TIPS FOR CREATING A WEDDING DAY TIMELINE
designing the perfect wedding day timeline
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WEDDING DAY
TIMELINE FORMULA
bonus!
1. Start with the ceremony
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
2. Start your wedding day early
3. Sample Visual Timeline
4. Timeline Formula
5. Portrait Time Breakdown
6. Details to Think About When Creating Your Timeline
7. Planning got you feeling overwhelmed?
8.Sample timelines
9.Walk through the typical wedding day
Start with the ceremony
Use the ceremony as your starting point as you create your wedding day timeline. Create a list of everything that happens before the ceremony, such as hair/makeup, getting dressed, and pre-ceremony photos. Then create a list of everything that happens after the ceremony, such as the cocktail hour, dinner, dances, toasts, and cake cutting. Then think about how long each of these activities will take. Now you have a list of everything that needs to take place on the wedding day, and approximately how long they will take. And you can start to plot your wedding day timeline accordingly.
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Start your wedding day early
A lot of brides don’t realize this, but getting ready for the wedding can take a long time! If your hair and makeup is done by a professional artist, It could take anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. And if your bridesmaids and mothers are also having their hair and makeup professionally done, it could take several more hours for their services. So, make sure to account for this in your wedding day timeline. And if you want to do any pre-ceremony pictures, be sure to add extra time for that. And if you want pre-ceremony photos in multiple locations, add even more time for that. It’s not uncommon for a wedding day timeline to start around 9:00 am for a 5:00 pm wedding ceremony
2
SAMPLE TIMELINE
with First Look & ceremony at 6pm
April 27 - Sunset 7:45
(10 hours)
3
Family portraits
Bridal Details
12:45
Groom's Prep
1:30
First Look
3:15
Ceremony
6:00
A Few "Just married!" Portraits
7:00
Reception begins
7:30
Bridal Prep
2:00
Bridal Party Portraits
3:25
6:30
Reception details &
cocktail hour
7:40
The exit
9:45
Well constructed timeline may be the most important thing to minimalize stres on your wedding day
The wedding day timeline is one of the most stressful things to design for your wedding day. How long should you allow for each part of your day? Well I am here to help.
Timeline formula
Of course this isn't a fool-proof method for creating perfect timeline for everyone but it should help give you a starting place! If there is drive time or extra events just fill them in between and move your times around!
4.
FIRST LOOK?
YES
no
Decide ceremony time
Whether or not my couples are sharing a First Look will determine what time their ceremony should be. If they are not sharing a FL then the ceremony can start earlier because we’ll need more time for portraits after the ceremony
5:30
4:00
Ceremony
30 MIN
Bride in hiding
5:00
3:30
30-45 MIN
Work backwards from here
Always add in a 30 minute buffer before ceremony for the bride to go in hiding and also to relax and retouch.
Wedding Party Pics
4:15
2:45
60 MIN
I usually alot for 30-45 minutes for Wedding party portraits. For non-FL weddings, we save full party pics until after ceremony
I schedule in an hour of bride and groom portraits just in case we get behind and because that’s usually the #1 photo priority of my couples
B&G will need to start getting dressed 30-45 minutes before portraits are started. This allows for final touches photos and portriats of just him and her!
I usually arrive an hour and a half prior to getting dressed to shoot details and prep for the day! Hair and makeup should be done by this done and the bride finishing up her hair!
First Look B&G Portraits
3:15
Bride get in Dress
2:30
2:00
30-45 MIN
60-90 MIN
Hair & Makeup done
2:00
1:30
Shoot Details & Prep
1:00
12:30
DETAILS & PREP:
FIRST LOOK & PORTRAITS:
BRIDAL PARTY:
FAMILY FORMALS:
EXTRA PORTRAIT TIME:
Portrait Time Breakdown
1.5 hours
1 hour
30-45 mins
30 mins
As much time as I can get!
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When Creating Your Timeline
DETAILS TO THINK ABOUT
• How many hours did you book your band/DJ and photographer & videographer for?
• Where are you getting ready? At the ceremony site, hotel, home other.
• How many people will be getting hair and makeup done? How long it will take? (talk to your hair and makeup artist)
• Will the ceremony & reception be at the same location?
• If there is more than one location, how will the wedding party get from one location to the other?
• Are you doing a first look? Will you be doing any portraits before the ceremony or after the ceremony?
• How long will your ceremony be?
• Will you be doing any formal family portraits after the ceremony?
• Will you be doing any on location portraits after the ceremony or you going straight to the cocktail hour?
• Will you be having a receiving line after the ceremony?
• Will you be having a cocktail hour before the reception?
• Will you be doing bridal party introductions?
• How will the food be served? Are you having a buffet or a plated meal?
• How many toasts/speeches will you have & how long?
• Will you be cutting you cake? If yes when will it happen before the dinner or after the dinner?
• Will you be doing a first dance? If yes when it will happen? Before the dinner or after the dinner?
• Will you be doing a father-daughter dance & mother-son dance?
• Will you be doing a bouquet toss? Or garter toss?
• Is there a specific time your wedding has to end?
• Will you be hosting an after-party?
To help you get started, here are the types of details you should be thinking about when creating your wedding day timeline:
6
Congratulations! You now have a basic timeline to allow for ample time for the portraits that matter to you.
Be sure to add in time for travel if necessary as well as buffer times in 15 minutes increments in case something runs a little behind.
