What are golden hour photos and why do you need them?

Ah, golden hour. The magical secret ingredient to wedding photos! What is golden hour you may ask? I want you to close your eyes and imagine the images you’ve absolutely drooled over on Pinterest and Instagram. I’m going to bet that you are thinking of images that took place during golden hour! Golden hour aka sunset photos, is the hour in which the sun is setting. Photographers (and in turn our couples) love golden hour so much because it makes for absolutely dreamy and glowy photos. I wholeheartedly believe there is no better time to take your photos together than during golden hour. Have I convinced you yet? Well, keep reading for 3 more reasons you need to take them! 

1. Alone time 

Your wedding day flies by so quickly! The majority of your day is spent preparing for the ceremony and then being whisked away from guest to guest as they congratulate you. Many couples don’t get a ton of time with just the two of them. Your portraits are the one time when you can take a step back from everything and get some alone time. You get to soak in the “just married” feeling and take a break from the craziness, just the two of you! Well…and your photographer and videographer. 

2. Lighting 

If you listen to one reason, let it be this one. Lighting is everything! It’s one of the most important aspects to any great photo. Golden hour provides the most soft, natural, and glowy light you can get in a photo. The lighting won’t be harsh, give weird shadows, and you can basically take your photos anywhere because you won’t be as worried about the direction of the sun. While I am confident in my ability to photograph in any lighting situation, golden hour lighting is always going to lend to creating a perfect photo. 

As I mentioned above, most of the time when people imagine wedding photos that they’ve pinned or saved, it’s a photo from golden hour! Photos taken during golden hour just have that extra “wow” factor!

3. Amount of photos 

Another reason I highly encourage my couples to make time for golden hour photos, is because it’s going to give them even more photos of just the two of them! Of course you want your entire day captured but for most people, the large images you print, your profile pic, and your screensaver are going to be photos of just you and your spouse. These photos are typically the most important and memorable ones of the day. 

Sneaking away for even 15 minutes is going to give you more photos of the two of you to choose from and of course give you the dreamy Pinterest vibes I know you’ll love! 

I hope I’ve really convinced you now! You don’t have to leave your reception for long to get photos that you’ll adore for a lifetime. Trust me when I say it’s worth it to take the golden hour photos. 

Have more questions about golden hour photos or just timeline questions in general? Reach out to me here! I’d love to help you plan our the perfect golden hour shoot!