I normally arrive 2 hours before leaving the prep place. It's more than enough for me to cover the accessories, make-up, dress up, pictorial and family portraits.

Some wedding coordinators and brides ask me to be there 4 hours before and I always hate it. They want me to be there as soon as the makeup starts but ironically most of them doesn't want to be shot without make-up.

I normally arrive 2 hours before leaving the prep place. It's more than enough for me to cover the accessories, make-up, dress up, pictorial and family portraits.

Some wedding coordinators and brides ask me to be there 4 hours before and I always hate it. They want me to be there as soon as the makeup starts but ironically most of them doesn't want to be shot without make-up.

Typically 3 hours is the norm. But it depends a lot on other factors. If the hotel or place will host 6 women to be prepped, then 3-4 hours is given. If there's only 3, 3 hours is too long. I find that if the people to be prepped is about 5-6 you need 3 hours. If more, then maybe even 4 hours is required. I don't count the groom and the men as they dress up very quickly.

However, there are times, when the make-up and hair dresser works too slow. We had one client whose 2 person team is not efficient and he had to make up only 4 people and it took him ages! He started 10am and the we were over 1 hour late to the wedding (good thing it was protestant so the minister waited) to get these people prepped. The wedding was for 3:30 but we started about 5pm already.

There's also a need to factor about 15-30 min or so for formals before you leave the place. If the location has some nice stairs, or view or whatever, you want to get more time for formals. Again, if the no. of people are many, they would want their photos taken with the bride. That eats time a bit. And unless you remind them, they always sync with the departure time. You have to allocate 15 min-30min for formals and tell them so, otherwise you will be scrounging for some formals with little prep (as it happens often with me).

If I am shooting video, I am not worried about this as I don't use my video like a still camera. So, the formals isn't that "important" or if I do shoot it, I shoot it differently. The formals is the photogs call, not the video guys. So, I rest easy with when I am shooting video. But I have to pack up the light 10 min early before they leave, that's the bummer. Not good when the wedding is in the evening or twilight or when the hotel is not well lit (like in Dusit).

I guess it's better to be earlier than late. But you do have to remind them you need 15 min for formals and speed up a bit and not think of their departure time as their deadline.

-Mel

I agree 3 hours before is the norm for me too.

Just a clarification: is it 3-4 hours before the church wedding or before leaving the hotel?

Just a clarification: is it 3-4 hours before the church wedding or before leaving the hotel?

Yes. 3-4 fours before the church wedding. E.g. wedding is 4pm at the church.

Assuming you have a 30 min travel time. You better start leaving 3:30pm, which means you better be shooting the formals 3-3:15pm. You better be at the site about 12noon.

Of course travel time varies, that is why, you ask them what time the wedding is, and what time they expect to leave the location. Sometimes travel time is just 10-15 min. Sometimes, it might take an hour. Rarely an hour, but 30 min is typical.

And never assume distance. Assume the expected travel time. For example. We once did a wedding at Nuestra Snra de Guia (Ermita Church) near UN ave. Hotel is somewhere Herran st. Close, right? But the travel time can be long due to traffic and having one way street. Plus, if parking is tight, so if you drive yourself, you might be there early, but till the time you can find a parking spot, you can't shoot!!! We got that right, so we were not late. But not on the next case....

There was another time, that the wedding was at the back of Guadalupe. We never got to scout the place due to the continuous rains, and me coming from illness decided not to check it out. The church is at the back of Loyola Memorial park side at EDSA. Our Hotel was just across edsa on the mall side of Guadalupe. But darn, it took us almost 45 min to get to the church due to traffic, one way streets, the road leading to the church being one lane, raining, etc. It would have been faster had we used the overpass and crossed edsa on foot!

The mistake of the apprentice then who arrived 20 min early using his motorcyle was he left his camera (the hc3) with us. Why I ask myself? Why leave your primary weapon? If he had the hc3 with him, he could have shot the processional and since that is an HD camera, we can get a 1mp stills from the footage. Even without us, he could have covered the event by himself till we arrived. He could always pause video taping. Shoot stills at 2.3mp without changing modes. The hc3 is capable of that and that was assigned to him. Good thing we had a walkie-talkies as he urged us to hurry. Still, even if we were really late, he could have covered it himself if only he had his camera with him.

