💫 You only get one wedding day—and it goes by fast. You might feel torn between spending time with loved ones—maybe gathered for the only time ever— and getting the incredible photos you’ve dreamed of at a dream location with your dream photographer. You might also want images that are really creative and really authentic to the two of you.
Here’s the good news: with an After Session, you don’t have to choose—you get to have it all!
How to Have it All
You can stay fully present on your wedding day, celebrating, laughing, and soaking it all in. Then later, you can head to that meaningful spot for portraits or work with your dream photographer whose art you truly love, even if they’re unavailable or out of budget for the wedding day. Your dream photographer can meet you on location during your honeymoon, or literally any place you want to be.
An After Session gives you the gift of slowing down. No rush. No pressure. Any location. Any time. Just the two of you, in your wedding attire—fully present, creating romantic portraits that tell your story and feel like you.
What is an After Session?
An After Session is a romantic, intentional photography session on a weekday after your wedding. They’re designed to give you more time, creativity, and flexibility than a wedding day typically allows. It’s a more affordable alternative to full-day wedding coverage and gives you space to create breathtaking portraits together, without the rush.
Believe it or not, After Sessions aren’t new! It’s likely your grandma and great-grandma did these. Couples celebrated fully with their guests, then visited the photographer’s studio on a weekday for portraits — it was the norm.
Today, couples expect hundreds of photos, not just a few. Trying to fit everything into one day can limit time with loved ones who may only gather once in a lifetime. By moving your romantic portraits to an After Session, you can be fully present on your wedding day while saving the creative, one-on-one portraits for later at any location you love.
And that’s only the beginning… here are more reasons couples choose an After Session:
-
Emily and Ben’s favorite season is fall, but their wedding venue was booked then, and they ended up getting married on the hottest day of the year! During their After Session, we focused on their love of outdoor adventure and hiking, and found the most incredible place with waterfalls. Not to mention, we were able to schedule it for October—their favorite season! Why schedule an After Session?
1. Availability:
I receive hundreds of wedding inquiries each year, but I have only a limited number of weekends available. If you are a couple that loves my work and the unique, high-quality images I provide, but I am not available for your wedding date, scheduling an After Session is an option.
2. Location:
While wedding day photos are typically held at your wedding venue, you can choose to have your After Session at your venue or choose any location. Wedding day photos might be challenging to get at a destination like Times Square, breathtaking mountains, a picturesque winery, a stunning resort (even one that was outside of your budget or too far a distance for all of your guests to travel), or the place where you first met… the possibilities are endless.
3. Family/Friends:
If your romantic portraits are taken on a different day at a different time, this can free up your wedding day to focus more on spending time with the people who are so seldom gathered together.
Syd and Kyle spent time in Winterthur’s kissing tower on their wedding day, but it wasn’t during twilight. During their After Session, they could get the “magical” twilight photos and really take in everything around them. 
The close-up, more traditional portraits are typically taken on the wedding day, but these After Session pictures are more about their story and the unbelievable locations you are able to experience together! Bethany and Jordan’s After Session
Bethany and Jordan chose to do an After Session for this reason: “We really wanted to do something creative in a creative space. It was important to us to take photos after the wedding, so we didn’t have to worry about other things that day. The photography was very important to us, and we wanted to make sure that we gave it the time and energy that was necessary to really allow Lisa to express the full extent of her vision.”
Bethany and Jordan’s wedding day was extremely hot. We weren’t able to be out during golden hour because of the logistics on their wedding day. Their After Session allowed us to go anywhere, so they chose their favorite concert venue! It gave us so much time to get creative, like using a slower shutter speed, or climbing a staircase so I could be directly above them. Their After Session was the day after their wedding. So, they had time to sleep, take it all in, and refresh their hair and makeup. Plus, they already had their close-ups taken by me on their wedding day. Jordan surprised Bethany! He brought a microphone along, climbed up on stage, and serenaded her. It was such a special, personal touch and not something they could have easily done on their wedding day. More reasons to book an After Session
4. Timing:
Wedding days are tightly scheduled. It is very rare for me to have two hours to work alone with a couple on their wedding day, especially during ideal lighting. The After Session allows us to get more comfortable in front of the camera, spend more time finding the most flattering angles, and focus on just the two of you.
5. Flexibility:
A wedding day is going to happen, rain, shine, or snow. An After Session can be rescheduled if need be. The time of day can impact the look of the photos. Maybe you want soft golden lighting in your photos, but the ceremony is scheduled after sunset– the After Session might be a good option.
