Want to feel at ease on your wedding day? Be able to enjoy your new spouse, your guests and the cake, too? The key to ensuring this is to build an ideal timeline for your wedding day. One of the biggest perks about choosing me to document your day is that we will Don’customize a timeline specific to your needs – making sure that you get to enjoy everything that you’ve envisioned for to months (or years).
Here are three tips and a sample timeline to get you started!
Plan more time than you think you need.
- Hair & Makeup run longer than expected most of the time, and sometimes things just come up along the way. Maybe you’ll forget the marriage license, maybe you will forget your veil or the rings. You might say, “no, Christy that will never happen! I can’t forget those things, they’re too important.” Guess what? I’ve seen all of them happen more than once over my 11 years in business!
Don’t forget travel time.
- You’ll most likely have some travel time, even if you’re getting married & having your reception in the same place. This can suck a lot of time up – make sure you add ample time (more than you think).
Plan extra time for the receiving line.
- The receiving line is the #1 thing that I see couples forget to add time for. It’s just an afterthought in many ways because every wedding has one – but it’s crucial to add at least 45 minutes to an hour of time for this portion of the day. People are excited to congratulate you and chat!
SAMPLE TIMELINE
12:30 pm – getting ready photos
1:15 pm – first look with bride and groom
2:00 pm – bride & groom hide from guests arriving
2:30 pm – ceremony
3:00 pm – receiving line
3:30 pm – family portraits
4:00 pm – wedding party portraits
4:30 pm – couples portraits / cocktail hour begins @ reception
5:15 pm – mingling @ reception w/ guests
5:30 pm – dinner
6:00 pm – toasts / cut cake
6:30/45 pm – sneak out for butter light / sunset photos
7:00 pm – mingling
7:30 pm – first dance / parent dances begin
8:00 pm – open dancing
8:30 pm – photographer departs
Want to make sure you have everything you need documented in a romantic & genuine way? Contact me for more information about available dates.