We get this question a lot: How much time do you need for formal photos. Well, we are very flexible and have worked “formals” into every wedding we’ve done so far, so there’s no need to worry that we’ll miss them. But after 5 years of doing this who wedding photography business, we’ve learned a thing or two about what helps us get the best photos during “formal time.”

1. Preemptive strike: Do an engagement session
While it may not initially seem that an engagement shoot would save you time on your wedding day, we find that the couples who go with an engagement shoot have a smoother wedding-day portrait session. We feel so strongly about the importance of an e-session that offer this within each of our packages.

Christine & Tim had a one-hour e session, and part of that was with Marley, their feisty dog. It made their wedding day portraits more natural and relaxed, because they knew what to expect

2. Consider doing a “first look” bride and groom session

We absolutely love having extra time before the ceremony to capture amazing images of you and your fiance and you’ll love the up-close, emotional photos of you seeing each other for the first time. These let you spend some time capturing images you’ll cherish forever. Then, after the ceremony you can party the night away, with no delay!

Ryan and Jess's "first touch" before their "first look"

3. Tell your bridesmaids and groomsmen to be ready early!

Even if you decide not to see your fiance before the ceremony, we can still do a fun pre-wedding
photo shoot while there’s nice bright light outside. Make sure you tell your wedding party to be ready
at least an hour before the ceremony starts. Heather does the girl’s group portraits, and Jesse makes sure to get the guys. If you have people in your wedding party who are notoriously late, tell them to be there EXTRA early to make sure they arrive on time!

We were able to be more creative with the "formal" photos at Andrea & Joe's wedding because we had about 2 hours for family, wedding party and couple photos before the wedding

4. Expect hair and makeup to take longer than expected
No matter how amazing your hair stylist and makeup artist are, you’ll probably need them there a little
bit longer than you plan for. We can’t even begin to tell you how many times we’ve run out of picture
time because hair and makeup ran long. Always add an hour to however long you think hair and makeup
will take – especially if you have a large bridal party!

5. Make sure you and the limo driver are on the same page
Limo rides are fun. Unfortunately, limo companies love brides a little too much and can
sometimes overbook themselves. Make sure if you book a limo, you know what time they’ll be picking
you up and dropping you off at each location you need to go to. Having to cut photo sessions short
because the limo driver needs to leave is AWFUL! Be safe and get times in writing!

6. Make a list of posed family photos you want to get

Some photographers hate these lists, but we welcome them! It helps you think about how many formal photos you want and make sure no one gets left out. Depending on if you want to see each other before the ceremony, we can do family formals before or after the ceremony. To make this time go by as quickly as possible, we take the photos of the biggest groups first, then work down to smaller groups. It is helpful if the list includes first names of everyone (instead of “gram and gramps”) so that we can call out names. Another helpful way to move this time along is to designate one person from the bride’s family and one from the groom’s to be in charge of gathering and calling out names for the posed photos. Our biggest suggestion is to KEEP YOUR LIST AS SHORT AS YOU CAN! Many of our clients have hired us for our ability to capture candid moments, and while Jesse is taking the large posed group, Heather does take candids in the background. However, the best way to get candids is to let people be candid, so we recommend not taking the same photo in multiple variations in order to conserve time and get the most candid photos possible!
We know you have a lot of important family, but nobody likes to stand around for hours! Expect each
posed photo to take around 3-5 minutes and decide how long is long enough BEFORE the big day!

the wedding party

Jesse and I were lucky enough to spend our morning with this fun couple. More to come soon!

Last fall, Jesse and I had the pleasure of working with the fabulous team from Well Wed magazine, a beautifully designed and packed-with-wedding-goodness mag that I fell in love with years ago. Because it’s published twice a year, the photos were just released in the Spring/Summer issue. To our surprise- and absolute delight- a photo we took was selected for the cover! There’s also several pages within it that is dedicated to our shoot, and there’s a funny picture of us shooting together too.

o see the entire issue, click here. We’re on pages 82-86. Or go to http://www.wellwed.com and subscribe http://issuu.com/vtvows/docs/cape_flip_book

Our 2010 Well Wed Cover!

Some more of Matt & Nicki’s e-session…

i love how Nicki can tease Matt and get him laughing

the bling... Nicki loves sapphires

do a little dance...

Matt and Nicki will be getting married at Old Sturbridge Village in May, so naturally every weekend is filled up until that day (as I always say, planning a wedding is like having a second job!) Nicki is a total bridezilla. HAHA- JK! In fact, Nicki would probably die if she had to do a ton of wedding planning without Liz from Red Ribbon Events. I completely admire Nicki for realizing that planning the wedding and all the million things that that entails would not be fun for her. However, the idea of getting married to Matt very much excites her. Jesse and I were witness to that yesterday, during Matt & Nicki’s engagement shoot at Union Station in Worcester, a perfect place for a rainy day e-shoot when there is no free day to reschedule. More to come!

Matt & Nicki have this really amazing chemistry, where they can be silent and sweet and not uncomfortable and not just posing for the camera.

We were joking that Nicki's wheelchair was just a prop because it looks so cool in this urban grungy setting.

The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards ™ recognizes the top local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds. This year’s winners represent the top five percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which consists of over 100,000 local wedding professionals nationwide.

Thank you to all who reviewed us and sent us praise! To all of you itching to say things about us too, visit our wedding wire storefront at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/ciras-photography-marshfield/f417bfddcd328fd9.html.

In my usual fashion, I will now be posting things waaaay after they happened. It doesn’t make it less beautiful, though, right? I LOVED our engagement shoot with Joyce and Andrew on a warm winter day (so warm that I willingly went from photographer to coat sherpa so we didn’t die of heat exhaustion- just another perk of having two photographers!) I love the chemistry that Joyce and Andrew have- they laugh a lot and are really connected to one another. In almost every photo, Andrew is looking down at Joyce with this warm stare, like he’s riveted by everything she does. It was awesome to be a part of documenting their engagement… Plus, they were also willing to try anything or do anything which is always fun for us!

(stand in oncoming traffic? no problem! meet at the crack of dawn to get the best light? sure!)

We can’t wait for their fall wedding at the Warren Center!

I love sun flare!

I also love kissy faces! hahaa

look at that foliage! Makes me miss fall!

I feel like this is a quintessential Boston shot. So beautiful.