Ceremony Lighting + Location Tips
Need some ceremony lighting and location tips? I hear you!
Okay guys, there’s something that we haven’t really talked about and thats your ceremony lighting and location information. So many brides are either told by their venue where to hold their ceremony, or choose a location without thinking of the lighting and how the photos will turn out. Well today, I’m here to share with you all the Do’s and Don’ts with various ceremony locations and their lighting situations.
Please keep in mind: Your photographer will make you gorgeous and look amazing regardless of your ceremony location. However, if you keep in mind these tips, your photos will look even better. Just saying! 🙂
Okay, let’s go!
Ceremony Location Tips
As a wedding photographer for 6 years, I’ve seen all kinds of ceremony location styles. So I wanted to add to this wedding planning guide to share with some tips and tricks I’ve learned all the way. A lot of couples forget to think about the lighting around the ceremony area and the venue usually tells them how to set it up, here are some ceremony location setup thoughts to think about:
Inside Ceremony
- If you’re getting married inside, due to weather or it’s just gorgeous inside, that’s awesome. A couple things to be aware of:
- Make sure the yellow lights are turned OFF. The yellow from most venue lights brings a yellow tint to your skin tones and adds more oranges as well. If the lights are off, then we can capture a more natural light look.
- You can totally have some twinkle lights or candles, but make sure the overhead lights are totally off.
- If your ceremony area inside is totally dark and you want a twinkle light feel, then we can shoot a little darker to give you that moody look and still capture that natural look to get a feel for what the ceremony area looked and felt like.
- To light up your faces a little better, I can set up my Off Camera Flash for the area to make sure we still get your faces.
Window Ceremony
- If you’re planning on exchanging your vows in front of a window- Think about the lighting you’ll get in your photos. Usually if your altar for your ceremony is in front of a window, you’ll get a few silhouettes with the background, but the light that will be on you might be more hazy than you think.
- The backlighting shining through the window has a sort of haze that surrounds you two and your wedding party that might be different than what you imagine your ceremony photos to look like. Just a little warning, I’ll be doing my absolute best to get great shots of you two, just be aware that there might be more side views of you two and your party.
- Consider some drapes in front of the windows, or move your altar against a soft wall inside the venue if possible. If you have no other options, that’s totally okay, just want to let you know how my camera will pick up the light.
Tree Ceremony
- I absolutely love ceremonies in front of a forest or a willow tree, basically anything outside! But keep in mind the time of day you’ll be getting married at. I recommend visiting the venue at the time you’ll be getting married to see the light if possible.
- Sometimes if the sun is beaming down on you, there could be spotted light on your faces standing at the altar. Totally okay, just keep in mind that you might see some spotted shots of you and/or your boo.
- I can fix them up the best I can in editing your photos, but there will be spots.
- Consider moving a little in front of the tree, or another location.
Direct Sunlight Ceremony
- Having your ceremony in direct sunlight is super common in the summertime and it’s easy to photograph.
- Keep in mind that when in direct sunlight at the altar, yes it’s a lot hotter haha, but one side of the altar will be in the sunshine, and the other against the sun.
Tent Ceremony
- Having your ceremony inside a tent is super gorgeous and easy to bounce light around everyone. It makes everyone’s skin tones even and milky smooth. Yay!
- However, you have to keep in mind what time you’re getting married at and if the sun is beaming down on the tent. Also, depending on your venue’s surroundings. If you all are under a white tent and it’s mega bright outside or on the water at 12pm (when the sun is most high), then it might be too blown out with light behind you.
- Side shots of the party and you two will be pretty, but behind you might be too bright.
- Consider aiming the tent toward a woodsy area, or a building, or later in the afternoon when the light is a bit softer.
- If you get married under a tent in the late afternoon, that would be best so the light is softer in your surroundings.
So overall, check in with your venue and see all your ceremony location options and see what the lighting will look like. If you go to the venue, you can take some shots of the area you want to get married at on your phone, send them to me, and I can give my thoughts or some suggestions!
I also have a fun blog post about How to have the Best Lighting for your Wedding Photos and you can check it out here!
Timing
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying before… timing is everything. Well, that’s 100% true in regards for wedding photography. For sure! When starting to plan out your wedding day and seeing when/ the time of things are to happen, think about the light/ time of day. 🙂 Here are some cases where you might want to think about time when building your timeline:
#1) Your Ceremony Time.
If you’re getting married in the middle of summer and you want your ceremony at 2pm… listen up! Your guests, your wedding party, your 90-year-old grandma will be out baking in the sun if you do this. If you would prefer yourself and your guests to not be so sweaty and you sweat off your makeup you’ve paid for, think about having your ceremony later in the afternoon.
If you’re planning on serving dinner, consider a 4pm or 5pm ceremony so you guests get a little cooler temperatures than 1pm, and dinner is being served as soon as the ceremony is over.
Also consider having water or fans at every seat so your guests don’t get dehydrated.
2) Portraits
Now, usually weddings have their portraits scheduled either before or after the ceremony. Sometimes both! But just be aware of the light that is occurring during those times you want your portraits.
If it’s mega sunny, there might be more backlighting than normal and it might be a little bright, but I won’t face you guys toward the sun so you’re not squinting. I’ll do my best to locate some shade so no one is sweating a ton and sweating off your makeup, but just a warning. With the backlight, everyone will look great, and have even light, it’s just some photos might be brighter than you think.
You could consider having the family, wedding party, and some bridal portraits either after the ceremony when the light is a little softer, or we can find a nice shaded area to keep everyone cool and lighting on the skin even.
3) Golden Hour Photos
So this one is super all about timing. Usually during the reception, I’ll keep an eye outside on the lighting and make sure we’re ready for golden hour photos right when the light is mega awesome. We’ll chat beforehand about when the sun is setting and I’ll do some research on the location and if the sun ducks behind some hills or something, and we’ll make it work. Most of the time, I’ll tell my couples the basic time when we should go out for Golden Hour photos, and then we’ll head out when the sun looks super amazing.
I hope this helps with thinking about your ceremony location and the timing of things on your wedding day. There is so much that goes into planning your wedding so if you want some help figuring it all out, please don’t hesitate to message me! 🙂
Cheers!
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