Golden hour wedding photos are a must in my book!
And there are so many reasons to carve out time for them in your wedding photography timeline. I’ve previously talked about some of my favorite timeline planning tips, which included time for sunset photos, and I’m dedicating this post to more reasons why it’s worth it! With the Seattle area being full of breathtaking views, gorgeous forests, mountains, urban vibes and more, golden hour photos really stand out from the rest of the photos in your wedding collection - no matter where and what time of year you get married. Read on for a few of my top reasons why sunset photos must be a part of your wedding day timeline.
The lighting at sunset for golden hour photography makes for a romantic mood and gorgeous color.
It may seem irrelevant when you first start planning your wedding, but lighting plays a big role in the overall vibe and atmosphere of your wedding and wedding photography. Golden hour provides a unique chance to capture pastel tones in the sky, while the absence of direct sunlight keeps details like your suit and dress from looking washed out. Many couples (wisely) ask me for guidance on lighting and timing thanks to online wedding planning recommendations or ideas their friends have given them. My two cents is always the same. The light at sunset and golden hour is the best you’ll get all day, making portraits done during that small window of time extra special. Side note - for portraits earlier in the day I have plenty of tips and tricks to keep things looking colorful and true to life as well, even if the sun is blasting.
Golden hour photography gives you a chance to escape from your reception for just a few minutes to privately enjoy being newly married!
Wedding days go by in a blur and by the time it’s over you and your partner are exhausted and have barely even had a chance to talk to each other because of all the dancing, hugging, toasting, and family photo taking. I love being able to help couples sneak away from their reception for a few minutes because it gives you a chance to be alone together, potentially for the first time since the end of the ceremony, and I think it’s super important to have moments like that on your wedding day. Private memories that will be only yours forever are special and taking a few minutes for sunset photos allows that to happen. During sunset photos I love to backup to give the couple I’m photographing some room so they can talk quietly without me hearing and I prefer not to pose too much so that we capture truly candid, romantic moments.
More of Alli & Andy’s Alderbrook Resort wedding photos are viewable on a previous blog post here and they were also featured on Apple Brides!
The photos taken at sunset are almost always my couples’ favorites from the day.
Every couple naturally feels more relaxed and at ease by the time sunset rolls around. The ceremony and posed family photos are over, you’ve gotten to eat (!!!) and have a drink or two. You are freaking married and so happy that it’s finally happened! Compared to the first few photos taken on the wedding day, taking your sunset photos is EASY! The relaxed, joyful, “We just did the thing!” feeling translates straight into golden hour photos, making them favorites of a lot of the couples I work with.
Golden hour photography doesn’t require a huge amount of time. I recommend blocking out a 20 minute chunk of your timeline to accommodate for a few minutes walking to the spot for photos, taking 10-15 minutes of photos, and then returning to the reception.
My approach to sunset photos is to escort the couple out of the reception without making a fuss and take them to a spot I have scouted ahead of time in order to be mindful of the clock. I prefer to let couples talk to each other, hold and hug each other, and be in the moment together rather than listing off different poses. This is a time where couples are truly feeling more like themselves and it’s one of the first private moments where they can enjoy the fact that they are officially married.
Work with your photographer to understand when sunset will be and where the sun will set relative to your venue. Does your venue sit on a hillside that will mean you can enjoy the evening light as long as possible, or is your venue surrounded by tall trees, meaning that things will feel darker much quicker when it’s close to sunset? These are important details to think about, along with the flow of your reception, but if you make the time to sneak away for some golden hour photos together I can promise you won’t regret it.
