The Wedding Day Timeline Part I // Tips for Clients
The Wedding Day Timeline Part I // Tips for Clients
The wedding day timeline can be one of the most stressful parts of planning your wedding. You’ve never done this before and you never really paid attention during all the weddings you’ve been to and been in so it can be overwhelming. The timeline can really depict what your wedding day looks like. When my clients ask how long they should hire me for I usually tell them to make their wedding timeline first before decided that as photography can sometimes depict what your day looks like.
A few questions to ask yourself about your wedding day:
Do you want to do a first look or see each other after the ceremony? Do you want a calm morning with candid photos being captured during getting ready? Or maybe just a few getting ready detail shots. Do you want to go to a secondary location for photos? Do you want the flow of your reception to be relaxed with lots of mingle time or get straight to the good stuff?
Sometimes the flow of your reception depends on the type of guests that you might have. An older crowd will be more likely to leave after all of the main events have happened. So having a cocktail hour is a great idea to get to mingle with those folks as they will probably head out after the cake is cut. Or maybe you have a younger crowd who wants to dance the night away! In that case you can relax your reception a little bit as you know they are all going to stay until the grand exit.
Overall Suggested Time frames:
Getting Ready Photos: 1 hour
Bride & Groom Portraits: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Bridal Party: 30 minutes
Family Photos: 30 minutes
Ceremony: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Cocktail Hour: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Dinner: 1 hour
Sunset photos: 15 minutes
Toasts: 30 minutes
Cake Cutting: 15 minutes
First Dance(s): 15 minutes
Garter Toss: 10 minutes
Example Timeline (with first look):
1:15pm: Getting Ready Photos
2:15pm: Bride & Groom first look
2:30pm: Bride & Groom Portraits
3:00pm: Bridal Portraits
3:10pm: Groom Portraits
3:15pm: Bridal Party Photos
3:45pm: Family Formals
4:15pm: Hide the bride (Photographer gets reception details)
5:00pm: Ceremony
5:30pm: Ceremony ends & cocktail hour begins
5:30pm: Bride & Groom sign marriage license
5:45pm: A few more bride & groom portraits
6:15pm: Bride & groom enter cocktail hour
6:30pm: Dinner
7:15pm: Toasts
7:45pm: Cake cutting
8:00pm: First Dance(s)
8:30pm: Open Dancing
9:30pm: Bouquet & garter toss
9:45pm: Bride & groom night photos
10:00pm: Grand Exit
Example Timeline (without first look):
1:45pm: Getting ready photos
2:45pm: Bridal Portraits
3:00pm: Bride with Bridesmaids
3:15pm: Bride with Brides family
3:30pm: Hide the bride
3:40pm: Groom portraits
3:45pm: Groom with Groomsmen
4:00pm: Groom with Grooms family
4:15pm: Hide Groom (Photographer gets reception details)
5:00pm: Ceremony
5:30pm: Ceremony ends & cocktail hour begins
5:30pm: Sign marriage license
5:45pm: Family formals
6:00pm: Bridal Party Photos
6:15pm: Bride & Groom Portraits
6:45pm: Bride & groom enter reception & dinner is served
7:15pm: Toasts
7:45pm: Cake cutting
8:00pm: First Dance(s)
8:30pm: Open Dancing
9:30pm: Bouquet & Garter toss
9:45pm: Bride & Groom Night photos
10:00pm: Grand Exit
Note that there are many options that may vary for your wedding. Maybe you want to do all the family photos after the ceremony no matter if you see each other before the ceremony or not. Sometimes that makes it easier on elderly family members. Maybe you want a secondary location for your bride and groom and bridal party photos. Or maybe you want some extra time after dinner to mingle with guests before toasts.
The biggest factor in determining the flow of your reception is figuring out what you really want to do and making sure there is time to do it. Also make sure there is plenty of buffer time added in just in case someone goes missing.
