Creating Your Wedding Day Photography Timeline
Planning a Wedding Day can be a daunting task. There aren’t too many times in your life where you’ll have to plan something with such importance while simultaneously having little to no experience to do so. While many decisions will need to be made leading up to day, I put this page together with the hopes that you can start to envision your day and translate that vision into a photography timeline.
Wedding Dress
Est. 15 minutes
In terms of investments for the day, your dress is likely one of the biggest choices you'll make, and one that will get the most attention. Setting aside time to capture your dress allows us to find a beautiful location to hang it and really show it off.
Flat Lay
Est. 15 minutes
Flat lays are a nice and easy way to showcase other details of the day. They can be as simple as your rings, invitations, and bouquet, but additional pieces like shoes, ties, cufflinks, earrings, etc. can be include. These photos are a great way to start off your wedding gallery with some of the key details/accessories of the day.
Getting Ready
Est. 30-90 minutes
Getting ready can mean a lot of things to different couples. Some couples want to have these early moments captured, before dresses/suits are on: couples hanging out with their closes friends, getting hair/makeup done, playing cards, building up some liquid courage, or whatever you need to get the day going. At minimum, I like to do "Faux Getting Ready." This means for dress wearers, the last zip/button, putting on shoes/earrings/other jewelry; and for the suit wearers, putting on your tie/shoes/jacket.
Individual Portraits
Est. 20 minutes
Make sure to set aside time to get photos of each of you individually. These photos are typically taken after Getting Ready or during a Couples Session
First Looks
Est. 10-20 minutes
If you've always pictured seeing each other for the first time on Wedding Day at the alter, I won’t dissuade you from that; however, if you're on the fence, here are some benefits to having a First Look before the ceremony:
Gets the nerves out earlier in the day, in a more private setting
You have the option to do Wedding Party and Family Formals prior to the Ceremony
Since we can do group photos before Ceremony, the time between Ceremony and Reception is shortened.
There are some cons as well:
You have to push up your getting ready time to do a First Look
If you choose to do Formals before your Ceremony, your friends & family will also need to arrive earlier.
Since these moments happen earlier in the day, outside lighting may not be optimal, so finding a shady area or a nice indoor location is a must.
In addition to First Looks with each other, First Looks with wedding party or family members make for great moments.
Wedding Party
Est. 45 minutes
Wedding Party photos typically include:
Group photos of the Bride/Groom and their side of the Wedding Party
Photos of the Bride/Groom and each individual on their side of the Wedding Party
Group Photos with everyone
Optionally include flower girls, ring bearers, ushers, and personal attendants
Ceremony Details & Guest Arriving
Est. 30 minutes
I recommend taking a break from photography sessions about 30 minutes to Ceremony. This gives everyone a chance to hide and recuperate a bit. During this time, I typically capture the details of the Ceremony space and guests as they begin to arrive.
Processional
Processional is a great opportunity to photograph beautiful moments as family members, flower children, ring bearers, wedding party, and, of course, you and your loved one walk down the aisle. Bonus points if you have a pet who can walk rings down an aisle :)
Ceremony
Est. 30-60 minutes
The reason we are all here for! During Ceremony we’ll capture everything from vows, ring exchange, and your first kiss as a married couple to reactions as your family and friends witness the two of you say your "I do's"
Recessional
It's hard to beat those genuine feelings of happiness as the two of you walk back down the aisle together as a newly wedded couple.
Receiving Line
Est. 15 minutes
A receiving line a great way for your guests to congratulate you and your spouse after an emotional ceremony. With an abundance of feel good vibes following the ceremony, we have so many opportunities to get great candids of you and your guests interacting with one another.
Family Formals
Est 45 minutes
There's no better time to get some nice family portraits with everyone looking their absolute best than on your wedding day. Some things to consider when figuring out your list for family formals:
You and partner in crime will need to be there, smiling, the entire time
Someone will have to go last, and they will most likely be there with you for the duration of the session
This can be a tough one to plan for. You want nice photos of the family, but unchecked, this can easily balloon into a long list of photos that includes every family combination possible. I recommend sticking to immediate family and maybe closest extended family, if possible. More than 30 minutes of formals and people start to get antsy. If there are individual or group photos you want, but don't need them to happen in a formal session, consider waving me down during reception to grab those photos.
