Should We Do a Post-Wedding Photoshoot?

Just when you thought you had a handle on all the options open to you for your wedding (and there are many), you hear this new term popping up. Now there’s yet another decision you have to make: should we do a post-wedding photoshoot? While we can’t answer that for you, we can at least give you some things to think about to determine if a post-wedding session is right for you.

Wedding photos you want (even during a pandemic).

First, the elephant in the room. The coronavirus pandemic has changed so much around how couples envisioned their weddings. Luckily, a post-wedding session is a perfect way to still capture the photos you had your heart set on. If you had to relocate and feel like you compromised on literally every other wedding day detail, why not treat yourself to a mini-moon at your original location with a kick-ass photo session included?

Wedding days can be a whirlwind.

This might be an understatement, but it’s no secret that your wedding day will fly by. In fact, it’s one of the many reasons we do full-day coverage. A post wedding photoshoot can help relieve some of the timeline pressure. Of course, we’ll still do portraits on the wedding day, but you don’t have to worry about giving up a chunk of time you could have spent with your guests to get a hasty photo at a distant location.

You get to wear your wedding attire again on a post wedding photoshoot.

Obviously the wedding dress is a big deal. In fact, I’m always encouraging brides to wear it again, even just around the house; bonus points if you wear it on your next Zoom meeting. But grooms, this goes for you, too. You know you looked suave in your custom suit and felt like James Bond all day. Well, combine this with the ability to go to an epic location and we’ll turn that 007 vibe up to 11!

A post wedding photoshoot gives you more flexibility with location.

Unless you’re actually getting married there, most remote, jaw-dropping locations are tough to get to on your wedding day. But by planning a session the day after or even later in the year, it opens up a slew of location possibilities. Did you host your wedding in the city so that your out-of-state guests didn’t have to do the dizzying drive up to the mountains? Let’s mix things up with a mountaintop post wedding photoshoot. Getting married at one of the many beautiful wedding venues in Estes Park on a Saturday? Let’s go back on a Monday so we can go into Rocky Mountain National Park without the crowds. With a post-wedding photoshoot, we really can go anywhere in the world.

And above all else…

The adventure doesn’t stop at the end of the wedding day.

This one requires a quick case study. If I had to use only one word to describe this Great Sand Dunes post wedding photoshoot, adventure would be it. Frances and Bryce’s session was almost an anniversary shoot, thanks to the pandemic shutting down national parks in the spring (hey, no one said that a post-wedding session has to happen the day after your wedding). We had already shot an Alt Session at the Sand Dunes, but when Frances brought up the idea of putting on her amazing dress and trekking out to the middle of the dune field, Jesse and I couldn’t agree fast enough. We planned and prepped and even scheduled the shoot around the phases of the moon. But in spite of all of that hard work, this shoot ended up testing all four of us.

While the wind was fairly mild at the base of the dunes, once we made it about halfway to the first crest, it was blowing in earnest, whipping sand everywhere. And if you’ve ever hiked in sand, you know how strenuous it can be taking one step forward only to slide half a step back. Then add smoky air from the fires in the western United States and you get one of the most challenging sessions we’ve ever had.

But we made it to the top, Frances and Bryce changed into their wedding attire and absolutely rocked this shoot. Sharing an experience like this in the middle of such staggering natural beauty is a memory we won’t soon forget and the kind of adventure that strengthens relationships.

Frances and Bryce, thank you, as always, for being you. For following us into Type 2 Fun situations. And for sharing whiskey, wine, and grand adventures.