Sample Wedding Photography Timelines
Time and having enough of it…
One aspect of the wedding planning process that every couple that I’ve worked with has always had questions about is: the Wedding Day Photography Timeline! A super important consideration when booking your photographer is: TIME & having enough of it….
About a month or two before each of my weddings, I schedule a phone call with my couples to chat about their wedding day. We discuss how they want to use the time that we have together that day and what their anxieties or concerns are regarding their wedding photography. Based on our conversation, I put together a Wedding Day Photography Timeline for them which outlines how the hours that we have together will be used on their wedding day. The timeline is meant to make certain that my couples and I are on the same page about what we’ll be shooting and when. On the wedding day, the photography team uses this timeline to walk us through the day, to be sure that we check all the important boxes!
Creating a wedding photography timeline is essential because it provides a clear view of how the day will unfold & how much time we’ll have to shoot each portion of the day.
How many hours do we need? When choosing which wedding collection (or how many hours) you would like to book with your photographer, you want to start from the reception end/send off time (or whenever you would like your photographers to leave) and work backwards from there. For example: If your sparkler exit is at 10pm and your ceremony is at 4pm, you’ll want to book a 7 or 8hr wedding collection so that you have at least 2hrs ahead of the ceremony for pre-ceremony photography.
When you’ve never done this before, trying to imagine how long it might take to photograph the various part of your wedding day might be a little daunting! For instance, you might think that photographing the bride getting into the dress might take about 10 minutes when in reality, it takes at least 20 minutes to photograph that portion of the pre-wedding documentation of your day!
What actually happens is: Hair & makeup finishes up, the BM’s & MOB get dressed & then there’s a mad dash to tidy up the area for portraits of the bride getting dressed. Bride goes to the restroom before getting into her dress, she gets into the dress with help from MOB and/or BM’s & there’s the garter, shoes, jewelry and the veil to think about! Realistically, this process takes at least 20-30 minutes from start to finish in order to photograph it well. You probably wouldn’t know that or think about these small but important logistical details unless an experienced photographer told you how long it actually takes!
When you’ve been doing this for as long as I have, it’s like a well oiled machine over here! 😉 I have hundreds of sample wedding day timelines that I’ve produced over the years and will include a few sample timelines for 6, 8 & 10hr wedding days for your reference! 🙂 Of course, each couple’s day is certainly going to be a little different because each will want to use hours a little differently but these sample timelines will give you a pretty good idea about how time is generally used during a wedding day!
SAMPLE 6-HR WEDDING DAY TIMELINE:
I really enjoy a 6-hr Wedding Day because it’s enough time for adequate coverage of the day, I stay super busy and my workday goes by in a flash! 😉 You’ll notice in Merry & Matt’s Wedding Day Timeline, that despite having 6-hrs we only had 30 minutes with each of them pre-ceremony. This is because during their Pre-Wedding Phone Consultation, Merry & Matt expressed their desire to spend more time on Newlywed Portraits & coverage of their Reception. Professionally, I prefer having two hours pre-ceremony (45min-1hr with the bride, 30-45 minutes with the groom + 30 minutes for details) but as you can see in this sample 6-hr timeline, it can be done with 30 minutes for each + 30 minutes for details!
SAMPLE 8-HR WEDDING DAY TIMELINE:
If you’re planning a more “traditional” wedding day as far as: you want ample pre-wedding documentation, details, ceremony, portraits + newlywed portraits & you want plenty of the party, then 8-hrs is the ideal amount of time to tell your story! I love 8-hr Wedding Days because it represents an entire day’s wedding coverage and it usually never feels rushed or chaotic when we have plenty of time!
Below, you’ll find a sample timeline that I put together for Meghan + Craig’s Wedding which includes 8hr + 2 photographers in early May 2020 and I’m really excited about how the time is going to be used for this Wedding because it’s so nice not to feel rushed in the beginning of the day!
SAMPLE 10-HR WEDDING DAY TIMELINE
Heather & Ryan’s October Wedding wasn’t really out of the ordinary at all as far as the blue print for their wedding day. We don’t typically shoot too many 10-hr Wedding Days but when there’s a commute between the pre-ceremony location and the venue, adding drive time + a little cushion for any delays is essential. Also having that extra time provided a buffer for any hiccups during the day (it rained cats and dogs that day and their ceremony had to be moved indoors at the last minute and shooting portraits was pretty tricky because of the rain but we managed because we had this extra time!) Ryan & Heather had a big, fun party with 200 guests and we got to document the entire thing including their sparkler exit (because we had ample time!)
Without a doubt, my favorite weddings have been those that the Bride & Groom really put some thought into the details of their day & made it a unique & beautiful reflection of who they are to share with their family & friends!
How?
How do you decide which unique details to include—and how do you even come up them in the first place!? When it comes down to implementing unique touches in your wedding, place weight on two elements. The first: What represents you as a couple? What do you guys really love? Think back to your engagement, where you met, your first trip together, your mutual hobbies, your interests, your home state, or your heritage and incorporate those elements into your big day! Second: Consider your guests! While your wedding is about celebrating your union, it’s also very much about throwing a party to remember!
Ideas:
Love Travel, Hiking or Adventure? Pick a theme for your details & incorporate that into every aspect that you can! Love the roaring 20s/Prohibition Era? Invite your guests to Dress up for the occasion & choose your wardrobe with a little nod to the era! Into Breweries? Serve Beer Flights from your favorite brewery! Love going to concerts together? How about an awesome Band rather than a DJ!? Love tailgating? Lawn games! Could you eat tacos for every meal? Late night Taco bar! Love getting caricatures drawn together? Hire a Caricature Artist! Into motorcycles, biking or boating? Maybe ride away from your ceremony or reception on a Motorcycle, Bike or Boat!
These are just a few examples of some relatively inexpensive things you can do to make your wedding details a little more unique! The possibilities are literally limitless!!
If you thought that was helpful, stick around, there’s plenty more where that came from! :) _Canisius Pierre
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