Oh the joys of wedding planning! For many, one of the most (if not THE most) stressful parts of wedding planning lies in laying out their wedding timeline. For those of you who don’t know, a wedding timeline is a schedule of all the major events for a wedding day that is distributed to vendors and allows for smooth transitions. Today, we’re here to talk about why you should set aside time for sunset wedding photos in your wedding timeline!

From a guest’s perspective, it may feel like you spend quite a bit of time where waiting on a wedding day. Whether that’s waiting for the ceremony to start or waiting for social hour to wrap up, it can feel like you’re just kept waiting at multiple throughout the day. But it’s important to know that even if you as a guest are waiting, there is a lot going on behind the scenes that you may not see. Beyond sitting down to eat, a wedding couple usually is not awarded with a spare minute to breathe.

That’s why sunset photos are such a special moment to incorporate in your wedding timeline! Sunset photos are a block of time (usually at sunset) where the wedding couple ventures off with their photographers to take some couples photos and have a moment alone.

Not convinced to incorporate that into your timeline yet? Don’t worry! By the end of this blog post, you’ll be running to your timeline to block out time for your sunset wedding photos!

Reason #1: Take a Minute For You and Your Partner on Your Wedding Day

If we could only give our wedding couple one piece of advice regarding their wedding day, it would be to factor in time to spend with just you two! So many parts of a wedding day are about other people (from the wedding party to the food to the dancing) that we want to be that reminder to our wedding couples that this wedding day is about THEM! Of course, friends and family are still an important aspect in the celebration that we all cherish. But when you think back to your wedding day, you don’t want to think to yourself, “It doesn’t even feel like I was with my partner that much because we were around so many people.”

Sunset photos (AKA couples photos since the weather does not always cooperate) are the perfect opportunity for you take a moment for you and your partner to be together, soak in the magic of your wedding day, and take a big deep breath. For many wedding couples, the fast-paced, overwhelming environment of a wedding day can be a lot to handle. Sunset photos grant you a moment to just slow everything down and breathe.

When we coin the term “sunset photos,” we don’t mean to insinuate that this is going to be even more of the posed photos that you’ve taken all day. For our “sunset photos,” we prefer for it to be more of a documentary moment. Funnily enough, these sunset photos usually end up being our couple’s favorite photos from their wedding day since that moment of relief really allows you to relax. Additionally, these sunset photos turn out to be great memory for our wedding couples that involves just them two!

And a quick tip: we are always there to be the excuse for you to step away for a moment! Is your mother-in-law begging you to come talk to her great aunt and you’re at the point where you do not have the mental capacity to do so? Feel free to tell her that your photographers need you outside to take some bridal portraits. We will never feel bad to be the excuse you need to take a minute to compose yourself! That’s why these sunset photos are the perfect opportunity!

Reason #2: Make Sure You Get All The Couples Photos You Want

When you spend so much of your wedding day around a bunch of people, it can be hard to grab those solo couples photos that we all know and love! Sure, a first look is a great opportunity to grab some solo couples photos but it’s more about the moment. A first look can be filled to the brim with nerves and may not provide you with the best couples photos you can get. That’s where the sunset photos come in!

Picture this: You just walked down the aisle with the love of your life, hugged and celebrated with all of your loved ones, ate some delicious food for this first time that day because you were so nervous you couldn’t eat the morning of your wedding day, and are headed out, hand-in hand, with your spouse to grab some alone time and magical pictures. Sounds nice, right? Well that nice, somewhat relieved feeling translates through your photos!

Your sunset photos are the perfect chance for the excitement of your wedding day to come through as you ride out that post-wedding high! Capturing that feeling with some awesome sunset photos allows you to go back and remember this special moment for years on end! Moreover, you’re most likely a bit more comfortable in front of the camera at this point in the day so you’re photos will come out THAT much better.

At the very base of the whole idea of sunset photos lies the point that you are able to grab couples photos without being interrupted or distracted. No photo bombers or chopped off limbs at the edge of the frame. Just you, the love of your life, and that post-wedding glee!

Reason #3: Let That Creativity Come Through, Baby!

And we saved the best reason for last! It’s time to bust out the Pinterest boards and all your creativity because we are about to make some magic for your sunset wedding photos!

Sunset photos on a wedding day are a rare moment where the expectations are practically nonexistent! There isn’t a line of family members to fit in the frame or people floating around in the background. That means your creativity can really shine and you have the time to be able to craft a wedding photo you have always wanted. Craving some silly photos of you and your spouse in sunglasses to represent your personalities? Bring it on! Want to grab that epic shot of you guys standing in the picture-perfect spot at your venue? Let’s do it!

Like we had mentioned before, we approach sunset photos with more of a documentary approach so you can often find us waddling after our couples as they wander through their wedding venue! This is a great chance to explore your wedding venue, take some pictures at places that may not have been used throughout the day, and just soak in that moment!

One of our favorite parts of what we do as photographers is collaborating with YOU to bring your wedding visions to life in your photos. Sunset photos allow us a time to put our minds together and really work together! That’s where so many of our (and our couples’) favorite images from a wedding day are born!

Sunset Wedding Photos: Block. Out. That. Time.

When we talk about sunset photos, we aren’t saying that you have to wander off with us for a few hours while your guests are left to twiddle their thumbs! Thirty minutes to an hour is a great amount of time to set aside for sunset photos!

It’s important to be mindful of what time the sun will set on your wedding day so you can block out most optimal time in your timeline for these photos. In the summer, many of our couples will do it right after they finish eating and their guests are being served dinner. Since the guest are occupied, this allows you the time to step out for these photos. In the fall, we find that our couples will usually set aside time for sunset photos right before their grand march/reception officially begins towards the end of social hour.

And if the sunset ain’t shining, don’t worry ’bout it, sweetheart! We can still have an absolute blast exploring around the venue and taking some EPIC wedding photos!

If you’re sitting there after reading this and thinking to yourself, “Sunset photos sound great and all but I’m not sure if I can swing that in my timeline,” or if the weather does not cooperate on your big day, you’re in luck! We offer before- and after-wedding sessions where we meet up after your wedding day to grab those pictures that you would have gotten from your sunset photos! These sessions are similar to bridal portraits where we make sure you get the photos you want without the stress of squeezing it in your timeline!

If you’re on the hunt for some awesome wedding photographers who would be ECSTATIC to run away with you and take couples photos at sunset on your wedding day, reach out HERE to get in touch! We’d love to be a part of your big day and tell your love story through our photography!

If you want to hear about some of the weddings we have had the honor of shooting, we’ve got plenty for you to read through! Check out this amazing wedding we shot at Pinewood! Come read about this stunning elopement we shot in St. Thomas!

As always, stay beautiful! We’ll see you at sunset, friends! xoxo