How many times has this happened to you on the wedding day: You have a gorgeous couple, the light has just reached epic proportions and you are leading them out to the most stunning location that you spent hours and lots of gas money to find, when the bride's cell phone rings, it's her mom/wedding planner/venue person all calling at the same time wondering where the heck she is and why isn't she at the reception!! The cocktail hour is about to end!!! So suddenly the time, vision and imagination you have put into cajoling your bride out here in the first place is reduced to 10 minutes of half hearted attempts of romance by a distracted bride and a groom who can't wait to get back to the bar and his already drunk groomsmen.

Enter the Day After Session. It can be shot the day after the wedding, as the name suggests, or any time really: days, months or even years after the wedding. When I shoot destination weddings, I insist that couples schedule a day after session (or in some cases, the day after the day after. We all need a day to recover after most destination weddings, right?) just so we can capture that amazing setting and not get caught up with wedding day drama and miss the rad locations.

Here's a few reasons why I think Day After Sessions are amazing.

1. No stress – The wedding is over. There aren't roomfuls of guests wondering if you are ever returning. The bride and groom can focus on each other and aren't distracted by pushy coordinators or overbearing mothers. It's okay to walk through that gorgeous field or beach and not worry about getting the bottom of her dress dirty. And often times, because they are newlyweds, they are REALLY into each other and the romance is definitely there.
2. More photos for the album! So depending on your pricing structure and how you sell albums, you can just add these in, up sell more pages, or even sell a completely separate album of just the Day After pics.
3. If weather is terrible on the wedding day, no worries, you can still get those shots you've been dying for.
4. Sometimes things happen on the wedding day and you just don't have the time for those intimate portraits.
5. You can really get creative and try some new techniques you have been desperate to test out; like some off camera flash, or different posing, or even some underwater stuff shots!
6. Put that dress back into good use! The bride pays a fortune for a gown she is just going to wear once? Heck no, get your money's worth, baby!

Maya, a client of mine from New York, loved her day after shoot, which consisted of a Trash the Dress session in a cenote and then at the beach at their Mayan Riviera Resort. “Weddings are often such a whirlwind affair that the day passes in a flash,” she said. “The day after, the couple can capture their love beyond the all the ceremonies and traditions….” She adds of their shoot, “It was beautiful, it was real, it was above and beyond anything we could have ever asked for and it made the whole wedding experience that much more magical.”

Another one of my clients, Veronica, said her day after photos are her favorites from her entire wedding! “Out of all our wedding photos, we loved our day after session the best (and trust me it's hard to say given that the rest of the photos are also INCREDIBLE). Because it was only us and Dan, it created an intimate setting where we were able to comfortably take photos without the pressure of all the other wedding events. This not only made us more relaxed, but it also gave Dan the flexibility to fully demonstrate his talent. Choosing to have an after session was one of the best decisions we made. They are a treasure we will cherish for the rest of our lives.”

Ethan Sees