6. Pets & Props:
Pets and props are so much easier to include during an After Session! Instead of coordinating with a dog-sitter to bring your pup to the venue at just the right time—or re-pinning that special hairpiece for just a few photos—you can relax and do it all at your own pace. Your pup will appreciate this, too!
Kyle & Syd chose to spend their wedding day primarily with their guests, taking plenty of downtime. They went back to their wedding venue for their After Session and enjoyed having it all to themselves. They also brought their dog, Hamlet, and these crowns that they didn’t want to use the day of. 7. Affordability:
On average, After Session couples invest significantly less than my full-day wedding clients on photography and purchase a similar amount of photography products (albums, prints, etc.). This is possible because an After Session is not full-weekend coverage.
8. Creativity:
As your photographer, I have more time to be truly creative and get really unique images. On the wedding day, there is so much going on that devoting a few hours to photos just isn’t possible, or something most people would want to do. However, clients love my very creative images, and this is something I can do during an After Session.
Hannah and Andrew loved the idea of twilight photos as well, and allowed me to get super creative and capture moving fireflies during their After Session. It was something I was told couldn’t be done, but I was able to pull it off with a very slow shutter and very active fireflies. Again, this would not be possible at their Washington DC wedding! 9. Wedding Day Attire:
Your wedding day is over, you are not planning to wear your wedding gown again, so you can get a little more gutsy with locations, poses, etc. Grass stains? Waterfalls? Rooftops? No problem.
Some couples really get playful, like Emily and Ben at Watkins Glen. Emily shares, “Lisa is all about catching those intimate moments and the scenery, too. Each picture has so much life in it. I love the sense of adventure and the different angles that she is able to find!”
Emily & Ben’s After Session:
Emily and Ben are huge hikers and love exploring breathtaking locations across the United States. I shared Watkins Glen as a location idea because I had been there on my summer vacation. Emily, who was married on one of the hottest days of the year, jumped on this idea for her After Session. It was magical, like we were stepping into a fairytale. They got to have all the autumn foliage they wanted, despite their venue being booked for autumn and having their wedding in June. 
Emily’s dress was stunning and looked gorgeous against the dark stone steps. It really looks like they could have been in Ireland! Speaking of which, I totally can pop by for a few hours on your honeymoon, no matter where it is! I’d love to talk to you more about that! We could get really creative with concepts and props. They had a compass, and I thought this was so fun: true north! I was able to be creative and capture angles, like this one above the two of them… … or this one underneath a waterfall! Without the fear of messing up my camera before or after the wedding ceremony. Plus, who can afford a wedding venue with waterfalls like this?! Not many people! Kailer & Jayleen’s After Session Experience
Kailer shares, “I had suggested doing an After Session because I wanted to make sure we had special moments captured in nature. Nature is an important backdrop to our entire relationship, and we wanted to showcase that.”
Jayleen adds, “I was excited to have this intimate time out in the woods with my love, but also, I was super excited to wear our wedding attire again! I mean, c’mon, these aren’t clothes we will get to wear just anywhere. As soon as I put that dress back on, I was transported back to our absolutely love-filled wedding day.”
Kailer says, “I would 100% recommend an After Session. It takes the pressure off the wedding day to get all the pictures in.”
Jayleen agrees, “The wedding day is a whirlwind to begin with, so it’s nice to have more of the special, intimate moments with your love. I would tell folks that if it’s possible, definitely go for it! I would also say that it offers an opportunity to highlight another element of your love story. As we shared, there’s something about the trees in autumn that is essential to understanding our connection.”
Kailer and Jayleen shared how their wedding attire transported them back to their wedding day, and how getting to be there in autumn really brought out a significant part of their relationship. In summary
There are so many reasons couples choose an After Session—from scheduling and budget flexibility to simply wanting more time to be fully present on their wedding day. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: you get the best of both worlds. A joyful wedding day surrounded by the people you love and the breathtaking portraits you’ve always imagined.
We have so much more time and less rush that we can try really fun ideas! Here, I used a radio transmitter to trigger a flash inside the turrit. It created a reflection in the glass and illuminated all of the raindrops, making them look surreal, like a night sky! HUNGRY FOR MORE?
- More After Sessions
- Bethany & Jordan’s Concert Venue After Session
- Emily & Ben’s Waterfall After Session
- Kailer & Jayleen’s Fall After Session
CONTACT ME!
Are you or someone you know looking for a photographer for their dream After Session in an even dreamier location? I’m your girl! Contact me here, I’d love to hear all about it!
