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Bucks County premier Wedding Photographer & CINEMATOGRAPHER Serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Worldwide
CINEMATOGRAPHY
About 30 days before your wedding, Maria will reach out to you to go over your customized wedding questionnaire and finalize your specific wedding day timeline. Your day is bound to fly by, so understanding how long each of these steps could take is super important!
wedding timeline details
wedding photography + cinematography
• To get most of your photography time, it is ideal to have everyone’s hair and make-up done by the time we arrive (we can always get touch up shots even if your make-up is fully ready).
• Please have your wedding bouquets delivered to your getting ready location vs. ceremony location – it’s nice to incorporate your flowers in the photographs.
• Put all the details together before we arrive (shoes/jewelry/wedding rings/invitations/veil/accessories).
Perfect Time Allotment: 2 Hours
Perfect Location: Hotel Suite or the House
Bride and Bridesmaids Getting Ready
“Getting ready” usually consist of photographing:
• Details (such as dress, shoes, jewelry, flowers and other precious accessories you have carefully chosen for your wedding day)
• Candid moments (like finishing touches of make-up/hair, spontaneous selfies, and toasts with your bridesmaids)
• Shots putting on the wedding dress
• Portraits once everyone is dressed up (bride alone, with parents and bridesmaids)
advice from us:
• It is best to have the groom and groomsmen dressed in pants and shirts by the time we arrive. Vest, jacket, shoes, and accessories can be put on while your photographer is there already.
• Please have boutonnieres delivered to your getting ready location vs. ceremony location – it’s nice to incorporate your flowers in the photographs.
• Put all the details together before we arrive (shoes/watch/rings/accessories).
Perfect Time Allotment: 1 Hour
Perfect Location: Hotel Suite or the House
Groom and Groomsmen Getting Ready
“Getting ready” usually consist of photographing details (such as suit, shoes, and other accessories), candid moments, and some portraits once everyone is dressed up (groom alone, with parents and groomsmen).
advice from us:
• There are multiple first look scenarios, and we could suggest the best one for you during the wedding consultation/timeline building.
• While most first looks take place in a park or another portrait location of your choice, in case of the inclement weather first look could be done at the hotel lobby or the church/venue.
• If you don’t want to have a first look with your spouse, you could do a first look with your father or another important member of your family. It is a very touching emotional moment that they will surely appreciate!
Perfect Time Allotment: 1 Hour
Perfect Location: Any beautiful space indoor or outdoor
First Look and Pre-Ceremony Portraits
First Look is an intimate reveal for the couple to see each other on the day of the wedding before the ceremony. It allows for more privacy and feels more romantic. In practicality, having a first look would give you more time for portraits and the ability to enjoy your cocktail hour later.
Even though the first look itself takes about 10-15 minutes, the rest of the time would be dedicated to portraits of you and your partner.
advice from us:
Perfect Time Allotment: 1-2 Hours
Perfect Location: Any beautiful space indoor or outdoor
Wedding Party Photos
Depending on the location (or multiple locations), your time would vary. For example, if your wedding party portraits take place in the center city and we are hoping to “hit” a few spots, definitely allocate at least two hours (because of travel time/traffic/parking). On the other hand, if portraits are at the venue’s garden, one hour will be sufficient.
With wedding party portraits, we start with the group photographs, then break it down to smaller groups (bride with bridesmaids/groom with groomsmen etc.). Lastly, we would get portraits of you and each of your wedding party peeps individually.
Perfect Time Allotment: 1-2 Hours
Perfect Location: Ceremony Site
CEREMONY
Timing for this part of the day would depend on your ceremony location and type. Religious ceremonies usually tend to be at least one hour. Before the ceremony, we would take about 10-15 minutes to photograph details of your ceremony site. During your wedding ceremony, we will capture all of the moments unobtrusively (=all emotional, raw shots!). Once your ceremony is done, some couples choose to have a receiving line for their guests (it usually takes about 15 minutes).
• Having two photographers for your ceremony would be ideal to get the perfect angle on both of you during the processional, especially if there was no first look.
• For your first kiss, we recommend to hold it for at least 1-2 seconds.
