What Happens With My Wedding Photographs After the Wedding?

Whew! Not going to lie: I started this podcast series super prepared. But the last two weeks? With all the snow days? Your photographer mom (lol) is struggling! I freaking love talking photography though and, today, I’m so excited to share this wedding photography episode with you! This is such a fun topic and, as someone really passionate about creating a photography style, I’m so exited to share my thoughts about one of the most crucial parts of the wedding photography process. And that process? What happens after the wedding?

Listen to my thoughts below or browse the written section following the player to get a feel for what happens after the wedding! As a wedding photographer in Northwest Arkansas, I love photographs with all the light, all the color, and all the fun. And after the wedding? That can take some time to deliver!

Will I Get a Sneak Peek of My Wedding Photographs?

While every wedding photographer’s process varies after a wedding, most couples can expect to see a sneak peek fairly soon after a wedding takes place. This sneak can totally vary – some photographers send one or two photos, some send a small gallery with a handful of photos, and some photographers send a full blog post – but, after your wedding, you’ll most likely see photographs within the week!

After your wedding, your photographer will have thousands of photographs to go through. While I tend to overshoot at portrait sessions, I don’t overshoot at weddings. I’m not sure why this is – I think it’s because there’s so much going on that shooting at the same rate isn’t overshooting on a wedding day versus a portrait session – but, even as a wedding photographer in Fayetteville who isn’t a totally chronic overshooter, I have around 2500 images to go through after an eight hour wedding. That’s a ton! And for my photographer friends that take more in the 4500 range? It can even feel a little debilitating!

Occasionally, a couple will ask me if the sneaks I send are my favorite photographs of the day. Sometimes they are; sometimes they’re not. At the time of creating the sneak peeks, though, they’re the ones that jump out at me!

Do All Wedding Photographers Deliver The Same Amount of Photos?

Nope! Every wedding photographer will have a different approach to how many photographs they deliver.

Personally, I have a pretty relaxed approach about this. I delete anything that’s unflattering (eyes half closed, weird expressions in portrait photographs, etc.) or overly repetitive. Like, I might take five photographs of a hug but deliver one or two. No one needs five photographs of a hug – especially when there’s twenty different hugs captured! – and, personally, I think extremely large galleries can be overwhelming to view and pick favorites. I try to deliver really healthy sized wedding galleries while also discouraging analysis paralysis! I want my couples – and their families! – to be able to easily view the galleries so I love to craft mine to tell a story as best as possible. As an Arkansas wedding photographer, this is so fun!

How Long Will It Take to Get My Wedding Photographs Back?

Totally depends on the photographer! My weddings typically take three months but it can vary based on the time of year, what other work I have going on, my family’s schedule, and even something as simple as a wedding venue. Some weddings are really easy to edit. Others take more time! Because of that, I like to always have a built in buffer to my editing time so that, if a wedding takes me longer than anticipated, it still falls in the expected delivery range.

Have More Questions? Wonderful! I’ve Got Answers!

We cover a ton more in the audio of this podcast! Questions Include:

What Do Most Photographers Edit?

Will My Photographer Share My Wedding Photographs? Can I Share My Wedding Photographs?

How Long Will My Wedding Photographs Be Available?

Want To Know This Episode in One Quote? I’ve Got You!

“When working with your wedding photographer, it can sometimes be tempting to ask your married friends what happened with their photographers. And, while this is totally valid and a great discussion to have, know that not all wedding photographers are the same, not all have the same schedule, and not all have the same approach to editing. There’s a lot of rhetoric out there about how to pick the best wedding photographer for you – and I totally contribute to that discourse! – but the most important thing to remember is this:

Your wedding photographer will not operate exactly like other wedding photographers and, what’s normal to one wedding photographer may not be normal to other photographers. An example of this is turnover. My weddings often take three months for me to edit. This isn’t because I’m slow or because I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s because I hand edit everything – even brushing in sun! – and because I like to give myself a breather between shooting and editing so I can edit things with a fresh perspective.

If someone posted about this on a forum, there would definitely be photographers who say they deliver their galleries in two weeks and that three months is too long. And that’s totally fine! It’s their perspective. My perspective? It’s that two weeks isn’t enough time to let a gallery settle. And six months? It’s too long to let the gallery sit. As a longtime wedding photographer, though, I know there are phenomenal photographers that deliver their galleries six months to a year out. And on the flip-side? I’ve seen jaw-dropping images from people who deliver their galleries in under a month.

As a couple getting married, the best thing you can do is communicate with your photographer and get to know what’s normal for them. It’ll save you so many worries and answer so many of your “what if” questions, too! You’ve got this! Your photographer should, too!”

CHEERS TO YOU: A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PLANNING GUIDE

Note: We’ve finished the first half of our limited series and I am SO excited to share more sometime soon. As of February 2024, I’m putting this series on a temporary hiatus while working on our (and by “our”, I mean “my”, lol)  other podcasts. Fingers crossed to be back soon!

Want something to listen to? Check out Your Photographer Mom or Our Favorite Villes for weekly podcasts!

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Based in Fayetteville, Arkansas Lissa Chandler is a portrait and wedding photographer. Lissa is also the owner of Opal and June where she offers mockup photographs, bookish + history merch, and the dreamiest photoshoot dress rentals. Additionally, Lissa is the host of the podcast Your Photographer Mom. As a creative photographer in Northwest Arkansas, Lissa doesn’t niche down on a genre. She niches on a feeling instead! That feeling? The huge, happy feeling of hope and excitement that you feel as a kid opening up a huge box of 120 crayons. Sound like a feeling you remember? Let’s shoot!