Building the timeline for your wedding day can feel like a pretty daunting task, especially if you've never done anything like it before! But I'm here to help any way I can, and after 15 years in the wedding industry I definitely have a lot of insight into what makes a great timeline (which equals a smooth wedding day), and lots of insight into what can derail your celebrations.

Building your timeline

Before you begin, think about how you want your day to FEEL.

Put your notebook down, grab a glass of wine, and close your eyes. Imagine it's your wedding day, you're moving through it, from getting ready all the way to the dancing. How do you want your wedding day to FEEL. What is most important to you? Is it getting epic photos in a far-off location, is it hugging every single guest and having time to chat, is it drinking in a limo with your besties? No matter what it is, the way plan the flow of your day will affect the way you feel that day, and when you're reflecting on it down the road.


I you're anything like me, I dreaded the idea of being photographed in front of all of our wedding guests, but I also didn't want to miss out on cocktail hour AND my husband didn't want to see me before the ceremony, so we opted to do our wedding portraits at our favourite camping spot a few days after the wedding. It's unusual, sure, but I can't tell you how much I loved the experience! My husband and I got ready together, we had all the time in the world, we were still very much in our wedding haze and there was zero pressure. I've done this with a few clients now and can't recommend it enough! 

Omg, we're so nervous about wedding photos

If you're a bit of an introvert and know you'll need a breather, doing your portraits after the ceremony is a great idea. You get to sneak away from all of the chaos and when you get back from portraits you're ready for round two of everyones excitement.

your wedding day is NOT JUST ABOUT PHOTOS. You might think you're supposed to be whisked away for 2 hours in the middle of the day when everyone else is having fun, but that doesn't have to be how your wedding day goes. If your goal with photos is for me to capture the candids, the hugs, the emotion of your day with your guests that love you so much then we can absolutely make sure that's the focus. For couples that feel like this is the most them option (you know who you are my "we're so awkward in front of the camera" peeps) I suggest skipping those long portrait times, schedule in 30 mins for wedding party photos at some point during cocktail hour, and then another 20 mins for just the two of you, and the rest of the day will be all candids full of love.

Your wedding is not just about photos

If seeing every guest and having a drink at cocktail hour is important to you I'd suggest doing all of your portraits before your ceremony. This allows you to soak up as much time as possible with your guests while they eat the food and play the lawn games that you've paid for! If this is the route that feels best for you I'd also suggest carving out 20 minutes around sunset for some evening portraits. The light is better than time of day so you'll get the perfect balance of fun daytime portraits and romantic evening portraits alone.

How to maximize time with guests

Things to Consider

For all of you introverts

Light is like, THE most important part of photography. I mean, I literally can't take photos without it so choosing the right time of day to do your portraits will make all the difference in the photos you get.

Because light is so important I like to suggest (well, request) that portraits be scheduled for a time of day when the light is at its best, which means not at high noon. The best times are in the later afternoon when the sun is a bit lower, or in the hour or two before sunset. For the couples portraits sunset is the most magical time, so fitting a bit of time at sunset can definitely pay off! If your timeline doesn't allow for scheduling around the best lighting feel free to ask me about our options, or to run through your timeline with you. I can work with pretty much anything but, again... we could do EPIC!


Let's talk about light...

While your planner will be a huge help in planning your day, the photography timelines can vary wildly between photographers, so below you'll find some examples of timing for certain portions of your day, based on my own experience. Keep in mind, these may not all apply to you, but it should get you started.

Remember, these are just timelines for the photos, you'll have a whole other timeline for the rest of the days events.

Here are my suggested time blocks for the different "typical" parts of a photography schedule:

Getting Ready: 45 mins

First Look: 20 minutes if we are just doing the first glimpse at each other then heading to the ceremony, 30-40 mins if we're including portraits together of the couple, and 1hr if we're doing first look, portraits of the couple AND adding in wedding party members.

Ceremony: typically 20-30 mins

Family Photos: 20-30 mins for up to 15 different groups. Anything more than that and you'd want to add another 10 mins or so.

Couples Portraits: 20-60 mins. This depends on location, travel time, and wether or not the wedding party is travelling with us. If we're adding the wedding party in for this part of the session you'll want to add an extra 30 mins.

Sunset Session: 20-40 mins. If we're able to say on location and the light is right we can sneak away for 20 mins to get some epic evening portraits. It's the perfect time to sneak away and take a breather together while soaking in the excitement of the day, and the re-entering the party for a fresh wave of excitement.

Any further timing like the dinner, reception, speeches, etc would depend on your other vendors timing (like catering, etc), and they'll be able to give you a better idea of what to expect.




Lean on your Vendors!