How to Plan Your Wedding Day Timeline

Planning your wedding day timeline correctly is the single most important way to ensure you get the desired pictures for your wedding day. The truth is, being creative takes time! Even with that time, wedding days are still a whirlwind. Put simply, it is very difficult to have those dreamy wedding portraits if there is not time in the timeline for portraits. Having a wedding planner should help with this considerably.

Your wedding planner will plan out every minute of your day to ensure that all of your vendors are set up at the appropriate times, meals are served at the correct time, etc. This will free up more time for you to enjoy your own day instead of worrying about the little details. Oftentimes, if there is not wedding planner, the photographer takes on the role of gathering people and making sure they are where they are supposed to be. Unfortunately, this takes away from the images. If I am ensuring the wedding party is where they are supposed to be or putting on groomsmen boutonnières, then that means I’m not capturing the intimate moments also occurring. The last thing you want is to invest all this money in a photographer you adore, only to have them preoccupied with other tasks because you are crunched for time.

I have a few basic guidelines below with full example wedding day timelines as examples. This should walk you through exactly how to plan your wedding day timeline, and ensure you have enough time for all those images. Realize that every wedding day is different. If you have multiple locations, longer transportation times, or additional First Looks, you will want to account for these in your wedding timeline.

General guidelines as you plan your wedding timeline

The biggest takeaways that all of these timelines will include the following timeframes. Additionally, they will work backwards from when sunset is so that the ceremony is about 2 hours prior to sunset. This will ensure the best light throughout the day as you plan your wedding day timeline.

Wedding Details: 45+ minutes (This time is to photograph any and all wedding detail like your invitations, rings, shoes, dress, etc. The more details you have, the longer this may take)

Getting Ready Photos and Bride Getting into Dress: 45 minutes (I recommend this amount of time because a small wardrobe malfunction or an excess of buttons can delay this. This also allows for any robe shots or champagne toasts.)

Couple Portraits: 30 to 45 minutes

Wedding Party Portraits: 45 minutes (with a second shooter this can be done in 30 minutes)

Ceremony: 30 minutes, ideally 2 hours prior to sunset (don’t forget that you two should be hiding a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the ceremony!)

Family Portraits: 30 minutes

Plan extra time for transportation if it is needed. All portraits should take place prior to sunset unless you want night time portraits.

First Look + One Location

1:00 PM Brigitte Arrives to Photograph Details 

1:45 PM “Getting Ready” Photos, then Bride gets into dress

2:45 PM First Look

3:00 PM Bride & Groom Portraits

3:30 PM Bridesmaids + Groomsmen Photos (Group/One on Ones) *if there is a second shooter, this takes 30 minutes instead of 45 minutes

4:15 PM Family Photos

4:30 PM Couple in Hiding (I photograph the ceremony details while you hide)

5PM Ceremony

5:30PM Ceremony Complete 

5:45PM Cocktail Hour (I photograph the reception space and details untouched)

6:45PM Golden Hour Photos (weather/timing dependent, and your first as husband and wife!)

7:15PM Intros + First Dance + Welcome Toast

7:30PM Sunset

7:30PM Dinner (Brigitte eats too!)

8:15PM Speeches 

8:30PM Parent Dances

9PM Cake Cutting *Coverage Ends 

No First Look + One Location 

2:15PM Brigitte Arrives to shoot Details 

3PM “Getting Ready” Photos, Bride gets into dress

3:45PM Bridesmaids + Groomsmen Photos (These will occur separately, so a second photographer is needed. If not second photographer, then this will take additional time since I will travel between the two.)

4:30PM Couple in Hiding while Brigitte Photographs Ceremony Details

5PM Ceremony

5:35PM Family Photos *Second Photographer Photographs Reception Details

6PM Wedding Party All Together

6:15PM Newlywed Photos

7PM Intros + First Dance + Welcome Toast

7:30PM Dinner (Brigitte eats too!)

7:30PM Sunset

8:15PM Speeches 

8:30PM Parent Dances

8:45PM Open Dancing

9:30PM Cake Cutting 

10:15PM Coverage Ends 

First Look + Two to Three Locations

12PM Brigitte arrives to photograph details 

12:30PM “Getting Ready” photos, Bride gets into dress

1:15PM Walk to First Look (This is a great buffer time, and often times it will take a minute to walk in your dress!)

1:30PM First Look 

1:45PM Wedding Couple Portraits

2:15PM Bridesmaids + Groomsmen Photos + Group Photos (This takes 30 minutes if there is a second photographer)

3:00PM TRAVEL TO CEREMONY

3:30PM Family Photos

4:30PM Couple in Hiding while Brigitte photographs Ceremony Details

5PM Ceremony

5:30PM Ceremony Complete 

5:45PM TRAVEL TO RECEPTION

6:30PM Cocktail Hour (Brigitte photographs untouched reception space)

6:45PM Golden Hour Photos (weather/timing dependant)

7:30PM Intros + First Dance + Welcome Toast

7:30PM Sunset

7:45PM Dinner (Brigitte eats too!)

8:15PM Speeches 

8:30PM Parent Dances

9PM Cake Cutting *Coverage Ends 

*Of note, this is a 9 hour timeline instead of the typical 8 hour timeline, so you will need to add an extra hour to your package.

No First Look (Different Locations)

2PM Brigitte arrives and photographs details

2:45PM Any champagne toasts, getting ready photos, bride starts getting in her dress

3:15PM Bridesmaids + Groomsmen Photos (Separated. Second Photog Needed)

4PM TRAVEL TO CEREMONY

4:30PM Couple in Hiding while Brigitte photographs Ceremony Details

5PM Ceremony

5:35PM Family Photos (Second photographer covers reception details)

6PM Wedding Party All Together

6:15PM TRAVEL TO RECEPTION

6:45PM Bride and Groom Portraits

7:15PM Sunset

7:30PM Intros + First Dance + Welcome Toast

8PM Dinner (Brigitte eats too!)

8:45PM Speeches 

9PM Parent Dances

9:15PM Open Dancing

9:30PM Cake Cutting 

10PM *Coverage Ends 

These timelines are all dependent on rough sunset times as details below. Again, I recommend having your ceremony roughly two to three hours prior to sunset. If you plan your wedding day timeline right, that will mean the difference between enjoying every minute of your wedding day and feeling rushed! Rough sunset times are below. Remember, if you aren’t sure the sunset time, you can always google it!

Spring (March-May) 7PM Sunset or 8PM Sunset | Day light Savings Early March

Summer (June-August) 8:30PM Sunset or 7:45PM

Fall (Sept-Nov) 7:30PM Sunset or 6:15PM | Daylight Savings early November

Winter (Dec-Feb) Sunset 5pm or 6PM  *First Look Always Suggested 

If you enjoyed reading about how to plan your wedding day timeline, you can view more tips and inspiration on my blog here!