Plan Your Perfect Wedding Day Timeline
When creating our blog ‘Top Tops to get the best Wedding Photography’ we realised that one area carried more weight than the others….timings.
As a wedding photographer, the wedding day timeline is key to knowing when and where to be and also for how long so the day flows well.
From personal experience of my own wedding day, I understand just how vital the timings are!
I know this can sound very structured and regimented which may sound a little off putting, you will be thinking; “it’s my wedding day, I want to relax as much as I can, enjoy mingling with my guests, be part of the fun”.
Believe me this is what we want as well and aim to capture, but it is also why timings are so important. Our advice would be not to view timings as negative or a restriction on your day, but as a necessity to get the most out of the day and allow more time to mingle with guests whilst safe in the knowledge that we will be there to capture all the action for the most part without even knowing we’re there!
Whilst this blog is written from a photographers point of view, it is valuable advice for engaged couples so you know you’ve planned a timeline that has factored in as much flexibility as possible. On your wedding day, your photographer will be the one vendor that you will spend most of your day with. Therefore it’s important to understand the timings from a photographer’s perspective. A wedding day timeline ensures your day has a good flow to it and will run as smoothly as possible.
Seasons and Light
The season in which you choose to get married will dictate the amount of available natural light, which ultimately will affect time and timings on your wedding day.
With summer weddings, the sun will be higher in the sky for longer and will set later in the day. Obviously, in winter, the opposite of this is true, with the sun lower in the sky and setting much earlier.
As a photographer, the amount of available natural light is the tool that I need to utilise to get the best outdoor wedding photographs possible and that’s why timings on the day are so vital.
With a summer wedding, you will have more time to make the most of the available natural light, therefore you may be able to push the timing of your ceremony back a little bit. However, the midday sun in the summer months also isn’t the most flattering light for photos as it can create harsh shadows.
As a photographer, I love to work in soft light conditions as it creates that beautiful golden glow, so if the lighting is right I will quietly steal you both away for a moment for those dreamy golden hour shots.
With a winter wedding, your day will need to start earlier to make use of the natural light and it is likely that your ceremony start time will need be earlier in the day.
Here in Ireland, we are well used to people saying, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing! A bride on her wedding day will need to think of a few extras to keep her and her bridesmaids warm during a winter wedding.
Let’s face it, no one really enjoys getting their picture taken outside in the freezing cold with just a dress on! A fur shawl can do the trick or remember to bring along some comfy trainers to wear in between venues or before having some formal group shots taken.
No matter which season you choose to get married, my advice would be to hope for the best, plan for the worst!
If snow or heavy rain is forecast, then some decorative brollys and bright wellies can make for lovely pictures and be a bit alternative if you’re prepared to embrace the elements!
Getting Ready
Hurray, it’s the morning of your wedding!
The day stretches out before you to relish and cherish.
You want to look and feel amazing (which of course you will), your ceremony is hours away and you are looking forward to getting ready with your besties.
Bridal preparations on the morning of your wedding are a wonderful occasion and a part of the day we love capturing.
All the nervous energy, excitement, giggles, prosecco….’oh hang on a minute, it cant be that time already?!’
You will not believe where the time goes on the morning of your wedding.
It can run away from you so quickly and you’ll start to feel the little jitters building in your tummy.
Believe me from past experience the best way to feeling amazing on the morning of your wedding is to feel organised and prepared, this way you will feel much more relaxed.
So, the key is to get ready one hour earlier than you thought. Yes, one hour earlier!
You might be planning to do your own hair and make up, or having hair and make up artists to your house/ venue or you might well be going to your local salon to have you and your team beautified and glorified. Whatever way works for you, just remember that the earlier the better!
Your hair dresser and make up artist will work with you to let you know how much time they will likely need on the morning of your wedding, depending on the size of your bridal party. If you’re planning on travelling to your local salon, remember to factor in time for the journey there and back again, these little details can all add up and you may want to allow a little bit of time to pop that extra special bottle of bubbles and enjoy a glass whilst safe in the knowledge that you are in good time!
As your photographer, I want to capture all the emotions, excitement and giggles from a fly on the wall perspective, however, it will be better if you are ready earlier rather than later so I can get all the shots I need and then still have time to head on over the to ceremony venue to capture the groom looking nervous and your guests arriving.
The Ceremony…and the little bit after…
Depending on the type of ceremony you plan to have, whether it’s a religious ceremony in a church or a civil ceremony in the registry office, this will affect the timings for the day.
A Catholic Church ceremony can last between 1 hour to 1.5 hours, whereas a civil ceremony will generally be much shorter than this.
If you are required to travel onward to your reception venue, you will also need to factor this in to your timings.
