Planning your wedding timeline : a photographer’s perspective

To help you build your wedding day timeline/runsheet!

 

So your wedding is in a few months and you have started to think about making a timeline or run sheet?

I have decided to give you a hand and write this up so you can see the ideal timeline from my a wedding photographer’s perspective. Depending on how many hours of photography coverage or other vendors’ timelines, you’ll probably have to alter it to fit your specific day.

Think of this as a rough guide that you can modify!

When planning...

The two most important factors of the day for photography are sunset and the ceremony time. You can do a quick google search of the sunset time for your wedding day specifically, but here are the average sunset times by season.

Summer (December-February): 6:45pm

Autumn (March-May): 5:30pm

Winter (June-August): 5:10pm

Spring (September-November): 5:55pm

The ceremony time often depends on when the sun sets. This is so we have enough time to get all the photos we need done before we lose light! In Brisbane the average summer ceremony starts at 4-4.30pm and in winter the ceremony might start at 3pm with the sun setting earlier! However, this is based on an average 30 minute ceremony.

So how does this look in practice?

Feel free to copy and paste the template below and insert your own unique times, travel times and locations/names into it!

Average 8 hour wedding day (with a ceremony time of 3:30pm and a sunset time of 5:45pm)

8am Hair and MUAs arrive and start (depending on the amount of bridesmaids you may have to start earlier or later), your hair and MUA will be able to give you a more detailed indication on how long they take per person and how they like to work!

1pm - 1:30pm Photographer/videographer arrive and start photographing groom prep

 

15 min travel for photographer/videographer from groom prep location to bride prep location

1:45pm - 3:00pm Photographer/videographer arrive and start photographing bride prep

2:30pm or earlier start putting on dress (If you have a lace up dress etc. they can take a lot of time to put on, especially when you want it to be perfect!)

15 min travel to ceremony location

3pm Groom, guests and celebrant arrives

3:15pm Photographer/videographer arrives

3:30pm - 4pm Ceremony (Depending on whether it is a religious or non-religious ceremony this may be shorter or longer)

4pm - 4:30pm Group and family photos (and a chance for everyone to congratulate you!)

15 min travel to portrait location 

4:45pm - 5pm Wedding party portraits

5pm - 5:45pm Newly wed (couple only) portraits

15 min travel to reception venue

6pm - 9pm Reception coverage (this includes the entrance, speeches, cake cutting the first dance and can finish with a sparkler exit etc.) 

  • Groom Prep

    Ideal Time Allotment: 30-60 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: Early afternoon

    Ideal Location: House or hotel suite

    Notes: Often we can do a ‘fake’ getting ready so the blokes aren't in their suits 2-3 hours before the wedding. This avoids spills and excessive sweating (I’ve been there), so lads feel free to jump back into your footy shorts after we get a few photos but don’t be late to the ceremony!

  • Bride Prep

    Ideal Time Allotment: 45-90 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: Early afternoon

    Ideal Location: House or hotel suite

    Notes: I try to coordinate with you and your MUA so that I arrive when the bride’s hair and makeup is almost finished, so I can get a few getting ready photos without half done makeup. This is often followed by some photos in your robes and then the task of putting your dress on!

  • Pre-Ceremony Details

    Ideal Time Allotment: 15-20 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: Pre-ceremony

    Ideal Location: Venue or park

    Notes: I like to either go myself/send my second shooter to the ceremony location 15-20 minutes before ‘go time’. We want to make sure we’re there and set up before the bride arrives and this window of time allows us to capture the scene, atmosphere and all the details you‘ve worked so hard on.

  • Ceremony

    Ideal Time Allotment: 30 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: Mid/late afternoon

    Ideal Location: Venue or park

    Notes: Depending on whether you are eloping or having a longer cultural/religious ceremony, ceremony lengths can vary from 10 minutes, all the way up to 90 minutes! The average ceremony in Australia goes for approximately 20-30 minutes though, so aim for about that in your timeline!

  • Group & Family Photos

    Ideal Time Allotment: 30-40 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: After the ceremony

    Ideal Location: A shady location nearby

    Notes: After the ceremony, your guests will want to congratulate you, so allow time for this! After congratulations, we get the big group photo done first (before people run off to the toilet and we have to do a man-hunt!), and then move on to your list of family/group photos.

  • Portraits

    Ideal Time Allotment: 60-90 minutes

    Ideal Time of Day: ‘Golden hour’

    Ideal Location: Fields, beach or garden

    Notes: Generally we start with about 15-30 minutes working with the entire wedding party. The rest of the time leading up to sunset is all about you! This is probably the first time you will be alone together (except for us and your videographer if you have one!) as a married couple and it’s a chance to recharge in a relaxed environment before the reception!

  • Reception

    Ideal Time Allotment: 2-5 hours

    Ideal Time of Day: Night

    Ideal Location: Venue or restaurant

    Notes: Work with your venue/planner to allow enough time for all aspects of your reception. I will capture all the key moments (entrance, first dance, speeches and cake cutting etc) along with general shots of guests and dance floor photos. If you appreciate the night photography we offer, we’d love to sneak you out for 10-20 minutes to grab a few shots!

If you have any questions about planning your wedding day, feel free to send me an email, text or call me and I can send through some guides I’ve made for future brides and grooms - goodluck! 

- Sam