How To Absolutely Nail Your Wedding Day Timeline
It’s coming into the thick of wedding season and the number one question we’re being asked (besides are you available *wink wink*) is can you help us with our timeline?
The answer is a big fat obviously! In fact, when you book with us you get your very own customised-to-your-day sample timeline along with a shit tonne of other handy info! We also have one last drinks sesh a month or so before your wedding to go over the nitty gritty deets but when your wedding is creeping up we definitely get wanting to be on the organised side of things so dive on in for our juicy tips on nailing your wedding day timeline.
Work with a planner
I honestly can’t stress this first one enough, if you’re a type A personality or maybe you’re even prone to procrastinating, you should definitely consider hiring a wedding planner or on the day coordinator, they’ll keep everything ticking along for you in the background and they’ll make sure everything runs smoothly for you when it’s go time.
Consider your unique logistics
Are you getting ready at the venue or travelling?
Are you doing a first look?
How many family group photos are you doing?
How many people are making speeches?
What’s your ceremony run time?
Will there be a cocktail hour?
Does your venue have a curfew?
Will there be an afterparty?
No two weddings are the same so there’s a whole lot to consider, I recommend making a list of the order of events and then asking your dream team to help you with allocating time to each thing.
Travel time
If you’re not getting ready at your venue, if you’re ceremony location is different to your reception location and if you’re travelling for photos then these are times that all have to be factored in, we recommend trying to keep everything as close as possible so your photo and video time doesn’t get chewed up on the road.
Use your vendors
Absolutely utilise your vendors, that’s what we’re here for! Your venue has a pretty good idea of how things generally run there, your photographer and videographer are across the best time for sunset photos and how long the first look takes, your DJ or band know the best set times so they’re playing to a full dance floor rather than when dinner is being served. Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Do have buffers
It’s pretty rare that an entire day runs smoothly no matter how meticulously you’ve planned it, hair and makeup runs overtime because your mum is busy running around, family photos take forever because Uncle Bob hit the bar even though you called him and sent him 3 SMS reminders about it. There’s things that can’t be helped so instead of sweating it, plan for things to take a little longer. If you’ve got a good photo and video team *wink wink* they’ll be able to work magic even if the time is limited.
Consider your packages
Especially for photography and videography, if you’ve got them for 8 hours and you want all the dance floor magic captured then you hardly want them rocking up at 7am the second your make up artist arrives. A good team *wink wink* will help you create a timeline that captures all the good bits without wasting any of your precious time.
Send it to your vendors
Make sure the whole team is on board, you don’t want your MC announcing speeches when you’re about to sneak away for sunset photos.
How long do photos actually take anyway?
Let’s give you a rundown of what your photographer and videographer’s day typically looks like:
Partner one and two getting ready and detail shots: 30 minutes to 1 hour each.
If either of you are having hair and makeup done we like to arrive before this is finished so we can snap the team at work, once that’s covered we move on to details like shoes, dresses or jackets hanging up, bouquets and button holes, basically all the special things that are gonna make you look next level. Next we’ll get a few photos of you in the crew in your robes or cracking that expensive bottle of scotch or anything else you’ve got going on.
Getting dressed and portraits: 15 to 30 minutes
Don’t freak out, we won’t be in the room filming you getting dressed but we will be near by so that when you’re mostly done we can capture ties being tied, dresses being buttoned up and all that special stuff, once you’re ready to rock and roll we’ll get some portraits with you and your crew in your finest attire!
First look and portraits: 15 to 30 minutes
The first look part is usually done in a matter of minutes but we do like to give you space to take it all in, it’s a pretty huge deal! Once you’ve recovered we’ll get a few happy snaps and if your wedding party is hanging around we’ll get them done and dusted early so you can get to your cocktail hour earlier.
Ceremony setup: 30 minutes
We’ll get over to your ceremony about half an hour before it’s scheduled to start, this gives us time to capture the deets untouched, set up cameras and mic up the important peeps for your wedding film.
Ceremony: 30 minutes
This is how long a typical ceremony takes but your officiant will advise you if it’s going to take longer.
Post ceremony: 20 minutes
We like to give you time to say hey to your guests, grab a drink and soak it all in! 20 minutes probably doesn’t sound like heaps of time but when you have 100 guests all coming for you you’ll appreciate keeping things moving.
Family photos: 2 minutes per group
It’s hard to put a time on this as some couples want lots of different variations and groupings and some couples just want one or two with their families so 2 minutes per group is a good rule to follow.
Hot tip: make sure everyone you want in these formal photos knows ahead of time so they don’t wander straight over to the bar once the ceremony concludes.
Wedding party: 20 minutes
My biggest tip for these photos is to keep it simple, especially if you have a big group. Keep it to one location if you can to save on time and bring some drinks to make it fun!
Couples photos: 20 minutes
Oh, the romance! This is possibly the first time you’ll have a moment with just the two of you so we try to give you as much room as we can while still giving you absolutely swoon worthy shots.
Cocktail hour: 30 minutes
Go mingle and get stuck into the hors d'oeuvres, we’ll be creeping around capturing all the candid stuff.
Reception: 3 hours
We 10 out of 10 recommend jumping straight into the formalities so you can spend the rest of the night relaxing, my favourite way to keep the reception flowing is heading straight into cutting the cake, moving over to your first dance and then doing your speeches.
Once everyone has had dinner and the dance floor has opened up we’ll be zooming around capturing all the shenanigans and shoeys. We usually finish up somewhere between 8.30 and 9.30 and we make sure we get an insane gallery of your friends and fam living their best lives.
Sunset session: 15 minutes
This will be done somewhere during the reception, we like to catch the end of golden hour when the light is soft and flattering AF. You’ll appreciate having a few minutes away from the zillion people who all want to talk to you at the same time.
Hopefully you’ve had a few champers by now so the nerves will have eased and we can focus on the more intimate and dreamy shots.
Sample timeline:
12pm Partner one getting ready/deets
1pm Partner two getting ready/deets
2pm First look/portraits
2.30 ceremony setup/reception details captured
3pm ceremony
3.30 mingling with guests
3.50 family photos
4.10 wedding party/couples portraits
4.50 catch cocktail hour
5.30 reception
6.45 sunset photos
7pm speeches
First dance
Cake cut
8.30 photography and videography end once d floor is pumping
Some parting advice
By now you should be all set to nail your timeline and keep your day running smoothly but we can’t stress enough how important it is go with the flow and just enjoy it! You’re going to be wayyyy too busy to keep an eye on the time to make sure everything is to the minute. That’s what a good coordinator and photo and video team are for so make sure you’ve got a crew that are supportive and happy to help make it the best day ever.
Happy planning!