How much time do you need for wedding photos?
If you’re planning your wedding day yourselves, it’s probably the first time you’ve done anything like this! 🙂
To help you figure out the timeline or schedule of the day, here’s a quick look at how much time wedding photos usually take.
How much time is needed for portraits on wedding day?
First look
- 15 minutes
Time to walk to a private location and to capture your reactions as you see each other for the first time on your wedding day.
Family photos
- 3 to 4 minutes per group photo
A sample family photo list could look like:
– Wedding couple + both families together
– Wedding couple + family 1
– Wedding couple + family 2
– Wedding couple + just parents 1
– Wedding couple + just parents 2
– Wedding couple + a grandparent
– Wedding couple + a group of siblings
For something like this example, 30 minutes on the schedule would be ideal.
Wedding party photos
- 10 to 30 minutes
With 10 minutes, you’ll have enough time for a quick session with a few group photos of the whole team.
With 30 minutes, you’ll have time to do a variety of fun group photos in different places and individual pictures with you and each one of your bridesmaids or groomsmen.
Wedding couple photos
- 45 to 60 minutes
The more time you give yourselves, the more relaxed and natural your wedding portraits will be! With more time, we also have the chance to wander around to a few different locations. So feel free to schedule more than 60 minutes to allow for plenty of creativity.
You can mix-and-match all these blocks of time based on your needs. For example, not every wedding couple does a “first look“. Or if you just have 2 witnesses instead of a big wedding party with 8 bridesmaids or groomsmen each, you can assume those group photos will take less time.
I hope this guideline is helpful in planning how much time you’ll need to schedule on your wedding day for formal pictures.
If you have any questions, you can reach out to me anytime at info@esthergibbons.com.
