photographer leads. We follow a more documentary-based style for our wedding highlight videos, meaning we work alongside your photographer to capture your day as it happened! We will take a look at the timeline you've developed with your photographer to make sure we have enough time during wedding party portraits. You can use our reference points below in our photography only section if your photographer doesn't give timeline help.
Photography Only
Wedding party coverage can be done quickly and efficiently with our photography only package. Elisebeth leads the wedding day, with Trevor as the secondary photographer. During wedding party portraits, we start with both sides of the wedding party. We'll start with the traditional poses before we transition into some more fun and movement based poses. Then we split - Trevor takes one half of the wedding party, while Elisebeth takes the other half. We work our way through Partner 1 and Partner 2's sides of the wedding party at the same time through the same sequence: traditional, fun/movement, and end with individuals with each person they've asked to be in the wedding party. There can be additional variables, such as not doing a first look, that create different needs in your day.
Photography/Videography
Our photography and videography package is one of our two packages that include our coverage of both photography and videography. For this particular package, Elisebeth takes care of your photography and Trevor takes care of videography! During wedding party portraits, Elisebeth will work through all of the groupings (whole group together, Partner 1 and Partner 2's sides). Trevor captures video footage in the background and steps in for specific angles as needed. Because Trevor follows and mimics the photography schedule, it is easier for him to get the video clips needed.
Photography/Videography Plus
Our photography and videography PLUS package includes two photographers and one videographer. Elisebeth leads the photography team with one of our incredible hired second photographers and Trevor continues to take care of videography. This is our most popular package, however, it also requires the most care when it comes to wedding party portraits. Ideally, Elisebeth will work through all of the groupings while our second photographer gets extra angles, helps with spacing, and watches for detail management (fluffing dresses, bouquet heights, etc.) and Trevor continues his video capturing from behind. However, sometimes timelines get squished. The benefit to having a second photographer is they can take one half of the wedding party! During this scenario, Trevor bounces back and forth between the two halves to get his coverage. When this happens, we try to ensure whichever group has more details involved has more thorough coverage.
Wedding Party Size
How many people you ask to stand up in your wedding party greatly influences how much time you need to set aside for wedding party portraits. If you have two people on each side (a total of six people for wedding party portraits), we can be through all of the portraits in as little as 15 minutes. More people, more time. In an ideal timeline, we recommend 30 minutes for wedding party portraits - especially if you have more than four people on each side. This allows us to have enough time for beyond just the traditional poses!
No Simple Answer
As with many things in wedding planning, there is no simple "Google"-able answer to how much time you should plan. There are many factors to consider! As we help our couples plan their wedding day timelines, we take a look at these factors to ensure there is enough time set aside. Your wedding day very likely won't be the exact same as your best friend's who had one photographer instead of two or twelve people in the wedding party instead of four - so why plan it exactly the same?
The one thing that should be the same for every couple - buffer time! Plan an extra 5-10 minutes more than you think you may need so that your wedding party portraits aren't effected by other timeline shifts.
Are you interested in not only capturing lasting wedding photos and video from your day but also our assistance in planning your wedding day timeline? We'd love to hear more about your wedding details! Click the button below to fill out our contact form!
