How To Plot Your Wedding Timeline

Wedding timeline top tips

I’ve been so lucky to photograph so many different weddings, so here’s a few tips to make sure you have enough time to relax, have fun, and get awesome photographs along the way.

1 -Start at Sunset

Why am I starting here?! Depending on the time of year, will determine how much time you have before the sun goes down for pictures, and this can have a huge impact on your photographs and the running order of your day. An hour before sunset is golden hour, perfect for beautiful and romantic portraits.

Having a winter ceremony at 3pm? The sun will have set by the time you finish. Having your summer ceremony at 12pm? That can leave a very long time between your ceremony and dinner/party.

So start from what time you want to sit down for dinner and work back from there, taking into consideration the following.

2 - Getting Ready

Getting pictures of you and your tribe as you get ready is one of my favourite parts of the day! Capturing all the excitement as you drink bubbly, get into your dress and share a moment or two with your loved ones. I’ve captured some of my favourite shots ever at weddings here, from special heirlooms, to mum helping with your veil, taking a moment to yourself before you leave, all such special memories.

Make sure you leave more time to get ready than you think you will need, at least 45 minutes after you’ve got dressed and before any transport arrives. You won’t regret having more time than needed, but you will regret not having enough time!

Top tip: Hire a second photographer if you’d like to capture both of you getting ready - just ask me about this for more information.

3 - Ceremony

Again, this might sound obvious but make sure you leave enough time to get from one venue to another. You don’t want to feel rushed from your prep to your ceremony! If your day is all happening in one venue, I still recommend leaving a nice wedge of time between each stage so that you can take it all in - if your venue has a wedding co-ordinator, or you’re working with a planner, they can also help plot your day.

As for your ceremony, take this opportunity to be yourselves, and do things your way. In my experience, ceremonies tend to be between 30 - 60 minutes depending on readings and songs etc.

Top tip: I highly recommend leaving at least 1.5 hours between your ceremony and dinner to make sure you can relax with your guests, and we can plot time in for your group shots and portraits, and any fun extras in between.

4 - Confetti

SO MUCH FUN! I would highly recommend plotting in a 10 minute slot for a really awesome confetti shot. There are so many ways you can do confetti, it doesn’t have to be while you’re coming up the aisle either.
One of my most favourite ways to do confetti shots, is to do this after post-ceremony drinks, to have you both in the middle with your guests forming a circle and chucking LOTS (I’m talking way more than you think would do the job!) high into the air and letting it fall on you!

Top tip: Buy twice as much confetti as you think you need, the individual bags of confetti often come with the teeeenest handful. Confetti cannons can also be a great alternative. PS: White petal confetti looks best if you’re going for floral confetti.

5 - Group shots

I love candid, documentary style photographs, but I also provide group shots.
It’s really important to take some time out, to make sure you have gorgeous pictures of your nearest and dearest. These are the shots those closest to you will want on their walls alongside other family and friends wedding photos. Make sure you have a bridesmaid, usher etc who can be on hand to help gather people. I am more than happy to help here, but it will absolutely help your group shots run smoothly if we have someone to gather people while I do the actual photography thing. It might not seem like something that takes long to photograph, but imagine herding up your aunts, uncles, cousins, best pals etc when there’s yummy canapés and bubbly floating around!

Want some Solange Knowles, Vogue worthy group shots? Grab some pretty chairs and let’s make this truly gorgeous!

Top tip: I suggest no more than 10 group shots, and a max of 30 minutes, so that you’re not away from your guests and celebrations for too long, but still get the important shots.

6 - Your Portraits

Booking an engagement shoot is the perfect way to understand how this works, so come your day you know exactly what to expect. We get to chat and have fun, and you get an idea of what it’s like to have your photo taken and I promise it’s not as scary as you think. So why is it important to plot time in for these? My couples often tell me they dread the thought of having to be dragged away for hours - this is not how I do things!
Imagine this, we go for a little wander, away from the hubbub of your celebrations for some quality time to take in your day so far. It’s just you and me, making sure we get some gorgeous, relaxed photographs you’ll be proud to show off.
I always scope out your wedding venue before the day, and local area if need be, to have some ideas of awesome spots for your portraits. I suggest about 30 minutes for these, but of course we can be longer and take in more spots if you like!

Top tip: Allow yourself this time to feel fabulous! It is 100% acceptable to be a total badass in your wedding photographs, it’s also 100% acceptable to be totally loved up in your own way.

7 - Let sparks fly!

For your evening celebrations, along with your speeches, cake and first dance, one really fun thing to plot in is a sparkler exit!
A sparkler exit can be a perfect way to end the day. Imagine confetti with sparkers and you get the idea! It’s a really fun way to book end your day, especially if you aren’t having a first dance, and a great ‘last shot of the day’. Or if you’re feeling extra, what about some fireworks?

Top tip: Have a bucket of sand ready for when the sparklers burn out!