TIMING YOUR WEDDING IN NORTHERN IRELAND
The quality of your wedding photography in Northern Ireland depends greatly on how much time you leave for your wedding photographer, if you don’t leave enough this can limit the wedding photographers ability to capture the photographs required to create a good range of wedding images for the wedding album. Leave too much time and the guests will get hungry and restless and the meal may run over and clash with the arrival of evening guests.
The timings of a wedding day vary greatly depending on which country you are getting married, I am going to talk about what I know and do the most, weddings in Northern Ireland. Another factor is the time of the year you are getting married, I will also discuss the differences between summer and winter weddings in Northern Ireland.
THE BRIDES HOUSE
An increasingly popular part of the day is going to the Brides house to capture all the details and preparations. I would usually spend and hour at the house before leaving to meet the gents at the service one hour before it starts. The time I arrive and leave the house depends on the service time, and the time it takes me to get to the service from where you are getting ready.
THE WEDDING SERVICE TIME
The service time is what everything else revolves around and you cannot arrange the timings until you have this. The time you set the service for depends on the time of the year you are getting married, if it is a summer wedding it can be almost at any time of the day and winter weddings need to take place as early in the day as possible.
The reason for this is to do with the amount of daylight hours for the wedding photography, in deep winter it can start to get dark from 3 pm, if you want photographs at your reception venue you need to arrive at least 30-40 minutes before that.
SUMMER WEDDINGS
A typical service time for a summer wedding is just after lunchtime, around 2pm, guests will have already eaten their lunch and not expect the meal until later in the day. The weather is usually warm and dry and the Bride and Groom usually mingle with guests after the service for a while, getting informal photographs with friends and family.
WINTER WEDDINGS
Normally services in the winter are a lot earlier, an average time would be around 12 noon, guests may not have eaten lunch and would expect the meal time to be a lot earlier than that of a summer wedding. The weather is typically cold and guests will not stay for long after the service.
Depending on the type of wedding service you have they can take from 20 minutes to over an hour, it is best to ask the officiator how long they estimate the service will last and add about 20 minutes for the signing of the register and photography afterwards. Other factors that you need to consider is if you are doing an informal meet and greet after the service, this is usually just the Bride and Groom and takes around 15 minutes for the average size wedding. If you want to mingle with guests for a while after the meet and greet, remember to factor some time for this also.
GOING TO A LOCATION
If you are going to stop at a location for the wedding photography you will need to work out how much time you need to add, this depends greatly on the time of the year, the amount of photographs required and the size of the bridal party. The average amount of time that I would spend at a location is around 45 minutes, if it is not on the way to the wedding reception venue you will need to add the time it takes to get there and back again. Going on location can be more efficient especially if you wedding reception venue holds more than one wedding.
THE RECEPTION VENUE
Most wedding venues recommend leaving 2 hours from when you arrive at the reception to when the meal starts. I do not spend all of that time taking posed photographs. When you arrive I recommend that you spend time freshening up and mingling with guests, I would then take the Bride and Groom aside for some photographs if we did not stop off at a location, then some family groups, a group photograph of all the guests and any other shots with friends that you want. The rest of the day is all about letting you enjoy your reception as I work unobtrusively in the background. If you are having the speeches before the meal this time is also factored in the 2 hours left by the reception venue.
Most wedding photographers in Northern Ireland work to the beginning of the meal, so if you want photographs of the speeches it is best to have them before the meal. If your speeches are after the meal the photographer will probably charge a little extra for their time to stay on later.
If you are a client, I will discuss this in detail with you at the pre-wedding consultation leading up to your day. Every wedding is different and these timings are approximate, your wedding photographer may work differently to me and will give you more precise times that suit your individual wedding.
If you would like to talk to Des or meet him for a free consultation about your wedding, you can contact him by clicking on the following link.