Advice for planning your perfect wedding timeline
How beautiful are these icons? i loved building this template with artistic visuals created by MagnoliaPapersandCo. If you are interested in creating a gorgeous visual timeline for your wedding, check them out at magnoliapapers.com or on instagram @magnolia_papers.
Planning your perfect wedding timeline can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! This post will cover most of your questions about how to create the perfect wedding day flow. So take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy!
The Importance of Planning
For many of our clients, capturing the memories of their big day is one of their main priorities so we are often asked for input when planning wedding timelines. We are absolutely thrilled to do this! While we can certainly be flexible and capture great shots when clients already have their timeline, we love to be involved in the general planning in order to deliver breathtaking images. We can give realistic estimates for each part of the day without making it lag or feel rushed.
We always emphasize to clients that, in our eyes, it is most important that you enjoy your day because that is what it is; your day! A well-planned timeline will make the day flow smoothly so celebrating the love between you and your partner is the only thing on your mind.
How much time should you allow for each wedding activity?
Every wedding is different and highly dependent on the priorities of the couple however, there are certainly commonalities between them when it comes to timelines. This blog is intended for those relaxed, somewhat informal weddings. If you have a wedding planner, great! We totally encourage couples to listen to their wedding planners if they have them, as they can be an invaluable asset in making sure that day runs perfectly. That being said, many of our clients don’t have wedding planners, and we didn’t have one for our own wedding (which was a perfect fairytale wedding if you ask us! :)) You may or may not have each of these activities during your wedding, which is totally cool- consider only the activities that apply in your own personal timeline. This is just a general guideline for planning your special day from our photographic point-of-view. Something to keep in mind: we encourage our clients to build in a few minutes of “buffer time” between some of the activities, especially if guests are relocating during the transition. Use your best judgment to determine if “buffer time” is needed and if you have any questions, just ask!
THE DETAILS
Even the simplest wedding will have at least a few items that hold emotional significance and should be captured. This adds sentimentality to your wedding album and helps to tell the aesthetic of your story.
The most common details are the wedding bouquet, pocket-square & tie, bridal jewelry and engagement ring, wedding rings, wedding invitation, shoes, the dress, and any family heirlooms that are part of the day. Any objects that you would like styled and photographed are ‘details’.
Time allotted: 30 minutes+, depending on the amount of items you’d like photographed and what styling is required.
GETTING READY
You may or may not have professional hair and makeup. You may have several girls in your bridal party or you may just have one maid of honor. Either way, this is what we suggest:
We will capture the finishing touches: the groom tying his tie and having a drink or a laugh with his groomsmen to calm his nerves, the bride with her finishing touches of hair and makeup and the maid of honor or mother buttoning the bride’s dress, and smiles and breathtaking tearful moments just gazing at her in all her beauty. Lots of emotion, hugs, and love for the couple as they prepare for their big day. We like to allow for enough time to moments like this to happen.
Time allotted: 1 hour for the bride and 30 minutes for the Groom (Keep in mind that this can vary and you will need to build in extra travel time if the bride and groom are in locations that are not in close proximity to one another.)
BRIDE AND GROOM INDIVIDUAL PORTRAITS
Depending upon where the couple is getting ready and the proximity between them, we like to go back and forth to capture shots of them getting ready and then get a few beautiful portraits of each of them on their own. These moments leading up to the “first look” are full of emotion that make for incredible visual memories. This makes for some very sweet photos.
Time allotted: 30 minutes. (We often grab these shots of the groom directly after he finishes getting ready and the remainder of the time is spent on the bridal portraits. But again, this is totally up to the individual couple.)
FIRST LOOK
This is the moment when each partner sees each other for the first time. Having your first look prior to the ceremony allows couples to have a quiet intimate moment in private without the pressure of being seen by all of the wedding guests.
For a ‘traditional’ first look: The groom will be positioned facing away from where the bride will enter. The photographer will tell him where to stand and give instructions. The bride will approach the groom and tap his shoulder or tell him to turn around once she is in place. We will be positioned to capture the look on the groom’s face as he sees his bride for the first time. This is and exciting, emotional, and beautiful moment. Your first look can be different- some couples stand back-to-back or any other variation, but the effect is the same- to allow for an organically intimate reaction. From that moment, we will capture candid photos of the couple as well as some loosely posed portraits if time allows. For some couples, this may be the main couples portrait session as it might be the only time together without interruptions.
Time allotted: A first look followed by a couples photo session ideally should be at least 30 minutes.
PRE-CEREMONY
This is often when your guests will find their places. If we have this time built in, we can capture the details of the ceremony set up as well as a few shots of the guests’ arrival.
Time allotted: 15 minutes
CEREMONY
Most intimate wedding ceremonies we have photographed usually run about 20 minutes. This is one for you to discuss with your officiant. Religious and cultural ceremonies can take much longer so this time can vary greatly, but typical intimate ceremonies last just about 20 minutes. It is a good idea if your ceremony will be particularly short or particularly long so they can plan their shots accordingly. It is important to understand lighting for your ceremony as well. While we all love the idea of a sunset ceremony, realistically we recommend that our couples plan to have their ceremony finish at least an hour before sunset. This will give beautiful directional light without the risk of being too dark if it’s cloudy or if the ceremony doesn’t start exactly on time (it almost never does). This will also allow some time for beautiful couples portraits as well as any portraits with your bridal party and groomsmen in addition to family photos afterward during that golden hour.
