Becoming a Mom is both exciting and frightening at the same time. You’ve spent 9+ months (in my case 41 weeks exactly) planning for this sweet little baby. Feeling it’s kicks and counting down the days until you get to to meet it’s sweet little face. But it’s also a scary time! You worry if you’ll be a good parent or if the baby will have all ten toes and fingers! With all of that going through my mind, I didn’t really think about the fact that I’d be breastfeeding and pumping as a wedding photographer! Our little bean was born in February. Thankfully during our off season! But with wedding season starting in spring, I had an entirely new fear! How would I pump and continue to nurse my baby while working weddings? I nursed Addie when she was a baby but that was before a busy calendar of weddings! Just in case you are in the same place that I was (still am) and need some tips on how to make pumping work while working, here’s what I’ve used and learned so far!
What to pack
Definitely get a good breast pump. I use the Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump and it has been amazing! Thankfully it was covered by our health insurance, so check that out if you can! Make sure that you have all of the tubing and flanges packed. I also pack the wall adapter just in case I can pump inside somewhere.
PumpEase hands free pumping bra in the prettiest print that I could find! I tend to use stuff more if I think it’s pretty!
Nursing Cover – Any cover will work, but I like the Bebe Au Lait brand covers for pumping.
Battery pack for breast pump – Just in case you end up somewhere without a socket.
Lanolin – The Medela one is great and I also like the Boob-Ease one!
Pump wipes – I just give everything a quick wipe down with a wipe and wash once I’m home.
Kiinde twist pouches – One of our past brides and friends introduced me to Kiinde before Kee was born. I love using their twist pouches while I’m out because they can attach directly to my pump with a small adapter. Once I’m done pumping, I can just pop the little blue top back on and store it away with the ice pack inside my bag.
Ice Pack(s) – One is usually all I need to keep my milk cool!
Sarah Wells pump bag with Pumparoo – You will need a place to carry it all! Medela makes a tote that will hold everything, but I wanted something a little prettier! I came across the Sarah Wells bags while searching on Google and love how spacious the bags are! It has room for everything and can be used as a diaper bag too! I love the Pumparoo for storing my pump parts in between sessions. And the little flap on the Pumparoo is perfect for placing pump parts on when you don’t have a clean surface.
When to pump
Finding a good time to pump is the hard part. What I’ve found helpful is to look at the wedding day timeline in advance and plan accordingly. I don’t typically have a lot of downtime on a wedding day, but if possible, I find a small time just before the ceremony to pump and then again during dinner time. Sometimes I can skip the pre ceremony pump depending on how long I’ve been working and wait until dinner. Normally, I will feed Kee right before we leave and if the drive isn’t far, I’ll wait and pump just before the ceremony. Then either dinner time or once dancing starts. It really depends on the day as every wedding is different! Definitely plan ahead of time based on the schedule. Also having an amazing second shooter to cover you while you’re away is priceless!
Where to pump
This one is going to be entirely up to you and will probably depend on your venue! So far I’ve pumped in our car, in the bridal suite of a beautiful rustic house and in the board room of a hotel! It’ll be fun to see how this list develops over the next year or so!
Tips
Dress slacks and shirts – I really like wearing dresses to weddings, but blouses and pants are a little more nursing friendly! Unless you can find a great wrap dress, shirt dress or nursing dress!
Relax – Relaxing helps while pumping. Sometimes I’ll even look at photos or videos of my baby while pumping
I’d love to hear what you’ve found helpful while pumping on the go! Leave advice and tips below!
I’m scared to try and pump for next wedding season and wondered how other moms do it! Our weddings are crazy and sometimes I don’t have the chance to use the restroom for eight+ hours…Do you disclose to your clients that you’ll need time to pump or just sneak away and do it? All of this seems intense. I honestly have no idea how I did 2-3 camera videography while pregnant with our first, ha! But add in pumping and I’m not sure if I will make it. Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Samantha! Congratulations to you and your family! I totally know what you mean! I felt the same way prior to that wedding season! I barely have time to use the restroom during the day, how in the world was I going to be able to pump! Thankfully, our couples were super understanding when I shared that I would need to sneak away sometime throughout the day! On most days, I’d pump in the car on the way to the wedding, then during dinner time and then again on the way home! I found that every 3-4 hours worked pretty well! I would pump anywhere that I could during dinner time. If there was an unused conference room or bridal suite/groom suite, I’d go there. If there wasn’t anywhere inside, I’d go out to my car and use my car adapter plugin. I think I did a bathroom once or twice when that was the only option! Try not to stress it too much! It ended up being a lot less stressful than I initially thought it would be! Good luck!