Today's the start of a new era for my blog!

That's quite a bold statement to make isn't it... but today is going to be the start of my Tuesday's Tips segment on my blog. Where the last Tuesday of every month I'm going to be spilling the beans on different tips and trick to help your wedding day run that little bit more smoothly, AND to get the best out of your wedding photographs.

I'm excited to start it off today talking all about how to plan that all important photography time into your overall timeline. How long does a photographer need? Can I have time to relax after photographs and before dinner? And, do I even get time to eat a coupe of my canapés?!? I mean, you've paid for them, you NEED to eat some!

It's no fun feeling like you've got such a limited amount of time between segments of your day and you're rushing from one thing to another, and again to another. So today's post is talking about allocating that all important time, and how the time of year you get married can REALLY impact your photography timings!

Therefore, I'm going to split this up into segments... Sprint, Summer, Autumn and Winter weddings. And the reason for splitting this up is all down to natural light, and how long you have before the sun goes down!

So let's get down to it...

SPRING

Spring weddings are seriously wonderful, mainly because they normally have the potential for some lovely blooms and gardens are really starting to grow and look beautiful - this aids to wonderful photographs so much! But less about gardens and more about your timings. Spring weddings include weddings between March and June, with sunsets varying between anywhere from 5.40pm - 9.30pm. You Spring celebrators are already doing well before you start, the lengthened time that the sun is up means we have so much potential time to fit in your couples photographs as well as family shots. I always recommend we do these photographs between ceremony and wedding breakfast to make sure we've got them. It's ALWAYS beneficial to leave anywhere between 1.5-2 hours gap. Leaving this amount of time between the two means we can get all the shots we need together, usually taking around 40-50 minutes TOPS, and it still gives you the relaxation and buffering time to enjoy your day with your family and friends before your meal. For those May/June weddings, I may also take you both out a second time for some additional couple shots between wedding breakfast and your evening reception, but I usually only do this if the sun's out and giving that beautiful buttery golden glow in the sky, known as Golden Hour - an hour before the sun sets.

SUMMER

Summer weddings are amazing! I love the fact that we have SO MUCH daylight to play with, your sun isn't going to set until between 7.00pm - 9.30pm and this really helps when it comes to the English weather. I've had weddings before that it's rained continuously until 5pm, then the sun arrives - WOO - and then THAT'S when we will nip out together for your couples shots. It gives us so much time and movement during the day by having the sun up for so long that we can do one, two, or even three mini couples sessions giving you both some time away from the big party and some breathing space. Summer can come with the occasional hardships, when it's SO SUNNY, (yes that doesn't happen often in England), but on the odd occasion it is, for us to get the ultimate best photographs we'll need to do them more in the shaded spots, so it can sometimes limit our movements. This is because no-one wants the squinting photographs, or the the patches of shadows on your face a high sun can give. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and work to fix anything the British weather throws at us!

AUTUMN

Now we come to Autumn, so we're looking at those of you who plan your wedding between September and December - I have to say you lot are absolute troopers weather wise, come rain or shine you still have an amazing day! Autumn can produce some ABSOLUTELY AMAZING photographs, I ADORE the autumnal coloured trees and gardens produce, then add in leaves littering the floor - you will get some beautifully unique shots. I would however suggest that the November/December weddings really do focus on their overall timeline and factor in sunlight hours. I've previously had weddings in December with the sun setting around 3.45pm.... the ceremony didn't end until 2.45pm, then factor in the congratulations everyone gives, with many hugs and kisses, I only had a 45 minute window to make sure I had EVERYTHING shot and done. This is definitely always the most stressful timing situation, because we have to be completely relaxed and have fun while doing couple shots, but stick to a very limited timescale... to then round up all the family for the group shots. This can unfortunately give the bride and groom a little hectic feeling, where you really can't relax until after all the photographs have been done. One thing I would massively suggest and urge all late Autumn brides to do... please schedule your ceremony for between 12-1pm latest. I can do that type of hectic wedding again, but for your sake, and for your happiness on your day, I wouldn't necessarily advise it!

WINTER

My die-hard brides who plan to get married between December and March, you are the ultimate troopers! I bow down to all of you, AND you give me so much joy in my quiet season, I truly enjoy all of your weddings so so much! Timing wise for all of you Winter brides definitely relate an awful lot to the end of my Autumn section, so please go back and re-read that. I have to say as well, Winter weddings are one of my ultimate loves, if it's raining, no worries! I have white umbrellas that come with me everywhere and add a touch more romance to any photograph. Also you have a very special time of year where if the sun is shining and you have a beautifully sunny Winters day, your sunset photographs are just going to be TO DIE FOR. Think romantic then times it by 10! Sunset shots are one of my favourite things to do and I've found over time, it's an awful lot more likely to happen in December... strange I know! Also December weddings make couples think more carefully about possibly including a first look into their schedule for the day, because of limited sunlight time.

And that's a wrap for your seasonal timings. Whichever month you're planning to get married it will be amazing, I just KNOW IT! With a little bit of forward planning for your photographs will really make a massive different to your final outcome - I promise!

Pop back on the last Tuesday in September where I'll be covering how we get those amazing Daddy-Daughter first looks!

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