You need this wedding timeline so you don’t forget these details!

Picture this:

You spend months (maybe even up to a year) working with your wedding planner to curate the perfect details. You have the best florals, beautiful centerpieces and tablescapes, your invitations match perfectly with your wedding colors…

But your timeline doesn’t allow your photographer to photograph these special details 😰 YIKES.

General Rules of Thumb for building your wedding timeline

Here’s what I recommend for a perfectly timed wedding timeline that not gives you lots of time with your soon-to-be-husband, but also gets every moment and detail captured!!!

BRIDAL DETAILS: 30-45mins (I can usually get these done while stepping into the getting ready area and photographing the girls hanging out at the same time!). This is the time where I photograph your dress, rings, invitation suite, etc. Not sure what details to gather for photos? Read this Instagram post!

GETTING IN THE DRESS: 30-45mins! This can take 10mins or 45! You just never know! This is an area where we build in extra time just in case! Also, I love having a few minutes to capture just the bride in her gown!!

BRIDAL PARTY PORTRAITS: 15-30mins depending on the size of the party. We always capture just the bridesmaids, just the groomsmen, the entire group together and then individuals with the bride and groom separately. Even with my super fast workflow, this can take some time!

BRIDE AND GROOM PORTRAITS: I love having 30 minutes before the ceremony and 30 minutes after the ceremony. However, I know this is not always possible. My goal is to be able to give my couples some additional portraits that add a little extra variety from the ones that we took pre-ceremony! If you are not sharing a first look, I cannot stress enough how important it is to at least have 30 minutes of portrait time after the ceremony!

FAMILY FORMALS: This is the hardest part of the day as far as photography is concerned! I make it my mission to make family formals fast, easy and as efficient as possible! I recommend 15-30 minutes for family formals, but not at the expense of your Bride and Groom portrait time! We can always grab large group photos during the reception. That glowy sunset light for Bride and Groom portraits has to be taken advantage of right when it’s happening because it will disappear quickly!

RECEPTION DETAILS: I would love 15 minutes to photograph all of the beautiful details and decor of your reception. This is something brides oftentimes forget to include in their wedding timeline. Photographing reception details is also easily done when you have a second photographer and do a first look! The second shooter will photograph cocktail hour while I go photograph reception details!

 

 

Other favorite wedding tips:

Best Wedding Moments to Include

First Steps for Planning a Wedding