The Black Hole of Joy.

Well that’s a clickable title isn’t it?

So you’re planning your wedding - basically a very expensive, once in a lifetime party. You’ve invited your closest friends and family to enjoy this experience with you. It’s an important day that will live on in your memory for years to come.

That schedule you’re planning probably makes sense, and you probably got the ideas from a Pinterest page or wedding blog / website - but you’ve probably added a scheduled event that will be the point in your day where the joy will be sucked out of the room.

I’m talking about the “photo time” that far too many couples plan for. Those hours of driving to some random park after the ceremony, forcing your family and bridal party to line up for what end up being pretty generic and boring photographs of everyone sweating and just being annoyed.

Why?

Who says this needs to be part of “wedding tradition”? These aren’t genuine moments or memories - this ends up feeling like a contractual obligation, or something promised for the parents. Forced smiles, sweating in the summer heat, suffering for the sake of a few photos that most people don’t do anything with - and I know this first hand, because these photographs never get downloaded or printed - it’s always the honest, genuine moments of interaction between people that are the most popular and most downloaded images.

Taking a few quick group shots of your bridal party, your best friends, and your family members together is important, but it can be done without making the day feel segmented and awkward. Don’t put your friends through that - let them enjoy the ENTIRE day, not just the hours before and after the black hole of joy.