Planning your wedding getting-ready session: what three hours covers

The three-hour plan, hour by hour

Say you have five bridesmaids and five groomsmen and want us to capture your getting ready in photo and video. We typically need about 3 hours of coverage, if you are planning a first look and some formal photos before the ceremony. The entire first hour goes on getting ready.

That hour starts with the details: dress, shoes, bouquet, rings, invitation. Please put all of those into one bag or box so we can photograph everything together, and keep the rings together so we capture all three rings at the same time. Once the details are done we move to your robe photos and the final touches of makeup.

We do not really need photos before makeup is done; we come back once makeup is completely done for additional photos, mostly staged final touches, same for bridesmaids and moms. By then the bridesmaids are ready for group photos and fun shots, then for you beauty shots, editorial portraits, robe shots and maybe some with mom. Then it is into the dress: buttoning, shoes, veil.

On the groom's side, a big wedding usually has a second photographer. If the same photographer covers both, we typically divide it 40 minutes on your side, 20 on his. We capture his details too: shoes, bow tie, handkerchief, boutonniere, cufflinks or watch. Then the groom and groomsmen getting ready and having fun, nothing set up, then his portraits, editorial and GQ-style shots.

The second hour: formals

If you are doing a first look, it usually comes in the second hour. We arrange the first look, then the wedding party photos, then the family photos. Then a few photos of just the two of you, but not a ton, to spare the dress before the ceremony.

That is generally the shape of the second hour: the formals, done while everyone is fresh and before guests are around. Finishing them now means there is little left to gather people for after the ceremony, and the afternoon stays unhurried.

The last part: travel, buffer and guests

The remaining time is used for traveling to the venue, or as buffer for delays, so we still finish all the images. In the last 30 minutes or so you are tucked away, and we photograph the guests, the ceremony decoration and people arriving.

If everything ran perfectly, the buffer becomes extra detail time. If hair ran late, it is the reason nobody notices. Plan the ceremony start so that 3 hours before it, the details are in their bag and we are walking in.

• Ask the makeup artist to finish before our portrait time, not during it.
• Give the groom a short list: shoes, bow tie, handkerchief, boutonniere, cufflinks, watch.