Photographing an LDS Seattle Temple Wedding is slightly different than the average wedding. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe that being married, or sealed, in a temple ceremony means that your union will extend beyond this life. This beautiful and romantic idea comes with a few restrictions. First, only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who have a temple recommend can attend a ceremony, and there is no photography during the ceremony. For me, that means that I don't see my clients who are having an LDS Seattle Temple Wedding until after they are married. Often the first photos in their gallery are them exiting the temple and hugging friends and family.
One of my favorites happened on a lovely summer day. Blake and Kylie were so cute together! After family photos under the shade of one of the trees in the gardens, this pair joined me for a photo session around the Seattle Temple. Generally, family photos after the wedding last about thirty minutes, and the couple's portraits take about ninety minutes. It's really important for couples to know this and plan accordingly since many want to do lunch with family after the ceremony and have a reception planned for that same evening. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormons) have long wedding days punctuated with many starts and stops. Often the LDS Seattle Temple wedding is planned for the mid to early morning so couples often exit the temple at midday. Sadly, this is not the best lighting for photos. Pro Tip: Try to book the earliest time offered by the Seattle Temple Staff. This helps you get the photos you want before the sun is beating down!
It's not uncommon for couples to have two different family photo portions of their wedding day because not all family members can attend the Temple ceremony. I suggest to couples that they should delay family photos until before the reception. If there are guests who can only come to the temple then it's okay to make an exception and do a few family pictures. This will help the couple avoid getting tired of being photographed. Honestly, it's really hard to smile for 2 hours straight and it's way more fun to chat with loved ones than pose for photos.
Because the wedding day is split between the temple and the reception you will need to find a photographer that doesn't mind if all hours are not consecutive. I do allow for this in a custom package but you'll need to do a weekday or at least a 5 consecutive hours package and then other additional hours can be split. The reason for this is that as a photographer I have to block off the whole day for your wedding but only getting paid for 3 hours when you'd normally be paid for 8 does not make financial sense. 99% of couples are totally understanding and willing to work with that.
If you do the LDS Temple Wedding on a different day than the reception you can actually get expedited editing and display your wedding photos at the reception in a slide show, album, or collection of wall art.
