Tips for a Breastfeeding Wedding Photographer

TIPS FOR A BREASTFEEDING WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

So, today’s post is a little bit different from my normal wedding “tips” post – this one is geared toward wedding photographers! Even more specifically: toward wedding photographers who might be facing their first wedding season with a nursing lil babe!
But, this could also be for a bride who has hired a photographer who will have a nursing babe for your wedding: this post would also serve the purpose of easing any anxiety you might have as far as your photographer’s ability to capture your day!

2015 was a big year for me: I had my first baby in January and 7 weeks + 6 days later, I second-shot my first wedding of the year. 15 weddings later, my wedding season came to an end in October! It was a crazy year: I drove over 7,000 miles for my business alone – that’s A LOT!!

Being able to breastfeed my baby was my number one priority when I had Braelynn. I passionately believe in breastfeeding!! I had a long list of things I really wanted with her birth, but breastfeeding was at the top of my list. We struggled. And it was super hard (maybe I’ll write more on that story sometime – would you be interested in reading that? let me know!) But we learned and progressed and after about 6 weeks of tears and stress and 3 different lactation consultants – we figured it out! Without my steely determination to breastfeed, I’m sure I would have given up, but that’s another story for another day.

So, we finally figured it out and suddenly, I had to leave for 10 hours to shoot a wedding.

I got a pump through our insurance – which was super helpful (those things are expensive!) I would definitely start by seeing if your insurance will provide you with one! From what I have heard, most insurances will give breastfeeding Mamas who are going back to work a pump! Learning how to use it & how to manage my time in order to use it on a wedding day was very challenging. That being said, by the time my 15th wedding rolled around, I felt like a pumping-pro!

If you have a passion for breastfeeding too, but just aren’t sure how to make it work on a wedding day, let me share some tips on how I made it work!

Plan for it!

I plan timelines for each of my wedding days with my brides & grooms so we make sure we are all on the same page. On the back-end though, I also planned a timeline for myself, to make sure I could get in the pumping breaks that I would need. It put me at ease, knowing I had planned my day out and had the time I needed to pump.

Have a Second-Shooter!

Having a second-shooter there to act as a “presence” at the wedding while you are away pumping is a must! I always planned out my time to get away & pump while there was “downtime” in the wedding day (see the next point), but having someone there to cover any little moments that might occur definitely helped to put me at ease!
*side-note for full-disclosure: I did break this “rule” several times last year, as I shot a few weddings by myself. They were all short days that I only needed to get away to pump once in and I always planned out my day meticulously so I could slide away for 10-15 minutes and not miss anything!

When to Pump:

I always planned to pump in the moments of “downtime” on a wedding day. There are no moments of “downtime” you ask? Well, I challenge you to find them! I probably would have agreed with you in 2014, but when I actually had to figure out how to make pumping + shooting a wedding work, those little bubbles of time simply appeared!
My favorite “bubbles” of time were:
1. between the getting ready photos & the ceremony – When the guests are arriving and the bride is hidden away, typically there is some time there that I could sneak away before the ceremony actually began.
2. driving in the car – This was my favorite time to pump as it didn’t require me to be away from the wedding at all! A lot of weddings require at least some driving: from the bride’s house to the church, from the church to the portrait location, from the portrait location to the reception – and those spots of driving were perfect times to pump in! I would have my second-shooter drive and I’d pump away!
3. during dinner – When everyone is eating, walking around and taking photos is awkward, so slipping away to pump during dinner was ideal. The challenge I faced was also fitting creating my same-day-slideshow into that time-slot as well, but somehow I made it work at every single wedding!

