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How to plan a pre-wedding shoot
A pre-wedding shoot works best planned in this order: decide what you want it to feel like, then pick a location that serves that, rather than starting from a list of popular spots. Two outfits is the practical maximum for a single session, because each change costs about forty minutes of shooting time. Budget for the first thirty minutes being stiff, and expect to be given things to do rather than poses to hold — movement is what removes self-consciousness from the frame.
The pre-wedding shoot, planned properly. The pre-wedding shoot is the one part of the wedding you have complete control over, and it is the part most couples hand over to a location list.
Published · Last reviewed by the Élan Films studio team. How we check facts and price bands
Should you choose the location first?
Most couples start with where. That is backwards, and it is why so many pre-wedding sets look identical — everyone is choosing from the same twenty locations.
Start with what you want the pictures to feel like and what you are actually like together. A couple who are funny with each other should not be shot on a cliff at sunset looking solemn. Once the feeling is decided, the location is a much shorter list and often a much less obvious one.
How many outfit changes actually work?
Every change costs forty minutes once you count getting to somewhere to change, changing, and redoing hair. Five outfits in a day means roughly three hours of shooting time gone, and the good light does not extend to compensate.
Two is the number that works: one that is comfortable and one that is dressed. If there must be a third, make it a change of shirt rather than a change of everything.
What timing do couples forget to budget for?
- Getting to the location before light, which for a sunrise shoot means leaving in the dark.
- The first thirty minutes, which are always stiff. Everybody is self-conscious at the start and the frames from that half hour are rarely the ones used. Budget for it rather than being surprised.
- Travel between locations, which in any Indian city takes twice as long as the map says.
What should you do instead of posing?
The instruction "act natural" produces the least natural photographs ever taken. What works is being given something to do: walk somewhere together, tell each other something, react to something. Movement solves self-consciousness, which is the entire reason this studio is built around it.
A good photographer will give you tasks, not poses. If forty minutes in you are still being positioned by the shoulders, say something.
Should you do it at all?
Not every couple should. If neither of you likes being photographed, a full-day production in an unfamiliar place is not the way to discover that, and the wedding itself will be easier if you have not already had a bad experience. A short session close to home, at something you would have done anyway, is often the better version.
Questions couples ask
How long does a pre-wedding shoot take?
A half day covers one location properly, which in practice is around three hours including the stiff first thirty minutes. A full day covers two locations if they are close together. Adding a third location usually means shooting in transit rather than in good light.
How many outfits for a pre-wedding shoot?
Two. Each change costs roughly forty minutes once travel to somewhere to change, changing and hair are counted, and the good light does not extend to make up for it. If a third is essential, make it a change of shirt rather than a full change.
When is the best time of day for a pre-wedding shoot?
The first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset. Sunrise is better in almost every Indian location because the places are empty, and almost nobody chooses it. Midday is unusable outdoors without shade.
Do you need a pre-wedding shoot?
No. It is worth doing if you like the idea of photographs of just the two of you without three hundred guests, and worth skipping if neither of you enjoys being photographed. A short local session is a reasonable middle option.
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