Smooth and Stress-Free wedding timeline.
It may sound like a fairytale, but with preparation, planning, and a solid timeline you can make it happen. Read on to find out how to turn a timeline into a game-changer.
Why a Timeline Matters for a Magical Wedding Day
When we talk to brides about their wedding day, we regularly hear one concern: how can we make sure there is time for amazing photography? What do we need to do to ensure we don’t forget about capturing the day among all the other priorities?
Crafting a timeline for your wedding day is the answer to these questions. We’ve called it ‘crafting’ for a reason. Making a timeline for something as big as your wedding day is not something you’ll do in half an hour. You’ll find yourself putting down ideas, revising them, and going through several drafts.
Believe us, the effort is worth it. Having a solid timeline for your wedding prevents you from getting overwhelmed, lets you know who’s there to help you, and allows us to highlight the best wedding picture opportunities.
How to Create a Timeline
Start by dividing the day into segments. This will help break down a mammoth task into manageable pieces. Depending on your plans, the segments may vary. In most cases, distinguishing between the ceremony and the reception is a great start.
Capturing the Ceremony
Now think about the key moments you’d like us to capture for you and how to integrate them into your timeline. For example, if you would like pictures of both the bridal party and the groomsmen but only have one photographer, it’s important to allow time for both. Depending on the size of your party, we may need between one and two hours each.
As professional wedding photographers, we’d also like to arrive early for the job to set up lights and any other equipment. If you’d like images of the décor before the guests arrive, now is the time to capture those.
Some wedding ceremonies last for as little as 20 minutes. If that’s likely to be the case with yours, it’s even more important that we plan ahead and get the shots you really want.
Capturing Your Reception
Are you planning a cocktail hour for your guests? That would be an excellent time for us to capture you and your groom one-on-one. That’s when we take magic shots like the two of you under your veil [please link to the post about wedding veils]. It’s also a great time to take those family portraits of you and your parents.
We also love to capture candid shots of your guests enjoying themselves during cocktail hour and make time to take beautiful pictures of your reception décor before everyone sits down.
Then the reception begins, and that’s when things get truly busy: starting with a grand entrance, we have a dinner, speeches, cake cutting, and the tossing of the bouquet to photograph before the entertainment starts.
Conclusion
Wedding days are busy days, for you and your photographer alike. Having a timeline ensures we capture all the magic moments. Let us work with you to create a realistic schedule with room to breathe.
