Planning For The Light

As you’re planning for your wedding day, you’ll quickly realize (if you haven’t already!) that there are a lot of little details you need to think about! Don’t panic! That’s what we’re here for! We are in the middle of a series talking about tips for your wedding day timeline. We will be approaching this from a photography perspective (since that’s what we know), but these tips always work for our couples and we want to pass them on! We know every wedding is different, and we also acknowledge that everything doesn’t always go according to plan. But creating a timeline with your photographer will not only make your day go by more smoothly, but it creates less stress for you on the wedding day (yay!), and ensures those little details all come together! Catch up on the series here!

Part 1: Traditional Versus First Look
Part 2: Location. Location. Location.
Part 3: Planning For The Light
Part 4: Leaving Time For Details
Part 5: Adding Buffer Time
Part 6: To Exit Or Not To Exit

In last week’s post about your wedding timeline, we mentioned how important lighting is when starting to plan out your day, specifically in the locations you choose. Well today we’re breaking it down and shedding some light on how the light affects different aspects of your day! (See what we did there?) There are 3 main times you need to be thinking about: getting ready, creatives and ceremony. We will take them one by one.

Getting Ready.

It is so so crucial, brides, that you choose getting ready locations with lots of natural light. Not only will your makeup artist thank you, but your photographers will love you! But seriously. And typically, hotel rooms tend to be perfect choices when searching for large areas of natural light! It might not seem like a huge deal at first, but when we’re capturing all of those gorgeous wedding details and we’re grabbing those moments of you getting into your dress, you want everything to look perfect. And it starts with getting the light right!

We recommend getting ready at a hotel room or area with large windows because they keep the light even and consistent in the room while you’re getting ready, and it gives photographers and makeup artists alike plenty of room to work. You’ll love the natural, timeless, and classic results you get by making this one adjustment to your day!

Ceremony.

This one can be a little more flexible. However, especially if you have an outdoor ceremony, you want to take advantage of the best light available! We highly recommend visiting the venue before you lock in your ceremony time to figure out what the lighting will look like on your day! And don’t forget about the time change. Make sure you’re getting an accurate view of where the sun will be on your date. Ask your photographer about their recommendations for a ceremony time and then chat with your venue coordinator to determine the best location outdoors and the best time for your ceremony.

For example, if your ceremony is outdoor in the summer, you probably want a fully shaded ceremony site – your guests, and your photographers, will thank you! In the very least, insure that all the lighting is consistent. You don’t want to have your groom in full sun and you in shade or vice versa.

And if you’re having an indoor ceremony, try to pick a location that has plenty of light, especially big windows. Picking an earlier ceremony start time if you’re having a winter wedding is a great way to ensure your ceremony is will lit for everyone to enjoy. Nothing is worse than getting married in a dark church with a no flash policy! Chat with your venue of choice, your photographers, and any coordinators before you lock in your times to ensure your ceremony is perfect in both lighting and execution.

Creatives.

The final important aspect you want to consider is your creatives. Those are the pictures of you two love-birds! You want to make sure that your creatives are photographed in optimal light on your wedding day. We talked about choosing between a traditional timeline or first look timeline in our first post in this series. That decision will affect your ceremony start time.

Take this example. Sunset is at 6:00 on your wedding day and you try to set your ceremony start time at 5:30. Well if you are doing a first look then that’s great because all of your creatives will be done before the ceremony. However, if you want a traditional timeline, that ceremony time will not work because the sun will go down and there will be no time for creatives after the ceremony. So you would either have to move up the ceremony time or choose a first look. Otherwise you are doing creatives in the dark! No one wants that! Considering the lighting situation for your creative portraits is key to capturing those special moments you will be passing down to future generations!

We’ve made it through the light! Next week, we’ll be talking about leaving time to photograph all of your gorgeous details, and we guarantee it’s one you won’t want to miss! Stay tuned!