Getting Those Important Pictures After The Ceremony

Sorry I have been away from the blog far awhile. We’ve just been so busy with brides and weddings and on top of that I have been sick. Finally, I’m well and caught up just a tad so I thought I would take a moment to post.

I had a mother of the bride ask me an interesting question this past week. “What can we do to speed up and make as painless as possible the picture taking after the ceremony?”

After the ceremony, remember you should take no longer than 30 minutes to get your pictures done. If it takes longer than that your guests are getting restless waiting on you to arrive. Not to mention these same guests are drinking their way through your bar tab and having probably eaten all the hors d’oeuvres, they are getting drunk and antsy.

Getting pictures done and out of the way is a high priority. So what should you do.

First thing to do is make sure as the wedding party comes back down the aisle during the recessional they are secured away from wedding guests in another room. This way guests can be quickly moved out of the church and on to the reception once the service is over. After all the guests are gone, the wedding party returns for pictures. If the guests can see or talk to the wedding party, you will never get away to get your pictures made.

Once pictures actually start the best way to make it run quickly and stress free is to have someone that knows the family there with a copy of the list of pictures you want (the same list you have discussed with the photographer earlier). They need to have all the people for the next shot, in line and ready to be placed. In other words, they need to be one step ahead of the photographer. Their job is to make sure that if Grandma is in the next picture, she is in line and waiting, not in the restroom or off talking to Cousin Jane. This person needs to be a take charge kind of person and one that knows they need to stay till the pictures are over. It is not a job for the timid.



When planning your list, remember each picture takes anywhere from one to five minutes to set up and you are trying to fit pictures in a thirty minute timeframe. You can not have a long list and expect to get them done in time.

Here is a list of the most common shots done after the ceremony.

After the Ceremony Pictures:
Bride and Groom
Bride, groom, bride’s mother and father
Bride, groom, bride’s mother and father and siblings
Bride, groom, groom’s mother and father
Bride, groom, groom’s mother and father and siblings
Bride, groom and both sets of parents
Bride, groom, wedding party
Bride, groom, grandparents
Bride, groom, each set of grandparents
Bride, groom, maid of honor and best man
Bride, groom, flower girl, ring bearer