I won’t lie wedding day timelines are intimidating. But unfortunately it’s also pretty important, so I’m here to help! The big take away is that if you hire quality vendors they will be creating the timeline for you. Typically wedding photographers will create your photography timeline based off how many hours they are working, locations, travel time, how many people are in your wedding party and any other special events that you want photographed. From your wedding photography timeline your hair and makeup team will be able to determine their start time based on when the photographers would like you ready.
Aka if I need my bride ready for robe pictures at 2pm, the hair and makeup team will work backward from that time and determine their start time!
You will also have a timeline for your reception, the venue coordinator, catering and DJ will create this timeline for you. This will help determine when first dances, parents dance, speeches, and dinner is served.
Like I said before when you have awesome vendors all we want to do is make your life easier, so don’t stress about the timeline!
This is a sample photography timeline of the wedding day that includes a first look, and has the ceremony starting at 4:30 pm. This happens to be a wedding where everything was taking place at the venue, so no travel time. Of course, it’s not a one size fits all, so feel free to talk to me about the specifics of your day! I’ll help you work it out, and we can decide how long you want me to be there to make sure we capture everything you desire. Your timeline will also depend a lot on the season because we need to take into consideration the amount of daylight that we have.
This reflects an 8 hour photography package with 2 wedding photographers, 1 location.
1:00pm- Photographers arrive for getting ready, flat lay photos of invitations, rings, dress
2:00pm- 2nd photographer heads to the guys for groomsmen getting ready pictures
2:00pm- Robe picture with bridesmaids
2:30pm- Bride puts on her dress
3:00pm- First look, wedding party pictures, bride and groom pictures
4:00pm- Photos end, rest and relax, hide from guests. photographers get ready for ceremony
4:30pm- Ceremony
5:00pm- Cocktail Hour (family pictures first 20 min)
1 photographer grabs grip and grins of guests, 2nd photographer grabs details of ballroom
6:00pm- Reception -First dance, parent dances, speeches
7:00pm- *Paparazzi table shot song*
*Anniversary dance photo*
8:45pm- night picture
9:00pm- Photographers depart
