What part of the wedding day are you looking forward to most with your photos? Is it images of the ceremony? Your amazing bridal party? Dancing at the reception? As your photographer, my absolute FAVORITE part of the day is taking photos of you and your new spouse!! After all, the wedding is all about the love that you two have for one another and celebrating it as Husband & Wife (<–isn’t that just fun to see?! Husband & Wife!!!) I want to provide you with as many photos of you together as possible! So, how do you get more portraits on your wedding day?

You’re in luck! The first way to get more portraits is SUPER EASY and FUN! Are you ready?… Have an Engagement Session WITH your wedding photographer!

You’re probably like, “Krystal, how does that allow me to get more photos of me and my fiancé together on the wedding day?” Well, if you have had the chance to work with your photographer BEFORE the wedding, you will start the wedding day off with valuable information about the poses and prompts, experience and less butterflies in your stomach. Here are two other bonuses of why an engagement session is awesome!

• You will have knowledge of what types of poses and prompts the photographer uses and you two will be able to move more quickly and accurately through those poses saving valuable minutes. If you hadn’t laid this groundwork in an Engagement Session, you would be spending a huge chunk of your portrait time just trying to get the hang of it and you wouldn’t be nearly as relaxed and confident in yourselves.

• The photographer will already have an idea of what poses work best for you as a couple and which ones you enjoyed the most. They won’t waste time on poses that you didn’t like previously or that just didn’t look natural for the two of you. You will end up with more images that you love!

There is one more wedding day decision that will allow you to have more portraits together, though, and that is by choosing to have a First Look with your fiancé! What you really need to know is this: So, then what are the benefits of having a First Look?

• You will have more than just that one block of time to have portraits. And you will be alone during the First Look (win!) to really soak in that time with your hubby to be.

• You will already be warmed up for your second round of portraits after the ceremony. And golden hour photos are the BEST!!! That is the time of day that you will be able to have that warm glowy light in your images.

• Since you had portraits at two different parts of the day, you’ll have more variety in your portrait images overall.

• You have a built-in bad weather plan. Rainy wedding days happen, but most of the time it isn’t raining all day long. If you have two blocks of portrait time built in to your timeline, you have a MUCH higher chance of catching a break in the rain than if you only had one.

• The best reason though? (And it has nothing to do with photos haha.) You and your fiancé get to spend so much more time TOGETHER throughout the day as opposed for being kept apart for the first 5 to 6 hours of the day. WIN WIN!!

The good news is that you have time to decide whether or not you want to have a First Look. You don’t have to decide right away! Talk it over with your fiancé and see what the both of you prefer as a couple.

Oh, and ladies, I KNOW you want nothing more than to see the sweetest reaction from your groom when he sees you for the first time! And guess what… that moment is a lot more likely to happen during a First Look when the both of you are alone together rather than when he is standing in a room with dozens and dozens of people staring at him. Plus you get to have a few moments just to really soak in the day, hug and kiss him with nobody around. (well just me capturing it!) Just something to think about!

The last way to make sure you have lots of photos of the two of you on your wedding day is allowing for enough time between your ceremony and reception. (Especially if you don’t have a First Look.) Remember to allow for driving time, road construction, weather, number of locations, and number of people in your wedding party and family. (The more people the more time you should have.) I like to say a minimum of 2 hours but up to 3 and a half would be perfect.

If you are looking for a photographer for your wedding, I would love to be considered! I LOVE love and all things wedding! Send me an email at hello@krystalmoorephotography.com to see if I have your day free!