Coming up with a wedding timeline can be confusing, discouraging, and something you put off til the last minute because you don’t know where to start! Have no fear, I’m here to help. Over the years of being a wedding photographer and videographer, I’ve learned a thing or two about wedding timelines and how the wedding day actually flows (it doesn’t always go to plan, but that’s to be expected on a day where there’s so many moving parts). There are a few things you can do to make sure your wedding day flows as smoothly as possible and you’re left feeling relaxed and calm rather than stressed and overwhelmed.

Today, we are going to focus primarily on photography related timelines, though I’ve added a few questions to ask your vendors so you can add those details into your timeline for a more comprehensive look of your day!

Things to ask your vendors:

• How long should hair and makeup take?
• When will the florals be arriving? (this is important if you want them included in details photos)
• What time will the caterer arrive and how long will it take to set up for dinner?
• What time is sunset? (if you want gold hour photos on your wedding day)
• What time will the ceremony decor be set up?
• What time will the reception decor be set up?
• What time will the photographer arrive and when does the coverage end?

There are many more questions to ask, but hopefully, these get you started on details you want to know on your wedding day that you might not have thought about.

Creating a complete wedding timeline for your big day

When I build the initial timeline for my couples, I always start with the ceremony time and work backward. This is the easiest way to avoid having to shift the start time over and over to accommodate everything leading up to the ceremony.

First Look or No First Look

First Look Before the Ceremony

If you’re planning on having a first look before the ceremony, you’ll likely be able to get most (if not all) of your portraits completed before the ceremony. This allows for you to enjoy cocktail hour with your friends and family and start enjoying the day as your photographer shifts from taking organized photos to more documentary photos.

Couples who have a first look often comment about how seeing each other before the ceremony helped with their nerves and also gave them more time to spend with their now husband or wife on their wedding day. Most people don’t realize it, but on your wedding day, if you don’t have a first look, you actually spend most of the day separate.

First Look Down the Aisle

If you’ve always dreamed of seeing each of other for the first time down the aisle, that is amazing! Here at Beneath The Spruce, we preach that it’s your wedding day, and ultimately, we want you to be happy.

The main difference with choosing to have your first look be down the aisle, is that you won’t be able to do group photos before the ceremony. This means you’ll likely have to take group photos during cocktail hour. While most couples don’t mind this (it’s pretty standard), some want to enjoy cocktail hour with their guests. If this is the case, I recommend going with a first look and trying to get all of the group photos before the ceremony (including family pictures).

Ceremony Length

Another thing to take into account when planning your wedding timeline is the ceremony length. The average wedding ceremony length is between 15-30 minutes, usually leaning closer to the 20 minute mark. If you’re planning on a shorter ceremony, a 6-hour or 8-hour wedding collection could possibly work for you. If you’re planning on having a long catholic mass, I recommend the 8-hour collection or 10-hour collection to make sure you have enough time before and after the ceremony for the photos you want.

What Time to Put as the Ceremony Start Time

A common theme at weddings is that people run late or arrive just on time–right when your wedding party is scheduled to start walking down the aisle. A way to prevent this is to put your ceremony start time fifteen minutes earlier on the invites or put a reminder for guests to arrive 15-30 minutes before the listed ceremony start time. This will usually get most people to the ceremony on time.

Portraits

Portraits are the most posed part of your day and can take place before or after the ceremony depending on whether or not you plan on having a first look. Portraits can include: bridal portraits, bride and bridesmaids portraits, groom portraits, groom and groomsmen portraits, full wedding party portraits, bride and groom portraits, and family portraits. While ideally, I would love to have 30 minutes for each set of portraits, I know that isn’t always possible. Here’s what I recommend:

• Bridal portraits: 10-15 minutes
• Bride + Bridesmaid portraits: 20 minutes
• Groom portraits: 10 minutes
• Groom + Groomsmen portraits: 20 minutes
• Combined Wedding Party portraits: 20 minutes
• Bride + Groom portraits: 30-45 minutes
• Family portraits: 20-45 minutes
• Golden hour portraits: 15-30 minutes

NOTE: If all the wedding party portraits (bride + bridesmaids, groom + groomsmen, and wedding party) are combined, all of them can be completed in about 30-45 minutes.

