Happy Monday beautiful brides (brides-to-be and my parents.)
We love sunset photos with our bride and groom. It's one of our favourite parts of documenting any wedding day.
Today we're going to chat about something that most couples struggle with at least on some level-timelining your wedding so that your day is seamless.
The struggle is real, and also completely understandable. Presumably you've never planned a wedding before, so you don't have a gauge on how much time to allot for what.
We, the wedding whisperers, having planned our own wedding and documented dozens (hundreds?) of others, are here to hold your hand and help you out.
Obviously we think that the wedding photography and videography is pretty important so this timeline *may* be a bit biased.
But hey-you're paying us for greatness; give us time to shine.
We believe in excellence and creativity in all we do. We are passionate about telling your story-it's so worth telling. We work primarily in the Toronto and Niagara regions (Oakville, Burlington, Cambridge, Kitchener), but also document weddings in faraway places-like this one in Thunder Bay.
Let's say you've hired us for 8 hours, our standard day package. Here's how we'd suggest using your time.
12:00 Getting Ready & Details (shoes, dress, invitation, flowers, etccc. It's ideal for these to be in a corner waiting for us. Perfect job for one of your hottie bridesmaids.)
1:00 All Hair and Makeup Finished. Put dress on.
1:15 Travel to first look
1:45 First Look
2:00 Bride and Groom Portraits
2:30 Family Portraits
3:00 Bridal Party photos
3:45 Break for you / details, details, Details for us (we especially like this because it's nice to get all the reception details you worked so hard on before your guests stampede in.)
4:15 Ceremony Begins
4:40 Ceremony Ends
4:45 The Couple (it's pretty sweet to document the first few moments of your wedded life. Why not sneak away and relish it together...and let us document the love?!)
5:15 Couple Joins the Cocktail Hour
6 Reception entrance
6:15 First Dance/s (*we recommend scheduling all the important bits on the front end of the reception-at least all the important bits you definitely want documented.)
The first dance is just one of the significant parts of your wedding day. We're excited to document them all, from the first to the last.
6:30-8 Dinner/Speeches
7:30 sneak away for sunset photos
8 Cake cutting
8:05 We sneak away to post a sneak peek on our Facebook page and you party the night away
Obviously you need to make this fit your special day and we're here to accommodate in any way we can.
We understand that timelines get off and we gift you about half an hour of flex time; we don't just rush out the door as soon as our time is up. We want to do an Amazing job for you and capture so many special memories from you day.
There is always the option to add an extra hour or two, even on the day of your wedding.
Andddddd for some couples, a first look is not in the cards. Perhaps your schedule would look more like this:
12:00 Getting Ready & Details
1:00 Hair and Makeup Finished-dress on
1:15 Dress On; Final Touches
1:45 ceremony
2:15 Bride and Groom Portraits
2:45 Family Portraits
3:15 Bridal Party
3:45 Break / Details, Details!
4:00 Cocktail Hour begins
6 Reception starts
Either way, we recommend 1-2 hours for getting ready photos, 1.5-2 hours of official photos (family, bridal party, you two), making sure you account for travel time and prioritizing your reception to get the photos that are the most important to you. (***If you only have one photographer it's especially important to add more time for your photos!**)
In addition, it never hurts to pad your schedule with half an hour here or there for more photos or simply to rest and enjoy your day.
It's better to have more time than less.
Let us know if you have any questions. We can't wait to document your day. And we want to do everything we can to help you feel relaxed and peaceful about all the details we can.
xoxo.
L + J