Wedding Timeline - How to create a timeline that flows naturally?

By Florent Vidal Photography

As part of our service, we will have a wedding preparation meeting to create the perfect wedding timeline for your wedding day to make the most of your wedding coverage. But here are a few tips to get you started in the right direction.

Make a list of priorities and then work your way backwards! If getting amazing shots is a priority, then plan to have your wedding portraits finishing 30 mins after sunset and you won't be disappointed!

Your Getting Ready

This is one of our favourite parts of the day, as it really sets the tone for your wedding. Don't disregard this special moment of your day. You may be tempted to remove it or cut it short, but believe us when we say it’s important. It gives you the chance to ease into our presence and get really comfortable with having us around. It's also a nice way to get to know your closest and dearest, so they get used to us being there as well. We all have a tendency to 'pose' for the camera, but once they get used to it, they forget about us and that's when we can capture those emotive and raw moments.

We've covered the things to think about to get the most of your getting ready photos.

How long do you allocate?

We'll usually spend between an hour to an hour and a half per partner. Since the men take a shorter time to get ready, we will start with them and we'll take a few portrait shots of the groom and his wedding party before heading to the ladies.

We recommend that when we arrive at the ladies’ wedding prep, the bride is almost finished with the hair and make-up and only doing the finishing touches. Then it's time to get dressed up, which is fun and emotional at the same time! If you're getting ready at different locations, you'll also have to allocate for the driving time.

Wedding Ceremony

We always start at least 15 minutes prior to the ceremony to shoot the pre-ceremony happenings and details. An outdoor wedding ceremony is always beautiful but to make the most of it we suggest not having it in the middle of the day when the sun is too strong (squinty eyes, shadows under your eyes - need we say more?).

Of course, this isn't always possible, but if you have flexibility around this plan for the ceremony about three hours before sunset then you're in for a comfortable ceremony and an amazing wedding portrait session.

After the ceremony - group and family photos

The guests would naturally want to congratulate you and you don't want to hurry this up! We could also do a group shot of all the guests followed by the family shots. Depending on the size of your family, allocate at least 30 to 45 minutes from the end of your ceremony before we leave for the wedding party and your couple portrait session.

Ensure that your closest family members are aware that they are required for the family photo session so that they don’t disappear!

Just the two of you

Your couple session is usually the only time in the day when you can have a little bit of a breather and just be with each other. We usually spend half of the location shoot with the bridal party and the other half with just the two of you. The wedding entourage photos put you in the mood to party and are always fun while having your time together is also a time when we create those stunning couple shots!

Google the sunset time for your wedding

For the most striking portraits, plan to do your shoot around sunset. We all read about sunset being the 'golden hour', but in fact, it is dusk that gives us those amazing colourful skies that you see on our portfolio!

How long do we need for the wedding portrait session?

We suggest that we plan for at least 1 to 2 hours of wedding portraits and finish at the last light, which is approximately 30 mins after the sun goes down to have amazing night shots. Of course, if we have to walk or even drive to different locations from each other, then you'd need to allocate more time.

Summer also has longer days, so a way to get around it is to sneak out from the reception to capture the last of the light and we will return swiftly before anyone has even noticed. Just make sure that no major event is happening while we’re out.

Reception

When do you need to enter the reception? From here you can work your way backwards to ensure you have allocated enough time for everything. It's always better to be generous than pack everything to the last minute.

A wedding has many moving parts and as much as you want to control it, there are things that will happen on the day that you didn't plan for. Sometimes this is a nice surprise! Bottom line is, if we have more time at the end of it, you'll just be more relaxed and there's always something for us to photograph.

Depending on the length of your coverage, we will be there to capture your entrance, speeches, first dance and party time!