Long Island Wedding Reception Photos
Bride and groom cutting the cake at their Long Island wedding reception. © Dan Wagner 2023
For your Long Island wedding cocktail hour and reception photos, I begin shooting after your ceremony. This gives me time to photograph the wedding guests enjoying your cocktail hour, detail shots of the food and decorations, and photos of you and your spouse partying. Hopefully, we’ve already taken the bridal party, family, and couple’s photos. If not, then we’ll most likely take these shots during the cocktail hour.
Trying to squeeze these shots into a short timespan isn’t easy. The reasons for this are numerous. Some people will go AWOL after the ceremony, others will be in a rush to join the cocktail hour, and the maitre d, DJ and others will want your attention. That’s why I recommend having a gap of one or more hours between the ceremony and the cocktail hour. Unfortunately, this is only doable if your ceremony isn’t at the same location as your cocktail hour and reception.
However, if we’ve already taken the bridal party, family, and couple’s photos, then I will be busy taking shots of your reception ballroom. My goal is to take detail shots of your seating cards, menu, centerpieces, table settings, and the empty ballroom after the waitstaff finishes setting it up. Time permitting, it’s nice to get a shot of you and your spouse in the ballroom before the wedding guests enter.
Bride and groom in the Fox Hollow Reception Somerley Ballroom.. © Dan Wagner 2023
Most people don’t realize how busy the wedding photographer is during the cocktail hour. If the photographer is lucky, they have five minutes to grab a quick bite. The rest of the photographer’s time is spent taking photos of the cocktail hour, stowing their photo gear near the DJ booth or other secure spot, taking ballroom photos, and conferring with the maitre d and DJ. Once all this is done, my job is to photograph your wedding guests as they enter, and get into position for shooting the entrances.
Knowing where to be and when is the result of having photographed hundreds of wedding cocktail hours and receptions. That’s why I don’t require a detailed shot list. That said, you’re always welcome to let me know if you have any requests. Throughout your wedding day, I’m always on the lookout for photo opportunities that will have you saying, “I’m so glad Dan got that shot.”
Whether it’s candid, ceremony, cocktail hour, or reception photos—people often compliment me by saying they didn’t remember my taking certain photos. I believe that being as unobtrusive as possible, and asserting oneself only as needed, is the mark of a good wedding photographer. After all, it’s your wedding, not a photo shoot!
Long Island wedding reception table setting photo. © Dan Wagner 2023
10 Long Island Wedding Cocktail Hour and Reception Photo Tips
If pressed for time, consider taking all the bridal party, family, and couple’s photos before the ceremony. I know many couples want to see each other for the first time at the start of the wedding ceremony. In which case, owing to a lack of time, some compromises will need to be made.
Sometimes it’s possible for the photographer to grab some shots of the cocktail hour location before the guests arrive. This usually happens when champagne or other drinks are served before the wedding guests enter the cocktail hour room.
Let your photographer know if you want table shots of the wedding guests. These days, most wedding photographers only photograph the head tables. Ballrooms with tables approaching maximum capacity can make it difficult to shoot table shots. The reason for this, is that there might not be enough room for half the people at the table to stand behind the people who are seated.
Remember that while tall centerpieces look spectacular, they can make it harder for people seated across from each other to converse, and are often to heavy to remove for table photos.
Consider uplighting for the reception. Many DJs are happy to provide this service. Uplighting looks great in photos, and can make your reception ballroom feel more intimate and clubby.
For the first dance, toasts, cake cutting, and other wedding reception highlights, it’s always nice to get reaction shots. After the toasts, I always try to get photos of the people who made toasts with the bride and groom.
If your wedding isn’t too large, you can consider asking your DJ to call everyone to the dance floor for a group photo.
Great maitre d’s always consult the photographer before positioning the cake cutting table. As a photographer I try to pick a spot that’s easy for everyone to see, has space for wedding guests who want to come close for cellphone shots, and that provide me good photo angles.
Some photographers use a ladder during the reception to get higher angle dance photos. Others stand on a chair or hold their cameras as high as they can. Personally, I prefer holding my camera above my head. This allows me to be move around. If there’s no other option, I wear slip-in shoes so I can quickly remove them when standing on a chair. What I don’t like about ladders, is that people often bump into them. Safety never “hurts.”
Not really a reception photo tip—but at every wedding where guests decide to drink and dance, it always results in spilled drinks and broken glass. Deciding how of if you want to ask people to refrain from doing this is up to you.
Long Island wedding reception table seating number. © Dan Wagner 2023
Long Island Wedding Venues
As a Long Island wedding photographer, many of my favorite wedding reception venues are located near my Huntington office. I frequently photograph weddings at the Harborclub at Prime, Crest Hollow Country Club, Centerport Yacht Club, Chateau at Coindre Hall, Crescent Beach Club, de Seversky Mansion, Fox Hollow, Larkfield Manor, Mansion at Oyster Bay, Milleridge Inn, Mutton Town Club, Pavilion at Sunken Meadow, Seawanhaka Yacht Club, The Metropolitan, Three Village Inn, Water’s Edge, Watermill Caterers, Westbury Manor, Willow Creek, and other venues located further away such as in the Hamptons.
I believe every bride and groom deserve beautiful wedding photos, friendly service, and reasonable prices. To make sure your wedding photos will be beautiful, I’ve spent years honing my craft. Photographing every wedding myself means you know what to expect. Every Long Island wedding photo you see on this website was shot by me.—Dan Wagner
Please view my Long Island Wedding Getting Ready Photos article, Long Island Wedding Ceremony Photos article, wedding photography testimonials, packages, and wedding photography shot list article.
Stay tuned for more Long Island wedding photography blog articles!
“Dan Wagner came highly recommended by a very good friend who is also in the photography business. To be recommended by a competitor, I think, is one of the greatest compliments…and Dan most certainly lived up to his reputation. Dan’s work and professionalism are exquisite! Our wedding pictures are beautiful, romantic, creative, tasteful, spontaneous, some traditional & some modern. The wedding party had so much fun during the photo shoot in the gardens, that they didn’t even mind the cold, windy weather! We are extremely happy with our wedding pictures and video—they are wonderful lifetime memories.”
—Elaina and Scott
Every Bride and Groom Deserve Beautiful Wedding Photos!
Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences about Long Island wedding cocktail hour and reception photos in the comment box below. Have a wonderful wedding, and many thanks for visiting my Long Island wedding photographer blog!