Wedding Timeline:

How I create your timeline

Weddings are life’s little magical moments.. Finding your counter in a world that is filled with millions of people is truly an art. When you finally find that person that just gives you endless goosebumps it is extremely important to lay out the details of your day.

My job as a photographer is to help you in the process of laying out those details! Without a timeline there are to many variables that can cause stress and for a bride this should be the least of your worries.

In the beginning stages of getting to know my clients, we often share an extensive amount of email’s back and forth.  Most of all my brides have the same questions, and some are, how long will it take to photograph the detail images, and how long will you be with me while I get ready? Because you don’t have a second shooter, will I get images of my groom getting ready? Where will you be when I’m getting ready? Do you get photos of the ceremony and reception site without guest? All these questions are excellent questions to ask! And with that said a timeline is the perfect answer to all of them.

A bride who is educated about her wedding day timeline is a less stressed bride. The more info we gather about your wedding and the more we organize a game plan, the less stress and worry goes forth into the wedding day. I am your captain and all you gotta do is cruise for the ride!

 

Because I am the sole shooter…

I have my husband who shoots with me. He’s my assistant not a second shooter.  And because we are best friends I can look at him and communicate effectively without causing attention to what we are doing. He will shoot opposite me at the ceremony, and sometimes opposite me at the reception for the important dancing.

But, I am the main photographer and shoot everything. So with that said, the way I prep my brides is to get a schedule going. Yup, I’m talking about that timeline again!

I will always set time aside for the groomsmen in my schedule. [Ideally, the groom will be getting near by and I’m able to plan my time with him as well]

So let’s assume you and the groom are going to be in and around the same area on your wedding date, I will shoot the details, the ceremony site, and if possible the reception site before guest go there. I than check to see if my groom is getting ready and go towards him.  (If my bride is still getting her hair and makeup done). With that said I’ll get a couple of him getting ready. I’ll also do mock images later on if the bride is getting ready at the same time. I take care of the bride images first.

I get images of the bride getting her makeup and hair done. I will follow with images of the bride getting into her dress.  And never forgetting those small moments in between that will help tell the story of the day better. From there on, I’ll leave my bride for a little bit so you have time with your family, and I usually go and get a few candids of my groom and his boys, and have them re-cuff their buttons, or put on and off their jackets.. So not necessarily missing their getting ready.

The bride is what takes the longest guys are really easy. So, its been easy for me to accommodate this into my routine. Once, I figure out these scenarios, If the bride and groom are getting ready at the same location? If not, how far are away are they from one another? When the reception site will be ready? When the ceremony site will be ready? Bride start time/ Groom start time for getting ready (so your start time for hair and makeup, and start time of groom getting ready)? Than I formulate a schedule and you and I will tweak and adjust accordingly. Does that make sense? There will not be any holes in the days events, so please don’t worry about that.

This has been my approach thus far, and I feel as long as my bride and groom are educated about our wedding timeline and what takes how many minutes,etc.. we have been very successful in photographing all the important moments to tell the proper story of your wedding day. I actually had no assistant and I was the sole photographer (all alone) for everything in a destination wedding. I was only able to produce a beautifully curated album because my bride and groom worked with me and gave me all the details of their day. So if we work as a team there should be nothing to stop the day from flowing flawlessly.

 

Below is a wedding timeline for a bride who will have her ceremony start at 5:30pm. She had chosen an 8 hour coverage window and we formulated a plan of action below. Her wedding is a bit away but we already have a plan of action. Once certain items are confirmed we we can than tweak any changes. As you can tell below the details of the day (bouquet, rings, dress, groom attire, letters, gifts, ceremony site, reception site, getting ready area, and any details that are important to the bride are photographed first, followed by the getting ready, of both bride and groom, there after first looks, or family photos, bridal party photos. This than leads to the ceremony, followed by the family photos/couple portraits and ending with the reception festivities.

 

I hope this helped explained the booking process, and I can’t wait to create your timeline of your day!

 

 

*Below to view image larger…