Where to Pump:

Finding a spot to sneak away & pump was challenging. I wasn’t familiar with all of the venues I was going to, so sometimes I had to find a spot on the fly.
1. in my car – Trust me, it isn’t glamorous at all, but it works. When I would arrive on wedding days where I knew I’d probably have to pump in the car, I would always do my best to park at the end of the parking lot, away from where guests might be! Just make sure you bring a nursing cover! You never know when someone might be walking by! (see my list of things to bring)
2. in the manager’s office – if you are super bold, or if you have a good relationship with the manager or coordinator of the venue, you might ask if you could utilize their office to pump! The pros of this location is that you are indoors, in a private location, and you are close to the wedding (sometimes my car ends up being parked a mile away!) The cons of this location is that you actually have to approach the manager or coordinator and explain the situation, understanding that they could say no. I ran into one situation last year where I had no choice but to ask for a private area with a plug (I didn’t have a battery pack for my pump. I was planning on plugging it into the cigarette lighter in the car, and it simply wouldn’t work for me! I think I over did the plug) Thankfully, the manager was a woman who completely understood and let me have full access to her office!
3. while driving – Again: not glamorous! But, you aren’t looking to win any awards for style! You simply need time to get it done so you can get back to work! This was my favorite time & place to pump as it was completely free time & I knew I wasn’t missing anything at all!

What to Bring:

I have a check-list of things that I bring on a wedding day – it includes my camera, my lenses, a tripod, my reflector, as well as a bunch of other things! For 2015, I added a specific “pumping” section to my list so I would be sure to never forget anything!!
My list looked something like this:
-Red backpack (I carried all of my pumping gear in a large backpack! Easy to carry & it held everything in one place!)
-Pump
-Battery pack (Trust me, buy a battery pack for your pump! It will enable you to pump anywhere)
-Fully charged batteries + fully charged backup batteries
-Cups, tubing, and bottles (I had 2 sets and I always brought them all)
-Small soft-sided cooler with ice packs (I needed to save the milk I pumped for Braelynn for the next time I would be away from her! Some ladies will simply dump what they pump if they have a large supply of frozen milk at home. For me: it was always too precious to me to dump!)
-Freezer bags (To store my pumped milk – these saved space in my little cooler instead of keeping the milk in bottles!)
-Quick-Clean Wipes (I bought these for quick cleanup! I always washed everything thoroughly after I got home, but in the meantime these were fabulous!)
-Extra nursing pads
-Nursing cover

Roll with the Day!

No matter how I planned things out, there were a few wedding days that I wouldn’t be able to pump as often as I wanted. At the beginning of my season, I was still nursing Braelynn every 2 hours at home, so ideally, I needed to pump every 2 hours. On a wedding day though, that simply might not work! I knew, that I would be okay to stretch it to 3 hours and I would still be okay. At one wedding though, I completely missed my window to pump & ended up going 5 hours! I was really sweating it out that my milk supply would be okay and it completely was. Just know, that it isn’t like you are making a habit of missing a “feeding” and stretching the time or missing a pumping session will not kill your supply! Roll with the wedding day, keep smiling, and you’ll be fine!

To Tell the Bride or Not Tell the Bride..

My dilemma was this: do I tell my brides and grooms that I’ll be sneaking away for a break to pump on their wedding day? Or, do I just do it and not tell anyone? For the first few weddings that I shot: I sent each bride an email, explaining in detail that I would be taking 1-3 breaks during their wedding day (depending on the hours I was contracted for) to slip away and pump for my baby. But reassuring them that I had a second-shooter who would be there to cover me while I was gone and that there would be no lapse in coverage. I did that for the first two or three weddings, and then I had a bride respond: “Thanks so much for letting me know – but you really didn’t have to tell me! It’s like taking a bathroom break & grabbing a bite of dinner! I expect you to sit down at some point! It’s no problem at all!” From there on out, I simply didn’t tell anyone! Like I said, I never stepped away at a key point in a wedding, and I knew when I would have a bubble of time to sneak away, so I just did it and no one was ever the wiser! So, that’s your call, do what makes you feel comfortable!!

WHEW! That’s a lot of information – but if it helps just one photographer who is concerned about making breastfeeding work on wedding days – it’s totally worth it! Trust me: you can do it!! And it’s so worth it in the long run! When you get home from your wedding, snuggle your lil baby & let them nurse as often as they would like! And just know: it won’t last forever! With every wedding day, it will get easier and before you know it, your baby won’t be needing to nurse as often, so embrace it and enjoy it!