This entry is from our Expert Guest series where wedding and honeymoon professionals share their best tips on creating memories that last a lifetime.

Hours and hours of planning, designing and dreaming. The amount of time that it took to reach the actual wedding day seemed unreal. I mean, who doesn’t dream of this day their entire lives? When the day is over, and the party has ended, will you be happy with the twenty minutes your photographer had with just you and your honey? Did that photographer get every dream photograph you’ve had tucked away in your mind and heart? Did they get it in just twenty minutes?

Twenty minutes, forty minutes, or anything under an hour, can fly by. Typically you’re squeezing your bride and groom portraits in right there in the middle of the wedding day. This is how we all (photographers) have to do it! We spend a lot of time creating and rearranging timelines to get the right light aligning with the right time. And when it comes down to it, that time is hardly enough to get the actual emotions you’re feeling to surface.

Why Engage Your Wedding Photographer On Day After

1. Don’t Miss the Feels

With a Day After shoot, you get to put your dream dress back on (yay for wearing it more than once!), hair and makeup can be a little more laid back, and you can finally soak in that you’re married. I have my couples think back to when they had first met, or went on their first date together. As we shoot a day or two after the wedding, a lot of beautiful emotions can come to mind. The thick and thin that they’ve been through, the REAL moments of life that they’ve faced together. After the wedding day itself they can actually focus on one another, and have someone document all of those feelings.

2. No One is Waiting

Holla! Have you noticed how wedding guests get a little cranky when there are two hours between ceremony and reception? Why are they so cranky? Maybe they’re hungry¦ Typically they’ve been waiting because of family formals, wedding party shots, and bride and groom portraits seem to take forever to them. It’s funny because on the photographer’s end of the deal we quickly turn into the wedding coordinator, sunglass holder, drill sergeant, and even the family counselor. Emotions are real in this moment, grandma is feeling tired and we have to move quickly. When it comes down to it, no one is having a good time and we’re all feeling it. After that, I bet you’re feeling really in love and want to take some bride and groom photos together¦

3. Show off that destination

Together you can climb the mountain outside your venue, walk the sand along your beach or dance around the forest. Climbing, crawling, water skiing, or flying. As photographers we crave the shot, and I’d do just about anything to get it. Don’t fear asking your photographer to do something crazy. The worst they can say is no, right? This is the place you’ve dreamed of being in. After all, this is the very place you decide to commit your lives to one another. Why wouldn’t you want to have your photographer tag along for a few hours to create epic memories in this place? Climb the mountains, walk the desert or stroll the epic city. These shots are the ones you’ll be printing and placing in your home. These are the shots people tend to drool over as well, but most importantly these are the shots of your favorite place with your favorite person. How much better does it get? echo

After all is said and done, asking your photographer for a day after shoot may be the best question you ask them. Especially for you destination brides. Photographers love destinations, most love exploring and they love documenting love. Pulling them all together brings a joy to the couple and the photographer and it all lasts a lifetime. Book that day after shoot, you won’t regret it.

Help finance your “day after” wedding shoot with a Honeyfund honeymoon registry.

Bio: Raised by an artist mother, Rachel Wakefield considers herself the “photo maker of the free spirited.” She loves to tell the love stories of the people she works with, especially on location shoots. For information, check out her website.

Website: http://rachelwakefieldphotography.com/

Facebook: http://rachelwakefieldphotography.com/#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelwakefield/