Weddings can be crazy and stressful to plan and I want to help you relieve any stress that I can. It’s worth noting that a wedding timeline is more of a tentative guideline than something a wedding must live and breathe by. Its extremely rare that a wedding stay perfectly on time and everything starts and ends when its supposed to. As long as we start the ceremony and end on time, everything else will perfectly fall into place! Having been to my fare share of wedding I have written down my ideal wedding timeline for you to review and think about so you can create the perfect timeline for your special day.
Getting Ready
As usual the gals will take a bit longer then the gentlemen to get ready for the big day. My ideal plan is to arrive and start photographing the girls getting ready when the bride is about 60% of the way ready. I promise you wont love any of the pictures we take before your makeup is at least mostly done. The gentlemen usually are quick when getting ready, practice tying your ties before your wedding day (you can thank me for that later.) While getting ready I like to snap all the detail shots I will need. Directly following when you are ready its ideal that we take photographs of the groom and groomsmen and then the bride with her bridesmaids.
The Details (time allotment 15-20 minutes)
I promise I wont forget all your important details that went into putting together your big day. Please let me know of anything special and out of the ordinary you would like photographed. I have your dress, rings, bouquet, shoes, center pieces, and cake pegged for pictures. Please bring a few copies of your invitations to be photographed as well.
Individual Portraits (time allotment 30 minutes)
Your makeup will be fresh, and the day shouldn’t be hectic yet so we can get these shots easily. 15 minutes with you both should be plenty of time to make sure we have several good single portrait shots. I will take you out with your groomsmen or bridesmaids to save on time so we can get the group shots efficiently too!
Bridal Party & Family Portraits (time allotment 45 minutes)
These shots are ideal to get checked off our list before guests arrive and the ceremony starts. 30 minutes of time with each group I’ve found is the most perfect. We will capture the classic photos with great lighting, and get the more fun and creative shots that showcase the personality of your wedding party. We will make sure to get pictures of you with each of your bridesmaids and groomsmen individually. When we are taking these individual photo’s we will send someone to round up your family members and get these photo’s out of the way. It will save time if we save your extended family groups for latter, we just want your mom, dad and brothers and sisters. Don’t worry we will get aunt “Phillis” and Grandma “Julie’s” photo’s I promise! After these photos I prefer to do a first look and get some couples shots checked off our list.
First look & Daytime Formals (time allotment 45 minutes)
Your first look might only take ten to fifteen minutes but the rest of time will be focused on formal portraits of you the bride and groom together. This time is important and precious, if we can get time after the ceremony with golden hour light, we will take some time to get more images then. The first look comes in handy to secure a frame of time so we for sure have a good amount of photographs of you both together. If you are worried about a time crunch on your wedding day I suggest doing the first look and formals a few days before the wedding day. Some couples may choose not to do a first look and may choose not to see each other before the ceremony. However, I highly recommend doing a first look before the ceremony so we can get most photo’s out of the way and you will have more time to spend with your guests.
The Ceremony
It is important that we start your ceremony on time for the sake of your guests and for everything else to run smoothly. If you have anything special planned for your ceremony I would love to know so I can capture it all. The last thing I would love to know, is if you are having a receiving line once the ceremony is over.
Groups, Friends & Wedding party (time allotment 15-20 minuets)
If you would like a photo with all of your guests, any extended family, or friends let me know so I don’t miss or forget them. On the special request form let me know what group photos are important so we can put them on our check list. After the ceremony we want to start with the biggest groups and work our way down to just the bride a groom. The goal is to send to most people to the reception, or cocktail hour we can at a time.
Family Portraits (time allotment 25-30 minutes)
After everyone is grouped up after the ceremony it’s easiest to get the big family shots out of the way and send those family members to entertain your guests while we get the rest of your photo’s. It’s important that we get additional images with parents, grandparents and siblings. These portraits are usually where time can go wrong and get taken up, family members will run off or aunt “Phillis” and uncle “Joe” insist on taking 20 photo’s with you and each of their kids individually. Its important to communicate to your family members who you want in they photo’s and to try and stick around after the ceremony. Assign a bridesmaid in charge of keeping the brides family together and where they need to be, and a groomsmen in charge of the grooms family to do the same.
Evening Couples Session & Formals (allotted time 20 minutes)
The best time for your couples portraits are 45-60 minuets before sunset. Try to set apart at least 20 minutes for pictures with ideal lighting so we can get special and perfect images that you can cherish for a lifetime to come! Waiting for the sunset will give us colorful skies, warm light that will give us creamy skin tones and simply gorgeous photos. Let me know if there is a special reason you picked your venue so we can showcase it in these photos. If you booked the venue because it has a spectacular view of the ocean, mountains or texture of a barn or trendy lights, let me know so we can capture that. If the perfect light is during your reception you might not mind sneaking away from the crowds for a few minutes of alone time to snap some photo’s.
The Reception
At this point on I become your personal documentary photographer. I will be around photographing guests, capturing the small details, the dance party and any events you have planned or scheduled. These include your first dance, dances with the father of the bride and mother of the groom, the garter toss, bouquet toss, and the cake cutting. If you plan these events in this following order your guests not wishing to stay late can say there goodbyes and not miss anything fun. At this point start the music and invite your guests on the dance floor to get down and wiggle. (On a side note, make sure you have time set apart for you to get some food in your belly!)
Get Away or Send Off
Is there going to be a big sparkler send off or is there a cool getaway car? These are things I would love to know! If there is time, allow me to steal 10-15 minutes to get your guests arranged for a tunnel to run through for your get away for some way fun images!
We want to keep your day organized and make sure it’s all you ever dreamed it would be and more! Our goal is to document your special day and to get those images you will put in your home, the ones you will put in your wedding day album, send to your best friend, and yes even the ones that will hang in grandmas hallway.