Winter Wedding Photography - Planning a Winter Wedding? Read On!
Winter weddings - crisp morning air, guests getting warm and cosy inside, and maybe even a sprinkling of snow. Winter weddings bring with them some challenges and lots of beautiful opportunities when it comes to your wedding photography.
Morning prep
If you read my blog post about photographing summer weddings you will have seen that often we'll find a pretty spot outside of your venue to take some shots of your details - dress, shoes and veil; well when it comes to winter weddings, bare trees and frosty grass don't always lend themselves to the perfect photograph so we're more likely to find a place indoors for these photographs.
Winter mornings provide a great opportunity for other photographs though - ring photographs on frosty leaves being just one.
Another possibility offered by winter is a stunning 'first look' - these have been mostly an American trend, but they're a great idea and create really memorable photographs, as well as an unforgettable moment for you and your husband to be. A first look is a planned moment for you to see your soon to be spouse before you walk down the aisle.
On a frosty (or even snowy) winter morning, we can choose a perfect spot for the two of you to see each other, ready to marry, before anyone else, and to enjoy the emotion and anticipation together for a few moments. Winter gives us frost and dew, it also gives us cosy log fires, so we can plan your first look to suit the mood of your wedding.
Your ceremony
Winter weddings tend to be indoors (if you're having an outdoor winter wedding I'd LOVE to hear from you!), decor and colour schemes are warm and rich and so our photography reflects this - whatever your theme or mood for the day we encapsulate this within your photographs.
Formal photographs
You may have noticed by now that we're not big 'formal' photographers - we love the natural, spontaneous and genuine. But if you'd love a few group photographs we won't say no! In winter we have a little more of a challenge in finding the best location to pose your group, but again, we can choose an indoor location to tie in with the warm winter feel of your wedding. If it's really chilly out your guests will prefer this too.
Your Couple's Shoot
Shorter winter days mean that we have just a small window of opportunity for your couple's shoot, the best time is 2:30 to 3 which means whisking you away just after your ceremony to make the most of the light before evening arrives. Winter weather doesn't always give us the best outdoor opportunities for your couple's shoot. Don't worry though, we're well used to working with what we're given, we plan ahead for good and bad weather and often in winter we work in some cosy indoor shots (you'll be glad to run inside for some warmth too). When it's bitterly cold we're mindful of our couples - we won't ask you to stay outside for too long and if you're looking uncomfortably cold, we'll get you indoors.
If we opt for an indoor couple's shoot because it's rainy just too cold, we might need to go for a slightly more 'posed' photograph like the ones above, because we're not free to roam as we are outdoors.
Evening Photographs
We make it a habit not to use flash, but evening photographs can sometimes call for some flash action! If we have to choose between using our flashes and not capturing great photographs you know what we'll choose.
So there you have it - it's a long-y but a goody!
Weddings in mid-winter open up a vista of opportunities for your photography, now you've dipped your toe into what we can do, it's time to start getting excited!