Newly Wed Couples Session
Est. 30 minutes
Take a moment from the chaos of the day and enjoy a bit of time with your newly minted spouse. We’ll find a few quiet and beautiful spots around the venue and capture amazing moments of the two of you.
Reception Details / Happy Hour
Est. 30 minutes
Make sure to account for some time to document the details of your reception space and to capture your guests enjoying themselves. Once dinner is served, your guests get harder to photograph. No matter how artistic you make it, photos of people eating are never a fan favorite.
Reception Entrance
Time for your grand entrance. Let's energize the crowd and get this party started!
Dinner
Est. 60 minutes
Cameras are down at this point. I will typically sneak in after the wedding party to grab a quick bite so that I’m ready for the next photography event. As soon as I wrap up, I will grab photos of the cake and other reception details that haven’t been captured yet. Toasts can overlap the tail end of dinner as guest finish their meals.
Sunset Portraits
Est. 15 minutes
If time allows, I definitely recommend getting these photos done about 45 minutes before sunset. Something about a happy newlywed couple and "golden hour" just feels absolutely right.
Toasts
Est. 15 minutes
Personally, toasts are one of my favorite parts of the day. I love hearing stories about the couple and learning more about the early interactions between families and their new kid-in-law. The reactions captured here are always great, and the more embarrassing the story, the better.
Cake Cutting
Est. 5 minutes
Classic. If you decide to do a cake cutting, consider placing your cake on a table for you and your spouse to stand behind. This makes it so we can see your faces, capture nicer photos, and your guests can see all of the fun unfold.
First Dances
Est. 5-15 minutes
As a photographer, I absolutely love capturing first dances. Such an intimate moment between the two of you, dancing as a married couple for the first time. You don't have to be an amazing dancer, just hold each other close, take in a deep breath, and revel in the moment.
Including family after your first dance is always an option. Lots of great moments here too.
Open Dance Floor
Est. 30 minutes
The music’s blasting, lights are shining, and everyone’s on the dance floor. When deciding how long you need me there, I've found that after about 30 minutes of open dance floor, it's the same people out there dancing, and if there’s open bar, the dancing gets “interesting”. Anyway, point being, let's photograph the dance floor when it's going strong and allocate time for earlier in the day to get more variety in your photo gallery.
Other Reception Activities
This is your day, so you get to make the call on what all happens at your reception. Here are some things I've seen other couples do and examples of captures you can get from those activities.
Anniversary Dance - Honestly some of my favorite photos from the day come from the anniversary dance. The way this works is the DJ will typically get all of the married couples out on to the dance floor. They will start narrowing down the couples based on how long the couples have been together (newest marriages first). At the end, you’re left with the couple who’s been married the longest. This is a great way of honoring couples who have navigated a strong, lasting marriage, and get some fun candid photos of everyone dancing.
Bouquet/Garter Toss
Dollar Dances
Family/Friends "Informals" - For the guests you wanted photos with, but didn’t want to include in the earlier formals session, now is a great time to flag me down to snap a photo.
Shoe Game
Yard Games
It's hard to go wrong in whatever you decide here. Just make sure whichever activities you end up choosing, try doing them earlier in the reception (after dinner), and keep it down to a hand full of things. After such a busy day, eventually you and your guests will just want to just hang out and enjoy each others company.
There is a lot to take in here, but hopefully you have a better idea of what you'd like to see from your day and what to expect once you get your wedding day photo gallery back.
Additional factors to consider when deciding how much time you need a photographer for:
Location of Family Formals/First Looks/Wedding Party photos. If we need to travel off-site for photos, make sure to include that in your timeline.
If you are including a lot of extended family in your Family Formals, consider extending that session to give us enough time to capture those photos.
Travel time between ceremony and reception if the two are in different locations.
Whether you're having a low-key, quick ceremony, or a large, full mass ceremony, make sure to adjust your timeline to ensure you have enough time to capture all of the other moments important to you.
If you ever need help or want to chat specifics, don't ever hesitate to reach out. The earlier you can involve me in your wedding day planning, the more successful and smoother day we'll have together!
