Why Making Time for Photos Might be One of the Best Parts of Your Day.

Let's talk about one of the things that can make a surprisingly big difference in how your wedding day actually feels: your timeline.

More specifically, making intentional room for photographs.

I'm not saying you need to spend hours taking pictures or structure your entire wedding day around your photographer. I actually think the opposite is true. Your wedding should feel like a wedding, not a photo shoot. But giving yourselves some dedicated time for photographs can be one of the best things you do for both your gallery and your experience of the day.

Your wedding day is going to be a lot.

There are going to be a lot of people, a lot of hugs, a lot of conversations, a lot of attention on you, and probably a pretty serious adrenaline rush. Even if you've planned everything down to the smallest detail, there is something about finally being in the middle of your wedding day that makes everything move incredibly fast.

That's why I love having some intentional time built into the timeline for just the two of you.

When we step away for portraits, you're not simply stepping away because I need photographs. You're getting a chance to breathe for a minute. You can hold each other, talk, laugh, take a walk, or just stand there together without someone asking you a question or needing something from you.

You're still very much in the middle of your wedding day, but for a few minutes, you get to step outside of all the noise and attention and just be together.

I've had couples tell me afterward that those quiet pockets of time ended up being some of their favorite parts of the day.

And the photographs came from that.

So what should your timeline actually look like?

There isn't one perfect wedding timeline, because every wedding is different. Your venue, ceremony, guest count, family dynamics, travel between locations, sunset and the overall feel you want for the day all play a part.

What I do recommend is giving photography an intentional place in the timeline instead of treating it as something we'll squeeze into whatever time happens to be left.

For some couples, that might mean doing a first look and taking portraits before the ceremony. For others, it might mean doing family photos immediately afterward and then stepping away together during cocktail hour. You might want to save some of your portraits for sunset, or we might find a few different pockets throughout the day.

The goal isn't to spend as much time taking pictures as possible. It's to give us enough time that we aren't constantly watching the clock.

What happens when you don't leave enough time?

We can still make beautiful photographs. I'm pretty good at working quickly when I need to.

The difference is that when we're rushed, we have fewer options.

Maybe we get through the family photos, but there's no time left to photograph the people mingling during cocktail hour. Maybe we have ten minutes for portraits, which is enough to get some great images, but not enough time to wander somewhere beautiful, let you relax into the moment, and make a variety of photographs.

And sometimes a timeline gets so far behind that the 30 minutes we planned for portraits suddenly becomes five.

At that point, we're both aware that dinner is waiting, your guests are waiting, and we're racing the clock. That's not when I make my best work, and it's certainly not the experience I want you to have.

Give yourselves permission to step away.

I think couples sometimes worry that taking time for portraits means they're going to miss their own wedding.

I actually think it can help you experience it more.

You're going to spend a huge portion of the day surrounded by people who love you. That's wonderful, but it can also be overwhelming. Everyone wants a hug, someone wants a photo with you, someone is asking where something is, and suddenly you've been pulled in twelve different directions.

Taking 15 or 20 minutes to disappear together gives you a chance to come back to yourselves.

I'll be there with you, but I'm not asking you to spend that entire time staring at my camera. I'll give you some direction when you need it, then I'll give you space to interact naturally and just enjoy each other.

And those are often the photographs that end up feeling the most like you.

Your photography time is about more than the photographs.

Yes, giving your photographer enough time will help create a fuller, more varied gallery. We'll have more opportunities to photograph your portraits, your people, your details, the light and all of those little moments happening around you.

But I think there's something else worth considering when you're building your timeline.

You're going to have very few moments on your wedding day where you can simply step away from everything and be alone together.

So build some in.

Give yourselves permission to leave the room, walk outside, hold each other, take a breath and remember that underneath all the planning, all the flowers, all the timelines and all the people, this day is about the two of you.

I'll make photographs while you're there.

But you'll also get something else out of that time: a chance to actually slow down and be married for a few minutes in the middle of everything.

Your wedding shouldn't feel like a photoshoot. But your photography time can be one of the moments you actually get to slow down and be together.