Between the ceremony and reception

What do I do between the ceremony and reception?

That’s an easy question to answer – I take pictures!

The time between the ceremony and reception usually is a time where the wedding party will leave the ceremony venue and take some time to go out and take photos at a park, or perhaps outside the church if it is a pretty area.

Of course, I will follow the wedding party to the park or wherever photos are being taken. Or I will ride on the party bus to take photos. I will take outdoor photos of the bride with her bridesmaids, the groom with his groomsmen, the entire group, and other photo variations.

This is the time for fun photos. One time I had the groom shake and open a bottle of champagne and I captured the reaction of everyone as the bubbly sprayed into the air. I will ask the bride and her bridesmaids to talk and laugh as I take their photos. I have taken photos of the groomsmen showing off their unusual socks.

After the wedding party photos comes my most favorite part of the day – getting romantic photos of the bride and groom alone together. I like to spend most of my “in between” time taking these photos. Oftentimes the rest of the wedding party will have left to go to the reception but I stay behind with the bride and groom to take as many photos of them as I can. Here is where I can be creative and get the bride and groom the types of photos they will enlarge and hang on their walls.

This in between time can easily be moot when couples choose not to see each other before the wedding. That means the family formal portraits must be taken after the ceremony. That might leave little if any time to go elsewhere to take wedding party photos.

Depending on the time of reception, it might be necessary when family formals come after the ceremony to go right to the reception once the photos are taken.

This article is part of a blog series on how I approach a wedding photography assignment. Also included are articles on: bridal prep; How do I photograph wedding details? How do I photograph a ceremony? How do I approach family formals? How do I photograph a reception? And how do I complete the job once the wedding is over?