Part of having planning your big day is having a timeline for your vendors & bridal party so they know what to expect day of. If you have a planner or coordinator then this is part of their duties helping you create this. When I was planning my own timeline I ended up creating several drafts & ended up with a 2 page timeline including all the bridal party’s names, vendors names & phone numbers so that my day of coordinator & photographer knew everything that was happening throughout our day. This is a copy of my actual timeline I created for my own wedding day.
Most people don’t need this detailed of wedding timelines for their vendors but I did and in the end it was very helpful and gave us some a guide on how the day was flowing. When planning your timeline you need to think about if you are doing a first look or not. This will help your photographer know when to start and how much time they will need before or after the ceremony for photos. Most photographers including myself really like when a couple does a first look this allows us to get if not all or most of the photos done before the ceremony allowing the couple to enjoy their guests at the reception. If you decide to opp to waiting till the ceremony to see one another then your photographer will do more photos afterwards having them have a later start time. Here are two examples of simple timelines for your photographers based on an 8 hours of wedding day coverage.
In the end creating a timeline no matter how basic or detail will help with the planning of your wedding day to run smoothly and hopefully without any hiccups or issues to allowing you and your new spouse to enjoy your day you have spent so much time planning.
These are awesome examples of wedding day timelines! Every wedding is so different but it always helps to have a timeline as a guide for the big day!
Very informative, good info. I think couples often don’t realize how much work really goes into making a wedding day run smoothly – since usually it’s their first wedding, how could they understand? Glad you put this together for them!
This is such a handy reference guide for brides, so good to know what the photographer needs when.
I can totally use this! We made a rough timeline for our wedding day but nothing this detailed. I love it. It will be so much easier to make sure everything gets done. Thanks for sharing!
Having a wedding timeline is a huge help! There is so much planning that goes into a wedding, and a timeline will help make it all go smoothly. Now if you can give tips on making people stick to the timeline, you would be an angel! Your Washington clients are getting a true pro when they book you for their wedding photography!
This is great information for your clients! Having a timeline for a wedding is definitely a huge help, and it’s great that you used your experience and wanted to share it with your clients so that they can make their wedding day run more smoothly.
This wedding day timeline is so useful — for couples, and also for the rest of the party/planners involved, and certainly for photographers. Thank you for sharing this!
Wow! Looking back on my wedding, I am surprised everyone made it where they were supposed to be and at the right time! I didn’t have a timeline at all. Although I am sure my mom had those wedding details all covered. She was prepared and organized.
This is such a helpful posts for couples planning weddings! A lot of times they don’t think about a timeline and then get disappointed when they’re not able to get every shot they were hoping for on their wedding day.
what a great advice! I know many couples get confused when they are making a timeline for the wedding day. the couples will appreciate this very much! Great job!
This is so awesome – I did something so similar for my wedding day! People thought I was crazy, but it was so helpful on the day of for everyone to be on the same page!
I pinned this! new photographers and brides need this – thanks for sharing
This is great blog post! This information is very helpful for clients! I strongly agree a timeline for a wedding helping the wedding day run more smoothly.
[…] ask my couples when talking about their day…. Realistically this will help you determine your timeline and flow for your wedding day. And once you figure out which one you are going to do then life will […]