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How to Time Out and Get Great Twilight Photos
Twilight is just one of those absolutely magical times of the evening. The sun is below the horizon, creating that beautiful soft glowing light that is just pure magic for twilight photos. Of course you’d love to have photos in that magical glow, but how do you make sure to time it all out in between all the festivities?
We’ve put together this post to help you plan out, organize, and get the most out of this magical time we call twilight.
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It’s all about scheduling
Creating a realistic timeline for your day is key in ensuring everything that’s important happens. Twilight usually falls during your reception, which is a pretty packed part of the day. Between the meal, speeches, chatting with guests and dancing, following a schedule ensures that at __ o’clock, you know you need to step away for 20 or 30 minutes and go take those beautiful photos.
Tip: You can check the sunset time for any given day with a quick Google search.
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Hire a Day of Coordinator.
A professional Wedding Planner will work with you to create that realistic schedule for the day but most importantly, will make sure it’s followed. So while you’re busy chatting away with guests or tearing it up the dance floor, they will be keeping an eye on the clock (and sun!) and when the time comes, they will let you know it’s time to step out to go take those magical photos.
Your Wedding Planner will work out your timeline in such a way that it will feel like a natural time to step out and you won’t miss a thing AND your guests won’t even know you’re gone. It’s your wedding after all and one of the jobs of a Wedding Planner is to make sure you can enjoy and be a part of it all.
Tip: If Full Planning isn’t something you need (or fit in your budget) be sure to hire a professional Wedding Planner for a Day of Coordination package. It’s a great level of support on your wedding day (our brides can vouch for that) and they’ll work with all the things you want in your day.
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A great photographer makes all the difference.
When the scheduled time arrives, your Wedding Planner (after making sure the photographer is ready) will let you know to head outside and now it’s all up to your photographer to capture some amazing twilight photos. A professional photographer with lots of industry experience will know exactly how to best shoot during twilight hour and will most likely have already picked out the perfect location to shoot your photos.
You don’t want to take too much time away from the party and the window for perfect twilight shots isn’t very long so this is where their experience and expertise comes in especially handy.
It’s important when picking your photographer that you take a look at their work and if you love how they shoot and their style for twilight photos. Every photographer is different so do your research to find the right fit for you.
Tip: Not sure how to pick the right vendors? We put together another blog post to help you choose the right ones and avoid the wrong ones.
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Have your videographer tag along.
The benefits are obvious; more amazing footage for your wedding video! Just like a photographer, videographers can do some pretty magical things with the beautiful lighting during twilight. Be sure to discuss with them at your pre-wedding meeting (or in the questionnaire they might give you) what kind of time frame they will require for the twilight session and be sure to bring forward any ideas or must have shots you would like.
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Pick your location ahead of time.
This might seem obvious – the sun sets in the same direction each day – but sometimes it can be easy to overlook what might be in your way.
If you need to get up on a rooftop, on the top of a hill, drive a couple miles down the road, you don’t want to have scheduled just the right amount of time to end up having half of it eaten up by getting to the right spot to get the photos.
Tip: The sun does set in the same direction each day but as the seasons change it does move over in the sky so keep that in mind (and chat with your photographer) to be sure you’re planning well.
Perfect time for a wardrobe change.
If you are planning on having a wardrobe change during your reception, doing so before your twilight photos is a perfect time to do so. Like we mentioned already; tearing yourself away from the party at any point is a difficult task, and fitting in a wardrobe change is something you need to make sure you give enough time to (10 -15 minutes depending on the complexity of the dress/suit).
Be sure you work with your Wedding Planner to time this out well and give yourself enough time to change and then get out for twilight photos.
You’ll already have gotten tons of special wedding gown shots throughout the day so between the completely different lighting twilight will provide and changing into something different, you’ll feel like you’ve gotten an entire other photo shoot on the day.
Include something fun, like pets!
Are you a pet parent whose wanted to include their special little (or big!) furry friend on your wedding day? This is the perfect time to do so. You could have a family friend bring you pet by for a quick time with you and then bring them home. It’s low stress on your pet and after what will already have been a long busy day a cuddle session with your favourite furry baby just might be the refresher you need to rejuvenate you for the rest of the evening. With the bonus of course being that you will have beautiful photos to remember the moment by.
Tip: You might be concerned about your dress and pet’s being messy – and we’re with you. Another option could be to do your twilight photos with your pet and then go and change dresses/suit. If the first dress gets dirty that’s ok, cause you won’t be wearing it when you return to the reception.
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It’s worth it – trust us.
In the moment, it’s sometimes tough to step away from the party or you might be totally over taking photos. You’ll be surprised at how relaxing this time away – just the two of you – is and how you’ll catch your breath and come back to the reception refreshed.
And in no time at all, you’ll be back at the party and your guests will barely have noticed your absence. A few months later when you receive your gallery from your photographer, you will be so thankful to have had that special time with your spouse and all the planning will have been well worth it!
All photos in this post are from our couples and their twilight photo sessions.
