Planning a wedding is a huge task, and one of the most important pieces—yet most overlooked—is your wedding day timeline. A solid timeline keeps your day on track, ensures you don’t feel rushed, and gives us (your photographers) the right windows to capture all the magic.
Here’s how to build a perfect timeline that balances structure and breathing room.
Start with Your Ceremony Time
Everything revolves around this. Once you know when the ceremony starts, you can work backward to plan your prep and forward to schedule photos, cocktail hour, and the reception.
Example:
If your ceremony is at 4:00 PM, you’ll likely want to start hair and makeup around 11:00 AM.
Add Buffer Time to Everything
Things always run behind—hair takes longer, traffic hits, someone forgets a tie. Adding 15–30 minute buffers between major moments helps prevent stress.
Decide on a First Look
Doing a first look gives you time to take most of your couple portraits and family photos before the ceremony. This means you get to join cocktail hour and actually enjoy more of your reception.
Without First Look:
You’ll need to set aside 60–90 minutes after the ceremony for photos. Typically it includes Family, Bridal Party, and Newlyweds.
Wedding Timeline Template
Here’s a basic structure I recommend for an 8-hour wedding photography timeline:
- 1:00pm Details
- 1:30pm Getting Ready
- 2:00pm Separate Bridal Parties
- 2:30pm First Touch/First Look with Parents
- 3:00pm Ceremony
- 3:30pm Family (at church)
- 4:00pm Whole Bridal Party
- 4:30pm Couple Photos
- 5:00pm Travel
- 5:30pm Grand Entrance
- First Dances
- Parent Dances
- 6:00pm Dinner & Toasts
- Speeches (MOH, BM, maybe parents)
- Cake Cutting
- Photo Dash (dancefloor)
- 8:00pm Grand Exit (sparklers)
- 8:30pm Golden Hour Photos
- 9:00pm Photographers Leave
If the same couple decides to have a First Look, here’s what the wedding photography timeline might look like:
- 12:00pm Details
- 12:30pm Getting Ready
- 1:00pm First Look
- 1:30pm All Bridal Party photos
- 2:00pm Couple Photos
- 3:00pm Ceremony
- 3:30pm Family
- 4:00pm Travel
- 4:30pm Grand Entrance
- First Dances
- Parent Dances
- 5:00pm Dinner & Toasts
- Speeches
- Cake Cutting
- Photo Dash
- 7:30pm Golden Hour Photos
- 8:00pm Photographers Leave
Talk to Your Photographer Early
We help design wedding day timelines all the time and know how long different photo sets actually take. If you’re not sure where to start, just ask—we’ll walk you through it and help match your vision with real-world pacing.
Pro Tip: Plan for Golden Hour
About an hour before sunset is when the light is soft, warm, and dreamy. Even if we’ve already done portraits, it’s always worth sneaking out for 10 minutes to grab those glowy golden hour shots.
Final Thoughts
A well-structured wedding day timeline doesn’t just help your vendors—it gives you more time to be present, more room to breathe, and better photos. Want help creating yours? Reach out anytime. We’ve got your back.
Contact us and we’ll help you with your wedding day timeline.
See our Wedding Photography Packages here.
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