Often couples can get caught out with their timings when they haven’t considered the receiving line, when all your guests will want to rush over to congratulate you and wish you both well. If you are having a large wedding party, this can take a while!!
For a winter wedding, it’s often best to have the photos taken right away (to make the most of natural light) and then have the receiving line on the way into the reception venue. If this is not to your liking and you would prefer to do the receiving line directly following your ceremony, then how about having a ‘first look’ portrait shoot?
This is becoming more and more popular with couples who choose to get married in winter months especially. It means that some of your couples shots will be taken earlier in the day, prior to the wedding ceremony, allowing you to settle and pre wedding nerves and it means we get to grab some epic shots whilst making the most of the all important available sunlight whilst it is higher in the sky.
Win, Win!
Group Shots
Although we are documentary style wedding photographers, we also believe in capturing those ‘mantle piece’ shots with key family members.
These pictures don’t actually take that long to shoot, but rounding everyone up can be a bit of a mission and this eats in to the amount of time we have if we aren’t organized!
So, my advice would be that formal group shots should be taken sooner rather than later in the day.
Ideally, as soon as possible after the ceremony. This way we don’t need to go and locate relatives and pull them away from their drinks at the bar!
It’s a good idea to have a reliable bridesmaid or best man to be given the job of ensuring relatives are gathered together and to let relevant people know in advice that they will be needed for 10 or 15 minutes to get a few snaps before they can go and get stuck into the canapes !
We aim to take the group shots in as little time as possible and we would recommend no more than 7 group shots in total, anything over this number just eats into your time.
Travel
If you are having your reception at the same venue as your ceremony then you wont need to worry about this section!!
If, however, your ceremony venue and reception venue are in different places then you need to think about the distance and subsequent travel times involved.
This can be more of a factor if you are planning on a winter wedding. It is advisable to have the ceremony venue and the reception venue in close proximity to each other as there are increased chances of adverse weather, ice, or snow in the winter months and it can therefore take longer to drive between the ceremony and the reception venue which will eat into your day!
Keeping the ceremony and reception venues close together will ease any potential stress as you will want your guests to arrive safe and well without too arduous a journey!
If you’re also planning a city centre wedding, it would be worthwhile to think of potential city centre traffic and how best to avoid this.
It is best to be more generous with timings as your guests may also want to stop off somewhere along the way. Likewise, if you would like to stop off along the way for an epic photo location then just make sure you have allowed for extra time for this with your photographer.
Couples portraits
You’ve spent so long preparing for your day and everyone who is special to you is there so you want to spend your time with them.
We get it completely and we definitely don’t want to take you away from your guests for any longer than is necessary!
My advice for the couples portraits would be to think of it as time for you both to catch a breath, enjoy just being together safe in the knowledge that we will be there to make the most out of the available light to get you some gorgeous wedding day portraits you will cherish forever and then you can get back to the party!
A pre-wedding engagement shoot helps so much to put you at ease and discover the full potential of what your couples portraits can and will be like!
You’ll know how I work and you’ll feel more comfortable with me. One thing you can be sure of is that I will never ask you to be cheesy during your portraits.
Generally speaking I will want you to just focus on each other throughout your portrait photos. This often has you both smiling and laughing to achieve those beautiful natural shots you both want!
As standard, we will always do a visit prior to your wedding day to your church / venue to enable us to think of the best compositions, use of light etc so we are well prepared on the day.
Speeches - Before or After?
Some couples prefer to have the speeches before the meal as they are aware of nerves building in their speakers and they want to be able to relax and enjoy their food.
However, you also need to bear in mind that your guests will likely be hungry by this stage in the day, especially if no lite bites or canapés were served at the drinks reception.
My advice would be not to make your guests wait too long to eat!
You need to think of how many speeches there will be and allow a maximum of 10 minutes or so for each speech. If the speeches are happening before the meal, you won’t want your food sitting going to ruin whilst the speeches over run!
Prior to your day you will have liaised with your venue manger so that your food can be planned around the timings so it is important to have discussed these beforehand.
One final thought…
I think the most important piece of advice from my own experience is to remember to take a quiet moment together, alone, just the two of you to soak it all in and savour your day.
It might be the first time you’ll have been alone together all day! It goes by so quickly and you will need to cherish those little stolen moments together.
Every wedding and every couple is unique, therefore there is no magical ‘one size fits all’ timeline and nor would you want there to be as you want your day to be unique and true to yourselves.
There is so much free advice out there on the internet it can become quickly overwhelming, often it is best to ask those closest to you who have already been through the wedding planning process for their honest advice, what would they do differently, what vendors would they recommend etc?
It is important to remember that timelines for weddings are intended as a loose guide to your day to assist you to think through key moments.
Don’t try to stick to a timeline rigidly during your day, it is rare that schedules go precisely to plan, so on your day, go with the flow and enjoy!