Family Portraits

If you are trying to take family portraits before the ceremony, send out a time to show up along with the color scheme (if you want your family to wear a certain color) with the invitation. You can do this by adding a simple paper slip into the invite or get a little fancy by printing a business card with the family portrait details from somewhere like canva. (You can get 50 cards printed for under $20.)

If you are planning on taking family portraits after the ceremony, have your officiant announce (immediately after the recessional) for the family to stay behind in the ceremony space to have family pictures taken. This is the best way for family photos to fly by quickly.

Golden Hour Portraits

Consider the time of year you’re getting married and how this effects the potential for golden hour portraits! If you’re getting married in the winter and the sun sets at 4:30 pm, you’re likely going to want to have an earlier ceremony–2-3 pm–to make sure you have enough light for photos, especially if you aren’t planning on having a first look.

Golden hour portraits are a wonderful time for you to regroup with your new spouse and take a few minutes away from the dance floor to bask in the romance of the day.

Example Timelines

When I refer to the 6-hour wedding day, the 8-hour wedding day, and the 10-hour wedding day, I’m referring to the wedding photography collections I offer. Venue set-up and tear-down take place before, during, and after this coverage along with a lot of other vendor roles on your wedding day. These are times you’ll have to collect and insert into your timeline separate from the photography timeline.

6-Hour Wedding Day

The 6-hour wedding day collection is designed for those who want the end of getting ready photos (the bride getting in her dress) to the beginning of the reception. On a wedding day, 6 hours flies by a lot faster than you may realize and there’s less time to budget towards reception events. However, it is still possible to have most of the reception events covered if they are timed correctly.

All-Inclusive Venues

For 6-hour wedding days, it is almost always essential for the ceremony and reception to happen at the same location. There is very little wiggle room in a 6-hour wedding collection, so there’s no time to figure out how people are getting from location to location.

The 6-Hour Wedding Day with a First Look

1:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:30 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

2:45 pm: First look with groom

3:00 pm: Wedding party portraits

3:30 pm: Bride and groom portraits

4:00 pm: Ceremony!!

4:30 pm: Family portraits

5:00 pm: Grand entrance into reception

5:30 pm: Dinner begins

6:30 pm: Dancing + reception Events

7:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

The 6-Hour Wedding Day without a First Look

1:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:30 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

2:45 pm: Groom + groomsmen portraits

3:00 pm: Bride + bridesmaid portraits

3:30 pm: Ceremony!!

4:00 pm: Family portraits

4:30 pm: Bride + groom portraits

5:00 pm: Grand entrance into reception

5:30 pm: Dinner begins

6:30 pm: Dancing + reception Events

7:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

The 8-Hour Wedding Day

The 8-hour wedding day is the most traditional, starting with the end of getting ready photos and ending on the dance floor. (If you want your grand exit photographed during an 8-hour day, I recommend having a mock grand exit). The 8-hour wedding day gives enough time for all the important moments to be photographed plus a little extra.

This 8-hour example timeline is for a summer wedding when golden hour is around 8:30-8:45 pm in Rapid City, South Dakota. If you’re curious about what time sunset is on your wedding day, I recommend using timeanddate.com to track the precise timing.

The 8-Hour Wedding Day with a First Look

1:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:15 pm: Bridal portraits

2:45 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

3:00 pm: Groom portraits

3:15 pm: First look with groom

3:30 pm: Wedding party portraits

4:00 pm: Bride and groom portraits

4:30 pm: Ceremony!!

5:00 pm: Family portraits

5:30 pm: Grand entrance into reception

6:00 pm: Dinner begins

7:00 pm: Dancing + reception Events

8:10 pm: Golden hour portraits

9:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

The 8-Hour Wedding Day without a First Look

1:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:15 pm: Bridal portraits

2:45 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

3:00 pm: Groom getting ready

3:10 pm: Groom portraits

3:20 pm: Groom + groomsmen portraits

3:50 pm: Bride + bridesmaid portraits

4:30 pm: Ceremony!!

