Bottom line 1: many weddings require at least two hours for the formals.

Formals are the "planned for" combinations of the wedding party and family members (parents, grand parents, brothers and sisters, different combinations). The bride and groom are the common link in most of the formals - one or the other or both are in most of the formal shots. Recently, the trend has been to concentrate the formals on only close family and the wedding party, which saves quite a bit of time.

The best time to take care of the formals is before the wedding ceremony, if you can gather the troops. Unfortunately, this is not practical for all weddings. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider formals before the ceremony ( A Touch of Fon Photography will go with whatever you decide, as long as enough time is budgeted somewhere):

• The bride, groom, and wedding party will be fresh, good hair, makeup, dresses and tuxes, ties, all just right and ready to go, flowers fresh and at their best (well, as long as people show up on time!)

• No need to fix things after hugging 300 guests

• The bride and groom can see guests sooner at the reception instead of making them wait for the formals to be completed

• A very nice reduction in stress levels - the formals are out of the way and the remaining are bride and groom artistic portraits, impromptu portraits and photo journal style shooting the rest of the night (although the memory photos can certainly be scheduled beforehand as well)

• Just as you are completing the formals, guests are arriving and your attention can be quickly shifted to them (and they were not in the way during the formals) 

• The photographer finds out who the important folks are and can use this to better cover the rest of the day 

Bottom line 2: bride and groom artistic photos ("memory photos") tend to be the most appreciated by the bride and groom, these require at least 30 minutes for the shoot, not including any driving or walking time

These photos are also planned for, but primarily star the bride and groom and not really formal, mostly just fun. They can be inside, for example, a church with many and varied beautiful backgrounds from stained glass windows to interesting architecture, or on beautiful grounds at a local park or attraction.

If you budget a minimum amount of time and the location is nearby, 30 minutes might be enough. Please consider including these types of photographs in your planning, and work with A Touch of  Fon Photography,  if you are a client, to make sure you are budgeting enough time. 

But, before we take a look at the memory photos, here's something to consider, that is, meeting with the photographer to get extreme close-up shots of the rings in a more controlled environment (before the wedding day).  I would be glad to do the second one on the wedding day, but budget at least 10 minutes extra just for this shot (depends on the location).