If you’ve stumbled upon this post, that means you’re probably planning a wedding! Woohoo! Now how many of you have planned a wedding before? Unless this is your second marriage or you happen to be a wedding planner, then you’ve probably never planned a wedding before. If you’re feeling a little lost on where to begin planning a wedding timeline, then this post is for you!

One of the most important things to figure out for your wedding day is your timeline! A good timeline will make the day flow seamlessly. I help all of my couples plan out a timeline prior to their wedding day so it accounts for all of the time for photos.

Start with the ceremony

If your ceremony time is locked in, then you’ll want to build the rest of your timeline around your ceremony. I always recommend planning 30 minutes before the ceremony to be downtime. You don’t want to be walking around taking photos as guests begin to arrive! Immediately after the ceremony you’ll want to plan 20-30 minutes for family pictures (depending on how many family groupings you plan to photograph).

Don’t let your guests get hangry

If your ceremony time isn’t locked in, then the world is your oyster! You’ll probably want to plan a ceremony time that works around a meal time. If your reception is serving a dinner then you’ll probably want to consider what time most people might want to eat and then work backwards from there. So for instance if you want people to eat at 6:30pm then you’ll probably want your grand entrance to happen around 6:15pm which means guests should start getting seated around 6pm. This means cocktail hour would start around 5pm which would put a 30 minute ceremony around 4:30pm.

Be aware of sunset

Depending on the time of year, sunset could be at 4pm or it could be at 9pm! Especially if you are having a winter wedding, you’ll want to be aware of when sunset is. If you want any photos in natural light, then the sun has to be out for those to happen! I always encourage my couples to plan 10 minutes to sneak out about 30 minutes before sunset so we can get some gorgeous golden hour portraits. Those are usually some of my favorite photos from the wedding day!

First Look?

If you’re having a first look, you’ll want to account for that in your timeline planning! A first look should occur about 1.5-2 hours before the ceremony start time. The great thing about a first look, is it allows you to spend some time with just the two of you before the chaos of the day ensues. It also allows us to get bridal party portraits and some immediate family portraits over and done with prior to the ceremony which means your bridal party gets to enjoy the cocktail hour! Woo!

If you aren’t having a first look, it’s still a good time to take individual bridal party photos. You’ll want to plan for 20-30 minutes for each side of the party to get their photos taken. This usually happens 1-1.5 hours prior to the ceremony.

How long should you plan to take to get ready?

This is one I defer to your hair and makeup artists. Figure out what time you need to be getting in your dress (30 minutes before a first look/bridal party photos) and that’s the time your hair and makeup needs to be done. Ask the how long they estimate it will take to complete your hair/makeup for your group. I usually recommend planning some buffer time of at least 30 minutes here. You would rather be done 30 minutes early than be rushing and be 30 minutes late!

What about the reception?

I highly recommend talking to your DJ about a good order of events here! Just remember, when it comes to eating, your guests might not want to listen to every single toast before getting a meal. A well fed guest, is a happy guest! I commonly see a grand entrance, then a quick welcome before everyone eats. After dinner there’s usually toasts and cake cutting (although depending on your venue, they may want you to cut your cake right away) before the dance floor opens.

Example Photography Timeline

Here’s a quick example timeline for a wedding day with an evening ceremony time and a first look!

With a first look:
1:00 – Photographers Arrive – Details + Getting Ready Photos
2:00 – Bride gets into dress
2:30 – First Look
3:00 – Bride & Groom Photos
3:30 – Bridal Party Photos
4:00 – Conclude Portraits and downtime for bridal party
4:30 – Ceremony Starts
5:00 – Ceremony Ends / Family Photos / Enjoy cocktail hour
6:00 – Guests seated for reception
6:15 – Reception Begins: Introductions and welcome
6:30 – Dinner is served
* I highly recommend talk to your DJ about the timeline/order of events for the reception!
15 minutes before sunset – Sneak out for sunset photos (This is based on the sunset time for your specific date)
9:00 – Photographers depart

At the end of the day, it’s your day, so if you want to make time for something in the timeline because it is important to you, then go ahead and do so! I hope you find this helpful as you start to plan your timeline. Best wishes as you continue your wedding day and marriage preparations!