Hey there, amazing soon-to-be-weds! 🎉 Planning your wedding day timeline can be a bit like choreographing a dance—it needs to flow, feel good, and look great. As your wedding photographer, I’m here to guide you through timing each part of your day to ensure we capture every memorable moment. Whether you choose a 6, 8, or 10-hour package, here’s how to create your perfect wedding day timeline for the perfect photos!

Getting Ready / Morning Prep:

45-120 minutes

Here’s why the getting ready photos are some of the most important photos of the day: there’s a buzz in the air. There’s anticipation. Mom is getting teary-eyed. Your dress is hanging elegantly in a beam of sunlight. Mimosas. Everywhere.

I find that some of the most intimate and sweet photos happen during getting ready, so for that reason I recommend allotting *at least* 45 minutes for these, though I recommend padding this time significantly. During this time (depending on what you’re looking for), I’ll be snapping photos of allllll your details, teary-eyed moments, pajama group shots, gift exchanges, and mimosa toasts.

If you want coverage of both you & your spouse-to-be during morning prep, I HIGHLY recommend hiring a second photographer for the best possible photos, *especially* if you’re getting ready in separate locations.

First Look:

15-30 minutes

This might feel like a lot for just a few moments of seeing each other for the first time. That’s exactly how you want to feel! If the actual first look takes 3 minutes, that leaves us with 27 minutes of time for a few photos of the two of you, or spare moments if we’re running behind schedule.* If you’re doing multiple first looks (like one with your fiancé, one with your mom, one with your bridesmaids, etc.), add an additional 10 minutes for each one, factoring in any travel time.

By the way–here are a few alternate ideas for a first look, in case you want to do something a little different.

*wedding days almost always run behind schedule, it’s normal 😉

Wedding Party Group Portraits:

15+ minutes

These photos can take place generally after the first look or after the ceremony (during cocktail hour). If you do a first look, I definitely recommend fitting these in if we can. As with all moments on your wedding day, more time is always better and will help us plan accordingly and get more creative. These will generally include a few variations of big group shots as well as individuals with you & each member of your side of the bridal party, and any combinations you want there.

The Ceremony:

Ceremony Length + 30 minutes of padding

Even if you expect your ceremony to last only 15 minutes, it’s wise to buffer this segment by about 30 minutes. Delays often happen as guests settle in. After your vows, I KNOW you want to give your bestie or your mom a bug hug and show off your new bling!! Give yourself that time to relax, take it easy, and let me get those wonderful, yummy, spontaneous reaction photos of your loved ones’ excitement for you.

Group Photos:

20-30 minutes

Timing for these types of photos can vary with the size of your group. Consider handling this before your ceremony if you have a smaller group or if everyone is already gathered (and you don’t mind them seeing you). Be sure that everyone you want in the photos knows where you want them to be and when, especially for larger groups, to ensure smooth sailing.

On my wedding day, I forgot to tell my cousin & his wife where to be and we don’t have a full family photo with them in it (well, I guess we do–I photoshopped them in later haha). Don’t be like me!

Couples/Romantic Photos:

as long as you’ll spare in your wedding day timeline (at least 20 minutes)

This is where we want to really take our time to capture breathtaking photos of the two of you all dressed up, lovely, and in that freshly married bliss. Decide whether you want to skip the cocktail hour to fit this in; doing so gives us the chance to create a variety of stunning images, relax, and take it easy. We can also do this during sunset (plan for this ahead of time! Here’s a great calculator to find out when the sun will set).

*Plan for these by allotting time an hour to an hour and a half prior to the time the sun will set.*

Reception & Party Time:

General wedding day timeline structure

Here’s where the timeline can relax a bit. I’ll be present to cover anything that happens here, so it’s more a matter of making sure I’m in the right place at the right time when the important things are happening.

I need to know key elements like when the reception starts, meal times, cake cutting, dances, and speech timing. Typically, capturing dance floor in action should only take about 15-20 minutes. For cake cutting, allow about 10 minutes. Informing me about who’s giving speeches and when will help me to capture these moments *chef’s kiss* perfectly!

Sunset & Evening Photos

15-20 minutes

If you wan those ethereal golden-hour photos, let’s plan for them an hour to an hour and a half before sunset. This timing creates some of the most magical lighting for your photos.

General Tips for the perfect wedding day timeline

When building your timeline, always start with your ceremony time & work from there (after all, that’s the. most important part!)

To help your day feel the most NATURAL and ENJOYABLE, always, always, always build in padding. If you think something is going to take 30 minutes, plan 45. If Google Maps is telling you it’s a 15 minute trip from your ceremony to your reception, allow 25 minutes! With this planned, the worst that can happen is you have extra time to relax and take it all in. Without extra time planned, the worst that can happen is you run late and get flustered.

You can always add more hours onto any of my packages if you’re worried we won’t have enough time. I’m here to help you build the perfect wedding day timeline and to guide you through the process, so don’t hesitate to schedule a call to go over it all together! We’ve got this!