Planning the biggest event of your life is no easy feat. There are so many things to think through and make decisions on in order to create a smooth plan for the day or weekend. One of those things you have to think through is to create a wedding day timeline that will help you navigate each part of your celebration properly. A great timeline can help you avoid any issues along the way and allow for you to enjoy a seamless affair, but it will also give your photographer the chance to capture candid photos from every portion of the day or weekend. A timeline that doesn’t have room for you to simply be at your wedding and experience the day takes away opportunity for candid moments to happen, and thus, candid moments don’t get captured.

If you’re hiring a wedding planner for your day — and I highly recommend you do — they will be able to give valuable insights into the amount of time needed for the different portions of the day not only for what you and your guests will be doing, but also for every other vendor that will be present

However, if you don’t have a planner or you’re just looking for a bit of extra timeline advice, I have included some guidelines to help you. I have also added some examples of wedding day photo timelines that have worked well in the past so you can use them as a starting point.

When planning your wedding day timeline, it’s a good idea to work backward from your ceremony and decide if you want to do a first look and portraits before the ceremony or if you’d prefer to do all of your photos during cocktail hour. Personally, I recommend doing a first look, as it gives you more time to enjoy the day and reduces stress.

If you choose to do your photos during cocktail hour, be sure to allow at least two hours after the ceremony ends before the reception begins. This ensures you have enough time for family portraits, bridal party photos, and couple’s portraits without feeling rushed. On the other hand, if you’re opting for a first look, I suggest scheduling it about 1.5 to 2 hours before the ceremony starts. If you’re traveling between locations, you may want to add extra time for driving as well.

Pick A Time for The Getting-Ready Phase 

Continuing to work backwards from the first look or ceremony, note what time you need to leave your getting ready location and add a 15 minute buffer to collect your things. You’ll need to talk with your hair and makeup artists to plan exactly how much time they need for each person, and make sure you have at least 45 minutes to get dressed and do a dress reveal and any formal photos you’re wanting. Work in buffer time here as well and make sure you (the bride) are not the last person to be done hair and makeup. The last thing you want is to be behind schedule and have to rush your look.

Take Into Account The Transition Time Between Events 

Many couples forget about the transition time between events during their wedding planning. Your photographer cannot rush from one place to another and catch all the moments if there is not enough time and honestly, neither can you. It takes time to get from the getting ready location to the ceremony, even if it’s on the same property, and usually at least one person needs a bathroom break. Add buffer time between phases of your celebration so you can have enough time for everything and not rush any moment of your big day.

Example Wedding Day Timeline

When you want to create a wedding day timeline that will work perfectly, you need to plan all the events properly and on time. Here is an example of a wedding day timeline that might work for you:

8 am – The men go golfing while the ladies start getting ready

*Make sure you discuss with your stylist how much time they will need for makeup and hair and when they need to start

12pm Getting Ready Photos (Groom & Groomsmen)

1 pm Getting Ready Photos (Bride & Bridesmaids)

1:15 pm Bridesmaids Get Dressed (1:30 pm Bride gets dressed)

1:45 pm Dress Reveal, packing up to leave

2:15 pm – First Look, Bride & Groom Portraits

3:00 pm – Wedding Party Portraits

3:30 pm – Finished all photos, freshen up before ceremony

4 pm – Ceremony (30 mins)

4:30 pm – Mingling, Family Photos (20 mins) & Cocktail Hour (5:50 pm guests invited inside)

6 pm – Reception Begins (Grand Entrance)

6:30 pm – Dinner Begins, Toasts Between Courses

• Golden hour portraits. Research what time the sun will set on your wedding day and subtract at least 30 minutes.

8:30 pm – First Dance, Parent Dances, Party Starts

9:00 pm – Photography Coverage Ends

Final Tip: Timely Scheduling Photo Sessions

As a documentary-style photographer, I like a particular amount of time for each portion of the day, but of course every day is different and the priorities of every couple is different, so the times I allow are a range and we customize each photo timeline for each of our clients.

Here are the general rules of thumb.

60 minutes for each partner’s getting ready. This is enough time to capture all the details and their full looks, along with their bridal party, but not too much time that people feel awkward or nothing is happening.

For the first look, bridal, and family portraits, I plan 15-30 minutes each. I allocate 30-45 minutes for the couple and then 15-20 minutes for sunset portraits. This plan allows me to capture magnificent and unforgettable moments without any rush between events. 

To create a wedding day timeline that allows for genuine candid photos, planning carefully is a must. Chat with your wedding planner and photographer to make sure you’re clear on your priorities for the day and everyone is able to communicate what they recommend to help you have an easy, joy-filled wedding experience.

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“Thank you so so so much for these absolutely breathtaking photos! They are SO beautiful and we absolutely love them! We had such a nice date night slowly going through the photos – smiling, laughing, tearing up, and reliving. We’re having such a hard time picking which ones to print for our walls and which ones to post to our social media because we have over a thousand favourite photos!

Our wedding day was just the most perfect day and to have all these moments and images captured for us is hard to put into words how much this means to us. We have SO much gratitude for you! I think we’ve said it before – but we’ll say it again – having you as part of our wedding day was one of the best decisions we’ve made! You are truly the best, not only for the photographs you produced but as a person by our side during this special time in our lives!

The photos are just perfect, we’re in awe that these are OUR wedding photos! Every moment we wanted captured is there along with countless other moments we’re so blessed to have captured as well.

Anyways, we could literally go on and on about how amazing our photos are and how amazing you are! All so well deserved praise!

Thank you with all of our hearts!

P.S. We backed up our photos onto two hard drives, a computer, iCloud Photos, and Google Photos. These are staying with us forever!”