TIMELINE PLANNING GOT YOU FEELING OVERWHELMED?
Trust me, I get it! When I first began photographing weddings and helping my clients figure out their schedules, it was a constant tug-of-war between all the different things that we knew needed to be accomplished that day but couldn’t figure out how. I knew it was absolutely crucial to have everything mapped out, but it took a hot minute to figure out exactly how to do it.
But I’m here to tell you, though it may feel like one of the most daunting tasks of your planning journey, it really doesn’t have to be. This guide should help you tremendously in knowing not just what to plan for, How long to plan for it AND the best way to plan & prepare for beautiful photos. I help every single of my clients one-on-one to figure out a great photo timeline,
Even if you have a wedding planner, I promise you will never regret consulting me to make sure you’re on track for great photo ops (your planner will probably want to do this anyway). The timeline is key to being able to relax and enjoy your wedding experience, rather than having to focus on what we might be forgetting. wish list without making the day feel like a photoshoot! wish list without making the day feel like a photoshoot!
The next few pages are filled with all the most common timeline items and some notes and pointers about them from somebody who’s done this a few times. Ha! I know it’s a lot of information, but I invite you to try to not just skim over it. Look at each item and read carefully and thoughtfully. Print this guide out and make notes all over it! This will make it so much easier when you take the example timeline and modify it to suit your needs, because you understand why things are planned that way and what applies to your specific day.
Your final timeline should be pretty detailed so that there is very little guesswork on your wedding day. The last couple of pages are simple worksheets that should help even more!
And hey when it’s time to figure out your wedding photographer situation, don’t forget to send me an inquiry! I have a ton more helpful tools just like this one to help you because while I don’t pretend to have it all together, I do love doing everything I can to help your day be as kickass as possible.
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SAMPLE TIMELINES
Summer Wedding: July 27th | Sunset 8:15pm
Timeline 1:
they should be dressed to pants/shirt/socks by now
bridesmaids & dress helpers should be fully dressed & ready by now
first look means these 3 things are all done before the ceremony
EACH TIMELINE IS BASED ON 10 HOURS OF PHOTOGRAPHY COVERAGE
first look
Timeline 2:
10:30 - Photographer arrives
10:30 - Bridal details photos
11:30 - Guys getting ready photos
12:30 - Bride getting ready photos
2:00 - Ceremony!
3:30 - Formal family photos
4:15 - Wedding party portraits
5:00 - Bride + Groom portraits
5:00 - Cocktail hour
6:00 - Dinner
7:45 - Couple's golden hour portraits
7:45 - First dance, special dances
7:45- Dance floor opened
8:00 - Bouquet/garter toss
8:15 - Sunset
8:15- Sparkler Exit
8:30 - Photographer's coverage ends
they should be dressed to pants/shirt/socks by now
bridesmaids & dress helpers should be fully dressed & ready by now
no first look means these 3 things are done after the ceremony as guests wait
no first look
11:45am - Photographer arrives
11:45am - Bridal detail photos
11:45am - Guys getting ready photos
12:30pm - Bride getting ready photos
1:00pm - First look
1:45pm - Bride + Groom portraits
2:30pm - Wedding party portraits
3:00pm - Formal family photos
5:00pm - Ceremony!
5:30pm - Ceremony portraits
6:00pm - Cocktail hour
7:00pm - Dinner
8:15pm - Sunset
8:30pm - First dance, special dances
8:45pm - Dance floor opened
9:15pm- Bouquet/garter toss
9:30pm - Sparkler Exit
9:45pm - Photographer's coverage ends
8
Winter Wedding: November 4th | Sunset 4:40pm
Timeline 3:
they should be dressed to pants/shirt/socks by now
bridesmaids & dress helpers should be fully dressed & ready by now
first look means these 3 things are all done before the ceremony
first look
Timeline 4:
11:00 - Photographer arrives
11:45 - Bridal detail photos
11:45 - Groom getting ready photos
12:45 - Bride getting ready photos
2:00 - Ceremony!
3:00 - Formal family photos
3:30 - Wedding party portraits
4:15 - Bride + Groom portraits
5:00 - Cocktail hour
6:00 - Dinner
7:30 - First dance, special dances
7:45 - Dance floor opened
8:30- Bouquet/garter toss
8:45- Sparkler Exit
9:00 - Photographer's coverage ends
they should be dressed to pants/shirt/socks by now
bridesmaids & dress helpers should be fully dressed & ready by now
no first look means these 3 things are done after the ceremony as guests wait
no first look
11:00 - Photographer arrives
11:00 - Bridal detail photos
11:45 - Guys getting ready photos
12:15 - Bride getting ready photos
1:00- First look
1:15- Bride + Groom portraits
2:00 - Wedding party portraits
2:30 - Formal family photos
4:00 - Ceremony!
4:40 - Sunset
4:30 - Ceremony portraits
5:00 - Cocktail hour
6:00 - Dinner
7:30 - First dance, special dances
7:45- Dance floor opened
8:30- Bouquet/garter toss
8:45- Sparkler Exit
9:00 - Photographer's coverage ends
Check out our article about How To Manage The Timeline For Your Wedding Day in Lakeshore in Love article here
Est. 2013 | © 2024 Bozena Voytko Photography
Chicago + Suburbs + Illinois + Wisconsin
Est. 2013 | © 2024 Bozena Voytko Photography | Chicago + Suburbs + Illinois + Wisconsin
Wedding & branding Photographer in Chicago, IL
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