I think one of the trickiest parts of wedding planning can be the timeline. How do you lay out your wedding day? Haha or how do you lay out your wedding day that makes everyone happy and you make sure you have a fun and stress free day? That’s the real question :) When there are so many factors and things to consider (traditions, logistics, opinions from others) it can be daunting to even know where to start. That’s where I come in! I always tell my couples how you can lay out your wedding day however you want, so lets ask the right questions to make sure that happens.
1 - What parts of the wedding day are most important to you? I know it sounds obvious, but have you thought about parts of the day you really want to experience? Are there certain things that will just make you stressed or anxious? For some of my couples they really want to be at cocktail hour to have that time with their family and friends. Awesome! We just need to do a first look so we can do all of the important portraits before the ceremony.
2 - What photographs or types of photographs are important to you? I’m going to dig a little more in to this one since there are so many options and part of the day to consider…
Do you want your details photographed before you get dressed? This is your dress, shoes, jewelry, stationary, rings, etc. You have spent a lot of time planning these details and some can have lots of sentimental meaning, of course you want those documented to tell a complete story of your day! To do this though I need 45-60 minutes. Yes, that sounds like a huge block of time, but to find the right spot with a nice background, good lighting, and then to style those items it just takes time.
How long will it take to get in to your dress? Some are a quick 2 minute zip but some dresses are 15-20 minutes of hooks and buttons. After you put on the dress (this is when things feel very real!) then you still need to put on jewelry, shoes, and have hugs and toasts with those helping you get ready :) Do you also want to do a first look with any parents or friends? Even with the quickest 2 minute zip up dress I still would allocate 20 minutes to get dressed with considering final touches and getting bags ready to leave.
What kind of portraits do you want? While we don’t always have a ton of flexibility with this, it’s still important to think about the time of day and where we will be doing portraits. Will we be doing portraits in the middle of the day with harsh bright light? Do you want that soft, warm, glowy light at sunset? Most of the time the bride and groom portraits get split up in to (2) 20-25 minute blocks. One before/after the ceremony and one around sunset.
Do you want all of the events of the reception photographed? I don’t need to be there all night, but if you would like those fun dancing/party pictures you should plan on having me photograph 30-60 minutes of the reception once the party begins! Do you want a sparkler exit? No worries! Lets do it right before I leave and then everyone goes right back to dancing and having a great time :)
3 - What other things do I need to factor in to my timeline? Travel! Driving times and even time to walk to/from locations. Also know that if anything is going to run late on your wedding day it is going to be from 3 sources: hair/make-up taking longer, your ceremony not starting on time because of guests arriving late, and the family and friends that just can’t seem to be on time for anything. Haha and we love them for for it! To solve this just schedule little time buffers and add on a little extra time. I even had a bride put in her invites that her ceremony was starting at 4:00pm when we knew it wasn’t starting until 4:15 because she knew her family was never on time. Genius!
I am very good at managing the day and keeping everything going and on time, however if we can plan ahead of time for all of these things then we can ensure you not only get all of the beautiful images that you want, but your wedding day will also be stress free for everyone because we won’t be rushed or worried about fitting everything in!