A Typical Wedding Timeline
Believe it or not, a lot of your timeline will be determined by how many hours you hire a photographer for. mainly because you will want to have most of the bigger parts of the day squeezed into a timeframe that allows them to be captured by the photographer. (this is one reason we create our clients wedding day timelines, to maximize their day and make it feel as relaxed and enjoyable as possible!)
When a photographer asks you what package you would like with how many hours of coverage, it can be a little bit of a panic like,
"Umm what do you mean?” 😅
And why wouldn't you feel like that? Your wedding may be months, or even a year(s) away. How are you supposed to know exactly how much coverage you will need?
So we get it, it's a little bit of a tough decision balancing your budget, and potentially missing those priceless photos on a day you only do once a lifetime.
So let's break it down into parts of your day that are the most important to you, and moments that are definitely important, but not necessarily needing to be captured. Doing this will allow us to get a picture of what your day will look like.
Everyones wedding day looks so different. So ultimately this will help you and your photographer figure out what you need for you day.
Let's get started!
Make sure you have a notepad a pen around to add things to your list, trust me this will help! We will make a list of the most common questions that a photographer would ask about your wedding day. If you don't know some of these answers, its okay! Make a note next to it, and ask your photographer what they recommend.
big decisions of a wedding day
how many guests will you possibly have?
how many locations will your day take place at?
do you want to capture everyone getting ready?
do you want to do any first looks? dad, spouse, grandparents, ect.
do you plan on having a short or long ceremony?
do you plan on having a social hour for your guests?
do you want couple photos between ceremony and reception?
do you want a lot of family photos?
will there be speeches from bridal party or parents?
will there be cake cutting?
are you having first/last dances?
are you wanting a sparkler send off?
Answering these questions will give you an idea for when you talk to your photographer, (and now you won't feel like you have no clue what they are talking about!)
Most photographers offer set 6, 8, and 10 hour packages. So ask which one they would recommend for all the moments you'd like captured!
We recently switched to more customizable pricing when realizing how every bride we talked to had such different visions for their day. That way your not settling for not enough hours, and not paying for un-needed hours! Just be sure to ask your photographer what they recommend, and ask all of your questions!
Keep up the wedding planning, just the fact that you're reading these we know you're doing great and putting in the time. Trust us, we know how much planning goes into it!
if we could give one peice of advice to all our couples, it would be give yourselves breaks in between everything you plan for the day. plan your breaks. your day wasn’t meant to just be about capturing as many things as you can, you want to enjoy it. we’ve had to many couples say how stressful their days were because they tried to cram everything into their photographers amounted time.
do not do that.
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Make sure to keep an eye out for our future emails, we will cover some of the big wedding day moments, and if you should or shouldn't include them in your day!