One of the hardest things to decide about your wedding is what time everything is going to happen. Yes, the pesky timeline. Everyone has their opinions and preferences, but what really matters is finding what works best for your wedding day. Every wedding is different when it comes to getting-ready locations, distance between venues, ceremony start times, number of family members, what time dinner will be served, etc.

Because of these variations, I choose to work one-on-one with my wedding clients and provide them a wedding day timeline custom for their needs. As a photographer, I prefer creating timeline because I am (most likely) the one wedding vendor that is present the whole day. Only exception would be if you have a planner or day-of coordinator (which I highly recommend!)

With more than 50 weddings under my belt, I’ve know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to the timeline. This past week I’ve been neck deep in wedding timelines, handcrafting each one to be perfect for each couples’ wedding! Below I’ve provided some typical wedding day timelines with and without a First Look, for a 7-hour wedding day. Like I said before, every wedding is different, but this should give you a head start!

This first timeline includes a First Look with a 5:30 ceremony start time. I always base my timelines on the ceremony first and then build it both ways from there! If the couple is doing a First Look I would typically arrive 2-3 hours before the ceremony.

WITH FIRST LOOK – 5:30 Ceremony Start Time

2pm- Photographers arrive. Photograph dress, rings, shoes, flowers, paper goods, invitation suite

2:20- Photograph girls getting ready. Bride making finishing touches on hair and make-up

2:30- Bridesmaids get dressed, pack up/clean up room.

2:40- Photograph guys getting dressed. We will photograph ties, shoes, cuff links, vests, etc

3pm- Bride get dressed

3:20- First Look

3:45- Bridal Party Photos

4:15- Bride + Groom Photos (Or all family photos)

5:00- Relax before ceremony. Touch-ups, hide from guests

5:30- Ceremony

6- End ceremony

6:10- Family Photos (Or Bride + Groom Photos)

6:30- Bustle Dress

6:40- Bridal Party Announced into Reception

6:45- Dinner Served

7:45- First Dances

8:00- Toasts

8:15- Cake Cutting

8:20- Bouquet/Garter Toss

8:30- Open Dancing

9- Photographer’s depart

Opting to do a First Look can result in photos like this!! Chris’ face is priceless!!

This timeline does not include a First Look. Totally fine to do it this way! It’s up to the bride and groom to decide if they want to see each other before the ceremony or not! Without a first look we generally arrive 1.5-2 hours before the ceremony. In the photo below you’ll see that Sarah + James wanted photos during the daylight and to have a quiet moment together before the ceremony but James didn’t want to see Sarah until she walked down the aisle!

WITHOUT FIRST LOOK- 5:30 Ceremony Start Time

3:45- Photographers arrive. Photograph dress, rings, shoes, flowers, paper goods, invitation suite

4:10- Photograph guys getting dressed. We will photograph ties, shoes, cuff links, vests, etc

4:15- Photograph girls getting ready. Bride making finishing touches on hair and make-up

4:30- Bridesmaids get dressed, pack up/clean up room

4:45- Bride get dressed

5:00- Relax before ceremony. Touch-ups, hide from guests

5:30- Ceremony

6- End ceremony

6:10- Family Photos

6:30- Bridal Party Photos

6:50- Bride + Groom Photos

7:25- Bustle Dress

7:30- Bridal Party Announced into Reception

7:45- Dinner Served

8:45- First Dances

9:00- Toasts

9:10- Cake Cutting

9:15- Bouquet/Garter Toss

9:30- Open Dancing

10:45- Photographer’s depart

I hope this helps when working on your wedding timeline! Once you have this done, you’ll be able to answer a lot more questions for people and feel like you have a good grip on what that day is going to be like! This also helps other wedding vendors such as flowers and hair and make-up to know what times to arrive and deliver. Your DJ may like to do something different in the reception and that’s totally fine, as long as we photograph all that we’re scheduled to! I could probably do another post on wedding timelines and why each detail is so important.. Maybe that will come next month! 🙂 Feel free to comment with questions on why I do things as you see above!