Couple Portraits on your Wedding Day // As we all know, I’m a woman of the people, so I wanted to write a blog on one of the biggest wedding photography worries my couples have time and time again: how can you get super photos just the two of you, without taking loads of time away from your guests? I totally get it – you want beautiful portraits that you can treasure for the rest of your life, but you also want to be tearing up the dancefloor making memories that you’ll have forever too. That’s why I pride myself on getting the balance just right: getting you the best images without dragging you away for 3 hours.

Let’s delve into the SCIENCE of it, shall we? Safety goggles on, please…

WHAT?

So, the couple’s portraits are images of just the two of you, with no guests, family, celebrants or anything in the background. They may be slightly more directed than the rest of the shots on your day, but this doesn’t mean I’ll be shouting cheese at you or forcing you to contort your hands into unnatural heart positions. It just means that I’ll be taking you off to a specific part of your venue or the surrounding area rather than shooting things where they happen, and I may also suggest a few things to do, like snuggling up and just enjoying having some time to chat, laugh and breathe in the day so far.

My ultimate goal is for you to have a good time during your couple portraits on your wedding day and for me to get photos that reflect you both as a couple. My portraits will therefore be fun and laid back – much like my couples are. I won’t be making you do anything awkward or ‘pass the bucket’ romantic…I just want you two to be comfortable to just be yourselves and we’ll no doubt be having a good laugh as we go.

HOW (LONG)?

I’ll make sure there’s some time built into the day where I can whisk the two of you away to somewhere away from the throng of fans (sorry, ‘guests’). We’ll make our exit subtly, and come back soon after to get back to cranking the party up a notch. I never want to take you away for too long, so we’ll be done within about 10-20 minutes, and I’ll deposit you back safely to your guests. All it requires is you two being your beautiful selves, and being up for it – it makes for some gorgeous photos. I try to get a lot of variety of shots in a short space of time.

WHERE?

This all depends on your venue, of course, but generally I’ll have scoped out somewhere a little more secluded so that you can be yourselves without pairs of eyes on you freaking you out. My eyes will be on you, obviously, but they’ll be on you via a camera lens, and you won’t be freaked out by them at all. (promise!)

I’ll keep my eyes opened for fab backgrounds all day long – whether it’s at home, at the venue or in the street. Work with me and trust me – rather than questioning what the heck I am thinking – just go with it I can capture something special in a few seconds.

WHEN?

The dream slot for a portraits session is what’s known as ‘golden hour’, the hour preceding sunset where the sun is low in the sky and bathing everything in its wake in gorgeous golden glow (if it’s out, of course). You can check this time before the day using timeanddate.com – but it is best in summer, as in winter the sun isn’t really out that much to use it! This means that for summer weddings, the best time is around 8ish, but in winter it can make sense to factor it in much earlier, around 3pm. Whether you’re catching those sweet sweet rays or not, a spot where your guests are scheduled to be drinking and mingling and generally amusing themselves anyway is an excellent time to pick. I enjoy working with all types of light though – even that really harsh summer light that might make a lot of photographers squirm. It can create some gloriously bold images that I personally love and that are very different to what a traditional photographer would capture. 

WHY?

Ah yes, the biggun. It can be tempting to not want to take an time away from guests at all, and I do get that completely – but in actual fact, often this time out is the only time you spend alone together all day, so it’s a really nice time to take a breather and take in the fact that the two of you just got MARRIED. Plus, having photos of just the two of you is always nice to have to treasure.

If you would like to read more about getting couple portraits on your wedding day that aren’t going to make you die then you might want to check out this post here too – all about banishing awkwardness. Believe me I totally feel your pain!

And, finally if you like the sound of me and what I do and you are still looking for a photographer then I would love to hear from you.