Time allotted: 30 minutes allows for a late-running and/or a ceremony that runs a bit long. We would also advise having a few minutes of buffer time built in just before the ceremony as this it when things start to drift from the timeline.
POST-CEREMONY
Your guests will want to hug, congratulate you, laugh and cry with you! These moments are perfect for photos. This is another “buffer time” you might want to build into your timeline.
Time allotted: 5-10 minutes is long enough for everyone to have a moment of celebration with you.
Group Photos
Family photos don’t have to take long, but a plan is essential. This is a part of the day that can trip you up if you don’t know what to expect. We generally encourage the couple to limit family photos to no more than 10 different combinations of family members. Each combination takes about 3 minutes to capture (to ensure than we have at least one shot without someone blinking, being distracted, or looking in the wrong direction.) We ask for a list of all the groupings you’d like in advance and we start with the largest group first, and to “release” people until we work down to the smallest group. It helps to appoint a “shepherd” to steer various family members in the right direction!
Time allotted: Allow 3 minutes per each desired grouping, and try to limit the groupings to no more than 10 different combinations. Allow 30 minutes for family photos.
COUPLE & WEDDING PARTY PORTRAITS
At this point, we will capture images of you as a married couple. We typically capture many candid shots of you together as well as some portraits of you that are a bit more planned. We hesitate to say this is a time for “posed” photos as it would be more accurate for us to say that we will place you in a beautiful setting and give you some cues or guidance to interact with each other so that we can capture authentic emotions in gorgeous space and light. These photos will be as intimate and sweet, or playful, or adventurous, or peaceful and sentimental as you feel.
How many locations you would like for these portraits will depend on your venue, the surrounding area, and how much time is allotted. One location works as we will often find interesting “pockets” or places within that space incorporate a variety of elements and light for a wide range of photos. Most importantly, we are shooting to convey the authentic emotion from the moment and the chemistry between you as a couple. Having a bit of time allows you to feel comfortable and allows us to capture the real you. Not to mention, this usually happens to be approaching or beginning the golden hour; that time of the day when the sun starts to cast stunning directional but diffused (flattering) light on you and the setting. The golden hour illuminates the entire scene in magical warm tones and romantically soft light.
Time allotted: We encourage our couples to allot a minimum of 45 minutes for portraits but we prefer an hour. Please bear in mind that if you would like to shoot in a different location than your venue, you will have to plan travel into the timeline. Also, remember that when you are navigating around your venue for portraits, your attire can make your travel time a bit slower (ie: our brides with large dresses, long trains, high heels, etc. will take a bit longer to walk around the area than when you are just checking out the venue in your jeans).
COCKTAIL HOUR
We say “cocktail hour” but we really mean “cocktail half-hour” as your guests will have been mingling and enjoying cocktails while you were taking couples’ portraits. During this time, you will join your guests and begin to mingle, receive congratulations, and enjoy the beginning of your celebration while we take candid shots of you in the company of your friends and family.
Time allotted: 20-30 minutes.
RECEPTION SPEECHES & DINNER
We will definitely be capturing photos during speeches at your reception. Speeches almost always create opportunities for a wide range of emotions from you and your friends and family. Whether it’s tear-filled words of love or heads thrown back with laughter, speeches are usually something that couples love reliving through their photos. Depending on your preference, you may or may not want lots of photography while folks are eating. We usually take shots for the speeches and the beginning of the dinner but then leave you all to enjoy the meal. Some “foodie” couples tell us that the dinner is a huge part of their celebration so we make sure to get plenty of shots of them and their guests as they dine.
Time allotted: Again, this depends on the couple’s priorities. For a reception with a ten different guests giving speeches or a five course meal, couples will want to build in extra time. But for the average buffet style or less complex dinner, 45 minutes to an hour should cover a few speeches and plenty of dining photos.
DANCES
The first dance as a married couple is something that you will definitely want to relive through your wedding album. Some couples also plan father-daughter, mother-son, or any other combination of significant relationships for dances. These all make great images of sentimental moments.
Time allotted: 10-20 minutes depending on the specific dances planned.
CAKE CUTTING
Cutting the cake is usually a quick activity but still one that you will want to be captured.
Time allotted: 10 minutes
BOUQUET TOSS
The bouquet toss is over as quickly as it begins, the majority of the time for this is spent wrangling up the gaggle of girls to catch the toss.
Time allotted: 10 minutes
DANCING
Each reception is different but most photography of the dancing can be captured in an hour or less. The main reason that you might want to have the photography coverage continue is if you are planning for a grand exit.
Time allotted: 1 hour
GRAND EXIT/ SEND OFF
Some couples like to make an activity out of their exit by having their guests participate in a “send off” with things like sparklers or bubble guns. Some couples elect not to have an exit at all. It’s totally a matter of preference.
Time allotted: 10 minutes
EXTRA TIME
Any extra time is a bonus! The wedding day is so full of activity, there is rarely extra time but if there is, it will allow us to get a little extra creative for photos! We can incorporate string lights, props, prisms, another location and more poses – all the stuff that we love because they make epic photos but there is rarely the opportunity because of the inherent pace of such a busy day.
