Scheduling
The perfect schedule for your wedding photos
The light decides everything. If you put the couple shoot in the golden hour – the 30 to 45 minutes around sunset – you get images with a warm, velvety light that no lamp and no filter can recreate.
Golden hour at Lake Chiemsee: usually between 8:00 and 9:15 pm in the summer months; correspondingly earlier in spring and autumn. I always plan the couple shoot backwards from this moment.
A proven schedule for full-day coverage:
- 09:00
Getting readyDetails, dress, rings – the quiet moments of the morning
- 11:00
Registry office / churchCeremony, emotions, the first kiss as a married couple
- 12:30
Reception & group photosFamily and friends photos – swift and relaxed
- 14:00
Short couple shoot30 min in the afternoon for intimate images for two
- 19:30
Golden hour shoot45 minutes – the centrepiece of the whole day
- 21:00
First dance & partyThe evening belongs to your guests
Before the ceremony
First look: an intimate moment for two
At the first look, you see each other for the first time before the ceremony – deliberately staged, just the two of you and me. No audience, no programme. Just this one moment where everything happens.
Whether it's for you depends on your personalities and how the day is structured. Here are the most honest arguments:
- The reaction to each other – unfiltered, private, real. These are exactly the images you'll love most.
- More time for the couple shoot, because we can bring group photos forward – the afternoon is yours.
- You go into the ceremony more relaxed – the nervous tension has already eased.
- If you love the classic surprise walking down the aisle, you should skip it.
- Needs about 20–30 minutes of buffer in the schedule – the timing has to work.
My recommendation: if you're unsure, talk it through. I'm happy to advise you personally – we take time for it at the get-to-know-you chat.
Weather & light
No fear of rain: our bad-weather plan
Almost every couple asks me this. And my honest answer surprises them every time: a cloudy sky is often better for portraits than bright sun.
Why? Clouds act like a huge softbox. The light becomes even and soft – no harsh shadows on the face, no squinting eyes. The colours of the surroundings come out more intensely.
UmbrellasWe bring transparent, elegant umbrellas – they become real props in the images.
LocationsI know every covered corner at Lake Chiemsee and in the Chiemgau – rustic barns, arcades, boathouses.
TimingShort breaks in the rain are enough. We're out quickly when the weather opens a window.
Backup planThere's an indoor fallback for every location. You don't have to worry about a thing.
Jessica and Thomas, for example, married sheltered in the Trostberg town museum – the intimate, dignified indoor ceremony needed no sunshine to be beautiful. The weather doesn't make bad photos – a bad plan does.
Organisation
Stress-free group photos
Group photos have a bad reputation – too long, too chaotic, Uncle Werner can't be found. The reason is almost always the same: no list, no point of contact.
With a single trick I save 20–30 minutes at every shoot: you send your best man or maid of honour a list of all the desired group combinations in advance.
How it works: your best man and maid of honour know all the guests and call the groups up. I photograph while they coordinate. With Ines and Johann at the Alpenhof Westerbuchberg, the whole crowd was done in front of the mountain backdrop this way – no chaos, no searching, just atmospheric images.
A typical list might look like this:
- Bride and groom alone (various locations)
- Bride and groom with both families
- Bride with bridesmaids
- Groom with best men
- All guests together (once, very briefly)
