Wedding Day Photography Timeline | South Jersey Wedding Photographer

Today’s blog is about your wedding day photography timeline.  Each wedding will vary greatly but this is a general timeline with some great tips, tricks, and expectations! For each wedding, I like to add “padded” time to ensure your day flows smoothly.  Unfortunately, things don’t always go as they are planned on wedding days. Dresses rip, hair goes wrong, flowers are late.  With a padded wedding day photography timeline, we can avoid any further issues by staying on track and keeping you calm, cool and collected!  A relaxed bride will always take the best photos! The below is a sample timeline that does not include travel times, please make sure to account for travel when making your wedding day photography timeline!

RINGS, FLOWERS, DRESS, SHOES, AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS

*Ideal Amount Of Time – 30/45 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning/Early Afternoon
* Ideal Location – Where ever bride is getting ready will work as long as we have a clean, clutter free space near a window.

* Advice – Having at least 30/45 minutes for details ensures that we have plenty of time to get that amazing photos of the dress, rings, shoes, bouquets, and the other details of the day. There are times when a hotel room is too crowded or messy; we then to take the details elsewhere which adds additional time but is often worth it!

*Tips- Make sure to have all three rings with you!  Have one box/bright colored bag full of all of your details: jewlery, garter, shoes, invites, rings, perfume, invites and so on.  Keeping everything in one location will speed things up and keep chaos to a minimum.

 

BRIDAL PREP

* Ideal Amount Of Time– 45 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or early afternoon
* Ideal Location – Anywhere open, clean and with natural light

* Advice – Having 45 minutes to an hour of preparation is ideal.. During this time, we are getting close ups of the makeup and hair being applied as well as the candid moments and the bridesmaids and groomsmen get ready for the day. Keep in mind that these are some of the most emotional and fun times of the day, so you don’t want to cut it short.The lead shooter will be with the bride while the second shooter will be with the groom. While it doesn’t take guys an hour to get dressed, there are still tons of great moments during this time between the groom and his family and friends.

*Tip – have the bridesmaids write their initials on the tag of their dress. When many are the same they often get mixed up after being used for detail images.  Also if your dress has buttons make sure you have a crochet hook.  You can thank me later for this tip!

INDIVIDUAL PORTRAITS

* Ideal Amount of Time-– 20-30 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or Early Afternoon
* Ideal Location – Anywhere with natural window light on indirect sunlight/shade.

* Advice – Right after prep is the best time for individual portraits of the bride and groom (separately). Besides makeup and hair being completely fresh, the day hasn’t gotten hectic yet so we can take our time and get those perfect portraits.  Also, keep in mind that the window lighting in most hotel rooms creates a unique look that can’t be duplicated in any environment throughout the rest of the day.

FIRST LOOK AND DAYTIME COUPLES SESSION

* Ideal Amount of Time – 30 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or Early Afternoon
* Ideal Location – Somewhere with windows and natural light or shade

* Advice – The first look should be around 30  minutes. During this time, the bride and groom enjoy seeing each other for the first time on the wedding day. While the actual first look might only be 5-10 minutes, the rest of the time is spent on a few basic portraits of the bride and groom. Ideally, we are saving the bulk of the couples session for later (see the “couples session” section below). However, if there is no other time in the day, it is best to allocate 45 minutes to an hour here so that we make sure we have enough photos of just you two.

WEDDING PARTY PHOTOS

* Ideal Amount of Time – 30 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or Afternoon
* Ideal Location -Indoors with windows or share

* Advice – Wedding Party Photos should be around 30 minutes. During this time, we get a variety of shots in a variety of poses. We start off with the basic, classic photos focused on great expressions and lighting. Then we move into a set of fun and creative shots. Finally, we know how much your wedding party means to you, so if time allows we  love to get pictures with you and each one of your bridesmaids or groomsmen individually.

 

IMMEDIATE FAMILY

* Ideal Amount of Time– 20 minutes
* Ideal Time of the Day – Morning or Afternoon
* Ideal Location -Natural window light or shade.

* Advice – Immediate Family Photos should take  20 minutes.  Often times this 20 minutes turns into 40 because family members were not told when and where to be for portraits. Make sure family members know where they are expected to be to help your day run smooth!

COUPLES SESSION

*Ideal Time Allotment – 30 – 45  minutes

* Ideal Time of the Day – Late Afternoon (Sunset)

* Ideal Location – Venue Garden, Beach, Hotel Lobby, Park

* Advice – Couple session should be around 30-45 minutes and should take place ideally 30 to 45 minutes before sunset. The is the best time in terms of lighting.  If your wedding is in downtown or in an area with tall buildings, it’s not as important for us to have this specific time frame (although it still helps). If you booked your venue because of the awesome view of the ocean or its epic setting, it’s very helpful to follow this advice in your timeline. I understand this timeline idea may not work for many couples. If that is the case I ask you to add additional time earlier in the day for couples photos and allow 15-20 minutes near sunset to go outside if your venue has a pretty area we can sneak to during your reception!

RECEPTION DETAIL AND VENUE

* Ideal Time Allotment – Cocktail Hour
* Ideal Time of the Day – Early Evening
* Ideal Location – Ceremony Site

* Advice – During cocktail hour we focus on the evening’s details and gearing up for your celebration!

 

A special thank you to the website Linda and Jrisa Photography where I found this easy to follow template and flow for this blog post! I revamped my original post to follow theirs because I found it so easy to follow and full of so much information!