This week’s blog share comes from Ralph Deal Photography on what to know about a wedding photographer’s timeline. Featured in our “Top Picks for Photographers” post, he has some bridal advice for your wedding day. Keep reading for information on what to expect for a wedding day photography timeline.
Every wedding has a different timeline so it’s difficult to create a standard wedding day photography timeline template.
There are however, similar parts of every wedding day no matter the time of year or culture of your wedding. The following are ideal time frames to keep in mind when we plan your timeline. If they seem a little long, keep in mind that many weddings run slightly behind schedule and the day will absolutely fly by.
And we’ll be having so much fun that it won’t seem like a long time!
Rings, Dress, and Other Details
Ideal Time Allotment: 30 Minutes
Location: Bridal/Hotel Suite
30 minutes gives us enough time to get beautiful shots of your rings, dress and other details. Sometimes the hotel room is too crowded or not aesthetically pleasing so we’ll take the dress to another room, the lobby or sometimes outside (with your permission of course!).
Detail shots are an important part of your wedding day story and make for great transitions from one part of the day to the next in your album.
We’ll spend this hour getting candid moments of the bridesmaids and groomsman as they are getting ready for the day as well as the final moments of the makeup being applied to the bride. Images of the bride being buttoned/zipped up and putting on her jewelry on are also captured during this time.
I am with the bride and my second photographer is with the groom. Some of the most emotional moments of the day happen during this time so don’t cut it short!
First Look, Bride/Groom Session and Individual Portraits
Ideal Time Allotment: 60-90 Minutes
Location: Choose a location that is not logistically far from the ceremony/reception.
Transportation is the number one time killer on a wedding day. It would be wonderful to go to multiple locations around the city or in the suburbs in a few minutes but with weekend traffic, it just doesn’t work that way. Make sure you’re leaving at least one hour in your wedding day photography timeline for us to capture your first look, standard and creative images of the two of you as well as individual portraits (bride and groom separately).
Getting Ready
Ideal Time Allotment: 60 Minutes
Location: Bridal/Hotel Suite, Master Bedroom at home
We’ll spend this hour getting candid moments of the bridesmaids and groomsman as they are getting ready for the day as well as the final moments of the makeup being applied to the bride. Images of the bride being buttoned/zipped up and putting on her jewelry on are also captured during this time.
I am with the bride and my second photographer is with the groom. Some of the most emotional moments of the day happen during this time so don’t cut it short!
Bridal Party
Ideal Time Allotment: 30 minutes
Location: Same location as Bride/Groom session
During this time we’ll get individual shots of you with each of your bridesmaids and groomsman then move on to the basic, classic poses of the entire bridal party.
We’ll then finish with a set of fun and creative shots that will give everyone the chance to show off their individual personality!
Immediate Family
Ideal Time Allotment: 30 minutes
Location: Park, Venue lobby/garden, off site location
Immediate family photos are a very important part of your wedding day and we want to make sure we capture enough images with them. Remember that your not just a bride and groom on your wedding day but a daughter and son as well! And just to be clear: immediate family means your parents, siblings (and their spouses) and grandparents.
Ceremony Details
Ideal Time Allotment: 15-30 minutes
Location: Ceremony site
We like to arrive at the ceremony location 30 minutes before the ceremony to photograph the site completely set up before any guests arrive. This way we will capture the scene at its best.
Reception Details
Ideal Time Allotment: 30 minutes
Location: Reception site
We like to capture the reception room completely set up 30 minutes before the guests enter to capture the beauty of the room. This includes details like the cake, centerpieces, menus etc.
Reception Night Shots
Ideal Time Allotment: 15-30 minutes
Location: Areas near venue with interesting lights, textures, cityscapes.
If you like the night photography we deliver, please plan on sneaking out of the reception for a short period of time. We like to create these images around 30-45 minutes before we finish for the evening, usually before/after the cake cutting.
Besides being a nice quiet time to get away and be alone for a few minutes, these images will provide a beautiful ending to your wedding day story. Please leave time in your wedding day photography timeline for this important set of images!
For the full post and additional photography, check out Ralph Deal’s article here