Wedding Day Timeline

Brides, let’s talk timelines and planning your wedding day timeline. This is something that as a wedding photographer of over 7 years, I help my brides with. But there are some things you can keep in mind too, as the bride.

What time does the sun set?

Where to start? First you want to look up what time the sun sets on your wedding day. This is going to determine a lot— especially if you are planning on an outdoor ceremony + outdoor portraits.

First Look vs No First Look

Next, you’ll need to decide if you want to do a first look with your groom before your ceremony or if you want to see each other for the first time as you are walking down the aisle.

Your answer to a first look or not can help determine what time your ceremony should start. For example, if you do not plan to see each other before your ceremony + the sun sets at 6:30 + you want to take bride + groom portrait photos outdoors, you wouldn’t want to start your ceremony at 6:00 because it would be almost dark or already dark by the time your ceremony is over.

If you are doing a first look— you can have your ceremony pretty much whener because you can get as many photos as you want done before your ceremony! But if you want to snag sunset photos of the two of you, I recommend not starting any later than about an hour before sunset and that’s IF you decide to take all wedding party + family photos beforehand!

If you choose not to do a first look, I recommend leaving closer to at least 2 hours between your ceremony start time + sunset time. This will leave you with time to take plenty of photos post ceremony + still give y’all time to eat + talk with guests!

When to take Family Photos

I almost always recommend taking your family photos directly following your ceremony. Typically the only exception to this is if you choose to take those before your ceremony— which I have had a few brides opt for. This is the best time to take family photos because grandparents haven’t left yet + it is your best chance at not having to track people down, since they are already all in one place. I always ask the officiant to make a little announcement right after the ceremony to have family stick around for photos!

My biggest tip for helping family photos go smoothly is to create a shot list sometime before your wedding day. The reason for this is that once you are in the moment taking these photos, you don’t have to think about what combinations of family photos you want. For example, some couples choose to only take formal photos with their immediate family. Some choose to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Not only is is helpful to go into this portion of the day knowing who you want in the photos, but also the combinations you want, such as “mother of the brides family”- so aunts, uncles, cousins- do you want them in one big group photo or broke down into each family unit?!

What are the most important aspects of your day to you?

There are a few other things to consider with your timeline— what are the top 3 most important parts of the day you want captured? That is a question I always ask my couples to make sure we are giving enough time fore those moments they really want captured. For example— if bride + groom portraits are high on your priority list we might leave a little extra time for those.

Your entire timeline doesn’t have to revolve around photos. One reason my 8+ hour packages are the most popular is because they allow us to give some down time to just soak in the day + not feel like you are moving from one set of photos to the next. I also always allot a bit more time than needed for each set of photos to account for anything that may come up on the day of!

Order of events for your reception

On to your reception— this is where you really get to have fun, let loose, + organize it however you’d like! I have had a lot of couples choose to move right into their first dances after their grand entrance or even cake cutting. This works really well if you have an earlier reception time (like in the winter) + don’t want guests eating supper at 5:00. Say you aren’t doing a first look + want to take more photos after your ceremony— you can allow your guests to start eating if you’d like that way you don’t feel rushed to get in to the reception! There are endless options for how you can arrange the order of your reception, I mainly recommend keeping an eye on the time when building your timeline + adjusting activities based around the time you’d like to serve supper! There are also so many fun additions you can customize for you reception. A few examples are- taking a big group photo with all your guests, serving your guests dessert, having a private last dance, + so many more!

Example Wedding Day Timelines

I am going to show you two example timelines, both for 8 hours of photo coverage so you can get an idea of what your timeline could look like!

8 hour Wedding Day Timeline, first look, sunset time: 8 pm

• 1:30 photographer arrives detail shots
• 2:00 final getting ready photos
• 2:30 any first looks (dad, bridesmaids, etc)
• 2:45 bride + groom first look
• 3:15 bride + bridesmaids
• 3:45 full wedding party
• 4:15 groom + groomsmen
• 4:45 chill before ceremony/ touch-ups
• 5:30 ceremony time!
• 6:00 family photos
• 6:30 entrance into cake cutting
• 6:45 blessing + supper
• 7:30 pull bride + groom for sunset portraits
• 8:05 toasts
• 8:20 first dances
• 8:35 other reception fun!
• 9:30 photographer out

8 hour Wedding Day Timeline, no first look, sunset time: 8 pm

• 1:30 photographer arrives- detail shots
• 2:00 final getting ready photos
• 2:30 any first looks (dad, bridesmaids, etc)
• 3:00 bridal portraits
• 3:15 bride + bridesmaids
• 3:45 groom + groomsmen
• 4:15 bride + groom first touch
• 4:45 chill before ceremony/touch-ups
• 5:30 ceremony time!
• 6:00 family portraits
• 6:30 full wedding party
• 6:45 entrance + blessing
• 7:00 supper
• 7:40 pull bride + groom for sunset portraits (guests finish eating)
• 8:05 cake cutting
• 8:15 toasts/speeches
• 8:30 first dances
• 8:45 other reception fun!
• 9:30 photographer out

8 hour Wedding Day Timeline, no first look, sunset time: 8 pm

• 1:30 photographer arrives- detail shots
• 2:00 final getting ready photos
• 2:30 any first looks (dad, bridesmaids, etc)
• 3:00 bridal portraits
• 3:15 bride + bridesmaids
• 3:45 groom + groomsmen
• 4:15 bride + groom first touch
• 4:45 chill before ceremony/touch-ups
• 5:30 ceremony time!
• 6:00 family portraits
• 6:30 full wedding party
• 6:45 entrance + blessing
• 7:00 supper
• 7:40 pull bride + groom for sunset portraits (guests finish eating)
• 8:05 cake cutting
• 8:15 toasts/speeches
• 8:30 first dances
• 8:45 other reception fun!
• 9:30 photographer out

I hope you found this timeline guide helpful for your wedding planning and helping figure out your wedding day timeline for a stress-free wedding day! At the end of the day, you can have your day flow however feels best to you + I will help guide you through this whole process— but this gives you a little bit to think about when deciding on how you may want things to go!

Want more help with planning your wedding day timeline? I help all my brides craft the perfect timeline for their wedding day. The Turquoise Lens