Last week we talked about how intimidating planning a wedding timeline can be! But what if I told you it really isn’t that scary!

After three years of shooting weddings and planning over 50 wedding timelines so far, I’m here to tell you that this seemingly daunting task is really your golden ticket to a smooth and seamless day!

 

Now don’t get me wrong, there have been PLENTY of weddings we’ve shot that have tight timelines! But here’s the trick, we plan for that!!! We margin in extra time throughout the wedding day for those unexpected things that might hold us up! Keep on scrolling to see how we do it!

FIRST LOOK, BRIDAL PARTY, AND BRIDE IN HIDING

The first look is hands down one of our FAVORITE parts of the day! We find the first look spot before the getting ready part of the day so our brides do not have to worry one bit about that! After the first look we begin snapping a few timeless and intimate portraits of just the two of them! SO special, SO cute, and we get emotional every single time! We plan a 45 minute window here, sometimes it takes that long and sometimes it doesn’t!

Now the fun happens! Bring in the bridal party!! Remember that extra time we talked about? One way we make sure to stay on our timeline schedule is to have all the bridal party prepped, dressed and ready BEFORE the bride even gets dressed!! We’re talking hair, makeup, and even those little boutonnieres for the guys! This way we can snap some cute shots of the entire party together and girls and guys separately in a timely fashion so we can get our bride into hiding before the guests arrive! We ask for 30 minutes for bridal party shots!

Okay bride, now you get to breath! Our goal on the wedding day is to get you into hiding 30 minutes BEFORE your ceremony begins! We don’t want any early guests ( we see you Uncle Bill & Aunt Susan 😉 ) getting a sneak peek and your ushers can efficiently do their duties!

Okay friends, below is a sample timeline of what we’ve covered so far! Stay tuned because next week we cover when we get the time to shoot those STUNNING reception details BEFORE your guests clutter it with their belongings and how to plan for your long list of family portraits!! It’s gonna be a good one!!

1:30pm – Photographers Arrive

1:30pm – 2:15pm – Bridal Details

2:15pm – 2:45pm – Getting Ready

3:00pm – 3:45pm – First Look

3:50pm – 4:20pm – Bridal Party Portraits

4:30pm – 5:00pm – Bride in Hiding