Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Reception Recaps: Bridals & Couple's Shots

We're super close to being done with the wedding/reception posts! I've been saving some of the best pictures for last, and today's post features my bridals (which were unofficial bridals--they're pictures on the day of the wedding of just me) and our couple's shots. 

One of the hardest things for us to decide on for the wedding was the day-of schedule. I blame it on the fact that we went a non-traditional rout by having a morning wedding and reception, held in different places with different guests, but either way...we had to figure out when all the pictures would be taken, and there were few resources online with suggested schedules involving morning weddings.

Something that was super important to me was making sure that Thomas saw me for the first time as I walked down the aisle and not before. I know that first looks have gotten really popular (where the bride and groom see each other with just the photographers before the ceremony starts) and I think that they are necessary sometimes if you want a lot of family photos or something. However, I wanted to be traditional in just this one way. So I was.

Since none of the pictures could be taken before the wedding--aside from some of the wedding party shots--we needed to quickly squeeze in family pictures after the ceremony as well as all together wedding party and 'us' shots at the chapel before moving on to the reception venue. I definitely didn't want all the other guests to be waiting for us at the Holiday Inn, so it was my goal to get pictures hammered out as quickly as possible (I've been guilty of leaving receptions before the bride and groom got there if it took them forever. Oops). 

We decided to go a non-traditional route yet again and planned to leave the reception and head right back to the chapel (which was still mostly decorated) to take our time with more just us photos. We also went to a few other locations to get even more fun stuff. For us, this was the beauty of having a daytime wedding (we still had great light), and we very much appreciated our photographers' willingness to work with our weird-ish schedule. 

So, this is what our day of photography schedule looked like, keeping in mind that there were two photographers. I would have killed to find suggestions for morning wedding photos that didn't involve a first look, so here it is (Note: Unless otherwise mentioned, all photos below were taken by our friends at Cinderella Photography):

8:00 a.m. photog #1 arrived at the hotel to photograph bride & girls getting ready.

8:15 a.m. photog #2 arrived at groom's parents' house to photograph groom & guys getting ready.

9:30 a.m. everyone arrived at chapel to start photographing guests arriving, the wedding party, details, etc.

As soon as the wedding was over, everyone stayed in place for big group photo. Everyone.

Immediately after the big group photo, family photos (parents, siblings, grandparents) took place at the front of the chapel, as well as some 'us' shots.



Immediately after family photos, the bride, groom, and wedding party headed outside to take the rest of their pictures (the goal was to be done by 10:50 or so).






Jack's was all, "heyyyy!" (makes me laugh every time).



 LOVE.

11:00-11:10 a.m. we entered reception, hung out, ate, etc.

1:00ish p.m. we left the reception to take other photos at chapel etc.






Eskimo kissing: the best kind of kissing.


We couldn't resist laying on the floor!

I insisted on getting this shot of my toenail polish.


We stopped in a park to get some cool outdoor pictures. It was suuuuper hot and windy.

 From really far away, I saw the perfect tree (just like my tattoo tree) out in the middle of a huge field. We walked all the way out there and I got really bad blisters, but it was was worth it!

 When everything was said and done, it was 2:00 p.m. and it was all over. I understand that this might not be everyone's idea of a perfect wedding day. Some people would rather have the whole day to leisurely get ready, have more night time/candlelight photos, and dance the night away. I definitely respect that and think those kinds of weddings are fun and beautiful (I really like weddings), but I absolutely believe that what we did was perfect and right for us.

Tomorrow we're wrapping up all the wedding shenanigans with some of our favorite honeymoon pictures! Woohoooo.

-T, K, J & C

No comments:

Post a Comment