• You probably heard of “Unplugged” Ceremonies before. Yes, we will be especially grateful if you will opt-in for that one! Not having guests’ phones/ipads sticking out in the isle would be fantastic for your wedding photographs.
advice from us:
Perfect Time Allotment: 30 Minutes-1 Hour
Perfect Location: Ceremony or Reception Site
Family Group Portraits
Family groups usually include immediate family (Parents/Siblings/Grandparents/Kids).
Depending on the size of your family, those portraits could take between 30 minutes to about one hour. Those portraits could be done either before or after the ceremony.
• Let your family members know ahead of time about those portraits. Provide them with instructions on where/when they should be ready.
• Before your wedding day we will send you a detailed checklist to help you organize which groupings you would like to do (i.e. Bride with parents/groom with parents/couple with both sets of parents, and so on.)
• If you have a large family, we recommend having a dedicated helper on each side of your family to help round people up.
advice from us:
Perfect Time Allotment: 30 Minutes
Perfect Location: Reception Site
Extended Family/Friends Portraits
For extended family and friends group photographs, we recommend to use your cocktail hour time (a portion of it), or do those during the reception. To help you in this process, we send you a detailed questioner and checklist two months before the wedding day to fill out. There you would be able to specify which extended family/friend group photographs you’d like to do.
Perfect Time Allotment: 1 Hour
Perfect Location: Any beautiful space indoor or outdoor
Couples Session
Couples' session is usually done during the “golden” hour before sunset, especially if your venue or location allows for scenic views. Usually, the session takes place after your wedding ceremony. It sometimes could be most powerful emotionally and visually, since now you are MARRIED: the ceremony is done, no more jitters or stress, only happiness, and positive vibes!
Perfect Time Allotment: 30 Minutes
Perfect Location: Reception Site
Reception and Venue Details
Venue and reception detail photographs usually take about 30 minutes. We get a chance to capture the room/space before guests enter, all of the décor and flowers, table centerpieces and your wedding cake. Normally, this type of photography is done during the cocktail hour.
Perfect Time Allotment: 30 Minutes
Perfect Location: Reception Site
Cocktail hour Coverage
Cocktail hour coverage consists of some candid moments of people chatting and having a great time, casual group photographs of your guests, and potentially group photographs with extended family.
Perfect Time Allotment: 10 Minutes
Perfect Location: Reception Site
RECEPTION FIRST LOOK
Reception First look takes place about 15 minutes before your guests enter the room. This way, you get a chance to see the space in all its glory. During this reveal, we usually do a few portraits on the dance floor and at your sweetheart table.
Perfect Time Allotment: 4 Hours
Perfect Location: Reception Site
RECEPTION
Your wedding reception is one of the vital parts of the wedding day. Most of that time would be documentary and candid, filled with lots of real emotions and fun moments. We capture wedding party introductions, your first dance, parent dances, toasts, people’s reactions – all those smiles and happy tears. Once dinner is over, there comes your cake cutting, and (if you are doing it) bouquet and garter toss. And, of course, DANCING! We love getting those fun crazy dance moves documented. They make a great addition to your wedding album and show all the energy of the party!
Perfect Time Allotment: 15-30 Minutes
Perfect Location: Reception Site
Nighttime Portraits/Sparkler Exit
Once you have your dinner, or later in the night during the party, we would love to take you out for nighttime portraits outside your venue. It is optional, although most couples enjoy 10 minutes alone and a small break that provides you, while we capture some beautiful pictures. Besides, or in lieu, of nighttime portraits, we often photograph sparkler exits. You have the option of doing a sparkler shot in the middle of the reception with just select few people (like members of your wedding party), so it does not disrupt the flow of the reception. Or you can have an actual sparkler exit at the very end of your reception with all of the guests.
• If you opt-in for the latter, please allocate at least 30 extra minutes past your reception end time, as it takes a while to gather all the guests outside of the venue.
• Make sure you have a clearance from the venue to do the sparkler exit
• Find out in advance if you provide sparklers or your venue
advice from us:
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Bucks County Wedding Photographer & CINEMATOGRAPHER Serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Worldwide