5:00 pm: Family portraits

5:30 pm: Bride + groom portraits

6:00 pm: Grand entrance into reception

6:30 pm: Dinner begins

7:30 pm: Dancing + reception Events

8:10 pm: Golden hour portraits

9:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

The 10-Hour Wedding Day

The 10-hour wedding day starts at the end of hair and makeup and goes on to the grand exit. This allows plenty of time for everything on your wedding day, including a little bit of buffer time to make sure everything flows by smoothly.

The 10-Hour Wedding Day with a First Look

12:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

1:00 pm: Bride + bridesmaid pajama photos + gifts

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:15 pm: Bridal portraits

2:45 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

3:00 pm: Groom portraits

3:15 pm: First look with groom

3:30 pm: Wedding party portraits

4:00 pm: Bride and groom portraits

4:30 pm: Ceremony!!

5:00 pm: Family portraits

5:30 pm: Grand entrance into reception

6:00 pm: Dinner begins

7:00 pm: Dancing + reception Events

8:10 pm: Golden hour portraits

9:30 pm: Grand exit!!

10:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

The 10-Hour Wedding Day without a First Look

12:00 pm: Photographer coverage begins/detail photos

1:00 pm: Bride + bridesmaid pajama photos + gifts

2:00 pm: Bride puts on dress

2:15 pm: Bridal portraits

2:45 pm: First look with dad + bridesmaids

3:00 pm: Groom getting ready

3:10 pm: Groom portraits

3:20 pm: Groom + groomsmen portraits

3:50 pm: Bride + bridesmaid portraits

4:30 pm: Ceremony!!

5:00 pm: Family portraits

5:30 pm: Bride + groom portraits

6:00 pm: Grand entrance into reception

6:30 pm: Dinner begins

7:30 pm: Dancing + reception Events

8:10 pm: Golden hour portraits

9:30 pm: Grand exit!!

10:00 pm: Photography coverage ends

Why a 10-Hour wedding day can be stress-free (or as close to it as you can be)

A 10-hour wedding day allows for plenty of buffer time. This means that when hair and makeup is taking longer than you thought it would, or you’re having a hard time wrangling your wedding party and family members for portraits, you have a little bit of buffer time at the beginning and end of your timeline that allows for these delays.

Also, on 10-hour days, you have a little more down time to relax and enjoy your wedding day with your new spouse! Your wedding day isn’t all about the photos or videos. It’s about you and your future husband or wife saying your vows and celebrating with friends and family. While not always the case, shorter wedding days can make you feel rushed and a little detached from the day as a whole.

Wedding Planners and How They Come into Play

While the photography timeline is detailed, it’s not as detailed as something a wedding planner would put together, which is why I always recommend hiring a wedding planner if it’s in the budget. I know it’s a large expense and not everyone can afford or even wants to invest in wedding planning services, which is perfectly fine. Some wedding planners offer a la carte services, such as timeline planning and our next topic…

Day of Coordinator

If you don’t go with a full blown wedding planning company, I highly recommend a day of coordinator. This is someone who helps keep all the ducks in a row on the wedding day and makes sure that people know where to be and when they need to be there. This can take a lot of stress off of you as the bride or groom–knowing that a professional is taking the reins behind the scenes and making sure the cake isn’t melting on the counter, the bouquets are tucked away until pictures and the ceremony, the caterer arrives, etc. (While I try to be as many places as I can at once as the wedding photographer, there’s only so much I can do and my priority is the couple.) Day of coordinators do a lot at the fraction of the cost of a full-blown wedding planner. 

There are literally infinite ways to set up your wedding timeline, so take your time to tailor it to fit your needs and make your wedding day flow by effortlessly. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer and/or videographer, we would love to work with you! Go ahead and hop on over to our contact page, fill out the short form, and we’ll be in contact to make some magic happen!

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