We arrived as the processional was starting!!! So, no still shots of the entourage up to some of the ninongs. I had the video of that but really, I was running at the side of the church just in the nick to shoot the footage of the best man going to his spot! I had the vx-2000, so I can't get a 1mp still out of that. Good thing too that the church's lighting was excellent, so even if we hadn't set up our lights, our videos would not be compromised. The VX is ok, but so was the 5 lux HC3. Ah, but the apprentice was severely mistaken to have left his camera with us. Always carry your primary weapon (your camera) yourself, and have ammunition to fire it (tapes, CF, and batts).

Well, the bride was late too because of that traffic. But it shows you that it's better to estimate travel time, rather than distance. :Grin:

-Mel

I have sligthly different timeline.

Let's work it backwards. If the church ceremony is at 4pm then I always suggest the bride should be at the church by 330pm. Normally, the parents ride with the bride so they still have time to receive the guests and principal sponsors. Roll-call and line-up starts at 3:45pm. Walk starts exactly at 4pm.

Let's assume a conservative estimate of 30-minute travel. Bride leaves the hotel at 3pm.

Within 1pm to 3pm, I can already shoot the accessories, makeup or at least the retouch, dress-up, portraits (in room and lobby).

I have sligthly different timeline.

Let's work it backwards. If the church ceremony is at 4pm then I always suggest the bride should be at the church by 330pm. Normally, the parents ride with the bride so they still have time to receive the guests and principal sponsors. Roll-call and line-up starts at 3:45pm. Walk starts exactly at 4pm.

Let's assume a conservative estimate of 30-minute travel. Bride leaves the hotel at 3pm.

Within 1pm to 3pm, I can already shoot the accessories, makeup or at least the retouch, dress-up, portraits (in room and lobby).



Hmmm. yes and no with me. It depends on the situation as I said. That is why I ask them what time they will leave because they may (and usually they do) know the traffic and the other variables to going to the church that I may not be aware of. As I said in my previous post, there is also the variable of the makeup guys/gals working and being on time with their own jobs. If the other parties know that they will leave 3:00pm to be at the church at 3:30pm, then the make up folks know that this deadline is from the bride/couple, not mine.

My experience is that the cause of the delay and not meeting the deadline are the make-up and hair stylist folks. That's why I keep telling the bride to say that they are leaving 15min earlier than what they told me they would leave so we would have the time needed for the formals.


Also, if you work in a team, not solo, your 2nd stringers are already there at the church, regardless of time they actually leave or finish up at the hotel/house. The 1st photographer really needs his formal shots, so, he is there as long as the bride is there. But there is an advance team there already at the church doing their shots of the guest, ninongs, church, etc.

If I were shooting video, being there at the church early regardless of what the bride is doing is even more important. Why? Because we have to set up our lights and our sound recorders. We need about 15-25 min to do that. So, in worst case scenarios, I'd have my 2nd vidcam leave early or I leave early to set up things. The formals is a photo thing, not a video thing in our vocabulary, so missing that (worse case scenario), even in a 1 cam shoot is not that critical to us. So with the bride leaving the hotel and riding the car.

For photos, when I am covering for some friend's low end weddings as solo (no 2nd man/shooter), I'd stay with the bride. If they are late, we may lose the shots as they are lining up at the back of the church and all that, but the album is definitely going to miss the formals shots for sure, so I stick with the bride no matter what. That's where the action is. Besides, you can't start the wedding anyway if the bride is not at the church.

As a team, my 2nds or apprentices can always shoot the church scenes before the processional. But the lead photographer needs to be with the bride almost all the time. After all, she's the star of the day!:)

i would also normally arive 2.5 hrs bfore and i clearly state this in my contract. i also put that any request with pictures and time etc..that they should discuss with me directly and not with anyone else. also, the more experienced coordinators politely asks u what time u are coming and not dictate what time they want u to arrive. after all, it's their job to coordinate and not dictate. i agree with dino with some of the coordinators asking u to come 4-6 hours before with brided mosstly not liking before makeup shots

2 - 2 1/2 hours before the bride leaves for church. much more if the wedding is out of town.

i will go much earlier only if my bride requests me to, not if the coordinator tells me.

:<)