When to hold a pre-wedding sessionmonth by month

The usual answer is "in the afternoon". The problem is that the afternoon, in Madrid, begins at four in December and at nearly eight in June: four hours' difference for the same phrase. And within that afternoon, the warm light that makes a session look like the images you have been shown lasts far less than it seems.

What time to start, month by month

For a two-hour session ending with the sun touching the horizon, in Madrid, on the 15th of each month. Call time is the hour to meet; warm light, when the best begins; last light, when it ends completely.

Two things leap from the table. First: the call times of December and June are four hours apart, so "we meet in the afternoon" without checking the month says nothing. Second: between the start of warm light and sunset there pass between thirty-six and forty-three minutes, never more; the whole session must take shape around that window.

Session before and session after

The prior session takes place before the wedding, in everyday clothes, and serves to get used to the camera and to have images of yourselves that are not of the day: the invitation, the welcome sign, the film of the banquet. The later session takes place afterwards, in the gown, and seeks the opposite: taking it to a place you could not go on the wedding day, with no clock and no guests waiting. On seeing each other before the ceremony: the first look, what to bear in mind.

What to wear, and why clothing decides the hour

The short rule: clothes you would wear on a Sunday, in which you can walk and sit on the floor, nothing newly bought that day. White and black do not tolerate the same light: a white dress under the seven o'clock sun of a July evening burns before the skin is properly exposed, and a black suit swallows shadow. If you wear very light or very dark, the session shifts toward the end of the window; with mid tones there is an extra hour of margin. And both in the same register, without matching. A change of clothes halfway through doubles the images that look as though from different days.

Where to hold it

The place matters less than is thought; the light, more. A bare field with the low sun behind gives better images than a lovely garden at noon.

How many weeks before the wedding

There is no written rule, but it helps to fix the session with some margin: between one and three months before the wedding leaves time for the images to be used on the invitation or welcome sign, and to repeat if something goes wrong. Leaving it for the week before mixes the session with the nerves of the final preparations, which is exactly what you want to avoid.

If the day dawns cloudy or rainy

At Madrid-Retiro, according to the normal values of Spain's State Meteorological Agency (1981-2010), the months with the most rainy days are April and May (more than six a month) and October to December (also more than six); July and August, fewer than two. A session in those months needs an alternative date agreed beforehand. Under cloud there is no golden light or long shadows, but the light is soft and works well with neutral colours and close portraits; decide the same morning, without waiting until the time to set off.

Before fixing the time

• Check the sunset time for your exact date.
• Ask the photographer how much margin there is between the meeting time and the end of the light.
• Have a second place in mind, ten minutes from the first, in case the first is full.