Timelines

Lets be real, a timeline is either going to make a break your wedding day. Having a well thought out and educated timeline is going to give you peace of mind on your big day, which is exactly what we want! My job as a photographer is to keep you on schedule as you only have a set amount of hours booked. If you have me booked for 8 hours of coverage, my goal, is to have your story told within those 8 hours and not a second later!

I don’t want you to feel rushed. I can help you arrange certain events in a timely manner that could save you hours on photography coverage! We all like to spend a hot dollar on our #bestdayever, but who isn’t down to save some bank?!

Closer to your wedding date, you are going to fill out your QUESTIONNAIRE which will help me coordinate the best schedule for you! Please do this a few weeks prior to your wedding date so we have room for any possible adjustments!

The typical wedding day schedules are as followed:

This may seem a little excessive but if one portion of the day runs late, so will the remainder of the evening! If we start to run behind, it’s always the newlywed formal portion that ends up getting cut short! If you have hired two photographers, please note that the bridal preparation + groom preparation will be shot at the same time. I will be photographing you, while my amazing, but yet patient, second photographer will be wrangling up the groomsmen! We require 2 hours for the bride and min 30 minutes for the groom {we don’t wanna cramp their style and they don’t have pretty perfume bottles + champs!}! Check out the BRIDAL PREPARATION section for further details!

A first look can take fifteen minutes or an hour! If you’re wanting to schedule a first look into your timeline we can do JUST the first look OR we can do ALL of the bridal party formals prior to the ceremony as well. When you chose to do your formals prior to the ceremony, that gives you time to enjoy cocktail hour with your guests! Check out the FIRST LOOK section for further pros and cons on doing one!

A thirty minute ceremony is the most common ceremony length, until you add on the receiving line. If you’re considering a receiving line, keep in mind if you have 120 guests and you spend ONLY 30 seconds greeting each guest; that still takes up 60 minutes. If you insert an unexpected hour delay mid day, this is going to cut your newlywed formals to about 30 seconds. Wah. Please make sure you allot enough time for this if you choose to have a receiving line OR consider Schedule #3! Following Schedule #3 will give you an hour of social time after the ceremony to mingle with guests! Read the CEREMONY page for many more tips!

For family photos, I require 30 minutes of time, keeping in mind that it takes approximately 3-5 minutes per pairing. I don’t require a shot-list but you are more than welcome to send one if you want to add another thing to your ‘to do list’! Also, it’s important to make sure if formals are not at the ceremony site, that you allow for travel time to the new location. Read the FAMILY page for more details and a sample family shot-list!

Bridal Party and newlywed formals take up one hour of time. If you’ll be arriving by limo, leave some extra time for this portion as limos tend to drive a little slower than a normal vehicle or take a longer route so you can enjoy the limos services. Typically I need 20 to 30 minutes with the wedding party and 30 minutes with the bride and groom! During your reception we’ll sneak outside for 5-15 minutes of sunset portraits to take advantage of that glowy golden light! Read the PORTRAITS page for more tips.

The remaining 2-4 hours of our time together will be spent at the reception and we’ll need to use this time wisely! It’s so common to get lost in socializing and get behind schedule during this portion… and the last thing I want is for you to have to add on an extra hour of coverage last minute! Thirty minutes prior to the ceremony, I will photograph your ceremony and reception details {given everything is at the same location, like Stonefields!}. If your reception is at a different location than your ceremony, the second photographer will photograph your details while I’m photographing the formals! Typically, it is best to do the cake cutting right after dinner and speeches to be between courses. Following dinner, we will get right into the first dance and family dances! If things run later than expected I can always stay later but keep note that you will be billed by 15 minute increments ($130/15 minutes).  Read the RECEPTION page for more details and tips!