One of the best ways to be prepared before a wedding day is to have a well-planned timeline. A wedding timeline will help your day flow smoothly, and help mitigate potential delays in the wedding day. A wedding day timeline ensures your day has a good flow to it, lets everyone know where to be when, and makes sure all your guests are well-fed and entertained at the right moments. As a North Carolina-based wedding photographer, it is important to me to ensure your wedding day not only runs smoothly with gorgeous wedding images, but also delivers the best experience possible.
Clayton Wedding Photography | Key Wedding Timeline Questions
The questions below will determine the overall structure of your wedding timeline.
- What time is the sunset on our wedding day?
- Do you want a first look? (Read about the Pro’s and Con’s of a first look here)
- Does your venue have flexibility in our ceremony start time?
- Will your ceremony & reception be in the same location?
The spring wedding timelines below are specifically for weddings that will have a ceremony & a reception in the same location. If your venue and reception will be held at two different locations, additional time should be allocated for a comfortable wedding day for yourself and your guests.
Clayton Wedding Photography | Time Allocation
Before we get to spring wedding timelines, I want to establish general guidelines for wedding day planning. They should be considered when building any wedding day timeline.
- Start Times: Depending on if you are having a first look, and if travel is involved, I recommend starting your wedding day at least 5-6 hours before the ceremony.
- The 30/5 Rule: The 30/5 rule is anything on a normal day that will take 5 minutes, will take 30 minutes on a wedding day. Please keep this in mind when addressing “easy quick 5-minute tasks” and plan accordingly.
- Two Minutes per Person: When trying to understand how much time to allocate for family and wedding party photos, an estimate of two minutes per person should be factored in. This includes transitioning time from one person to the next.
- Do Not Wait Until After the Ceremony for All Major Photography Portraits: the number one mistake I see couples make is scheduling all major photography moments (couples portraits + wedding party + family portraits) after the ceremony. It is highly recommended to properly schedule time throughout the day for your desired wedding images, and not to wait until the end of the evening.
- Hire Professionals & Don’t DIY: While I understand DIY-ing certain items of a wedding, a professional wedding planner is recommended to properly organize each couple’s personal wedding needs.
General Timeline Considerations
- 1 hour for details and getting ready: if there’s one thing I love to photograph, it’s all those wedding day details! When I arrive on-site, the bride is typically in final getting ready stages of hair and makeup, and I spend that time photographing the invitations, shoes, jewelry, and anything else important to the couple!
- 30 minutes for getting dressed: this allows time for all the stages of getting dressed and pictures of the couples separately with their friends and family.
- 30 minutes for first look + couples portraits: if you would like to forgo a first look, 30 minutes should still be allocated throughout the wedding day for just you two.
- 30 minutes for family photos: this is for family photos on each side of the family. For instance, the bride with just her parents, the groom with just his parents, and combined family portraits with grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Family photos can take place before or after a first look, and can be done in sections to accommodate the wedding day flow.
- 30 minutes for wedding party portraits: these photos can be wrapped in with getting ready or around a first look.
- 20 minutes for sunset portraits: a must on your wedding day!
- Travel time: if everything is in one location, this makes this nice and easy! If you’re going to 2-3 locations on your wedding day, it’s critical you note this time in your timeline and determine how people will get where they’re going! Many times when things run behind on a wedding day, it’s because people weren’t sure where they needed to be or how they were supposed to get to their destination.
Spring Wedding Timeline Without a First Look
7:20 PM sunset
Ideal ceremony time – 5:00 PM
2:00: Details and getting ready
3:00: Get dressed + bridal portraits
3:45: Individual family portraits
4:15: Wedding party portraits
4:45: Bride + Groom relax / photograph ceremony site and guests entering
5:00: Ceremony
5:30 – 6:00: Extended family portraits
6:00 – 7:00: Married couple portraits + free time at cocktail hour
7:00: Grand entrance into reception
Spring Wedding Timeline With a First Look
7:20 PM sunset
Ideal ceremony time – 5:00 PM
12:00: Details & getting ready
2:00: Bridal portraits
2:30: First look + couples portraits
3:15: Individual family portraits
4:00: Wedding party portraits
4:30: Bride & groom relax / photograph ceremony site and guests entering
5:00: Ceremony
5:30 – 6:15: Extended family portraits
6:15– 7:00 Married couple portraits + free time at cocktail hour
7:00: Grand entrance into reception
I hope this article was helpful as each couple has an individual approach to their day. While working on your Clayton wedding photography planning process, be sure to check these other helpful articles:
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