Custom Wedding Day Timeline | Free Guide
Creating custom wedding day photography timelines for our couples has been one of the most beneficial services that we can give.
We base all of our timelines on three important things.
First, how many hours of coverage the couple has.
Second, when their ceremony and reception begin.
Third, whether or not they will have a first look. Once we know the details for each of those parts of their day we can then build their custom timeline.
Once we have detail photos, bridesmaids with robes, bridesmaids getting dressed, bride getting into her dress, bridal party photos, the bride with the bridesmaids and bridal portraits and bride alone in her getting ready space we add in what’s next. If there is no first look we will then put in travel time, pack up time and head to the church or to the ceremony location for that downtime of 30 minutes during music before the ceremony.
During cocktail hour we will get untouched reception photos and possibly do a reception reveal, portraits of the couple in the reception space.
After cocktail hour is complete we will schedule their entrance, into cake cutting, into first dance, into toast and blessings and then dinner is served. Obviously some of our couples change that order depending on what their entertainment or DJ suggests and recommends. At that point we go along with whatever that recommendation and preference is.
A few other very important things to remember…
1. Make sure to give yourself the full 30 minutes of the bride getting into the dress.
2. Make sure to always give yourself extra drive time.
3. Make sure to give everybody time to clean things up if traveling from one place to another.
4. If possible, try to put in some wiggle room as well.
We also like to send couples reminders of the timeline. We send them a beautiful guide that showcases their timeline, their families formals, their vendor list and if there are any requested photos that they may have given. The timeline guide also includes our contact information, all of the locations with the addresses that they will be at on their day.
If you would like to grab a copy of that guide we have that for fellow wedding photographers to customize for their couples as well! We hope that this is helpful for you and if you would like to grab our free timeline guide to review multiple timeline scenarios and sample flushed out timelines you can find that freebie here!
Courtney and Robert Cannon are husband and wife wedding photographers located in Ohio service kind hearted wedding couples. They are the host of The Graceful Gathering, a style boutique conference for wedding photographers looking to impact couples for generations to come.