An experienced wedding photographer takes you through the intricate details of creating the perfect timeline for your wedding day photography. He understands that a well-organized timeline is not just a logistical necessity but also a key to ensuring that your special day unfolds seamlessly. By meticulously planning the sequence of photography sessions, Ralph provides valuable insights on how to capture every cherished moment while allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the joy and beauty of your wedding day.
Tune in to this video to learn how to strike the perfect balance between documenting precious memories and savoring the magical moments as they happen. Make your wedding day truly unforgettable with Ralph’s expert guidance.
Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Ralph deal from Ralph Deal Photography. You know, one of the most common sources of stress for a couple on their wedding day is running behind schedule. It happens all the time, and it’s also totally unnecessary. In this video, we’re going to talk about the all important wedding day photography timeline. An organized photography timeline will help create a stress free experience, which is what we all want, right?
Let’s get started.
There are similar parts of every wedding day no matter the time of year or culture of your wedding. The following are ideal timeframes to keep in mind when you play in your timeline. They may seem a little long, but to best document your story, you want to build this amount of time into your schedule.
Let’s start with the details.
- 30 minutes gives us enough time to get beautiful shots of your rings, dress and other details. Detail shots are an important part of your wedding day story and make for great transitions from one part of the day to the next in your album.
- Next would be getting ready. And I want about an hour for the getting ready photos. We’ll spend this hour getting candid moments of the bridesmaids and groomsmen as they’re getting ready for the day, as well as the final moments of the makeup being applied to the bride. Images of the bride being buttoned or zipped up and putting her jewelry on are also captured during this time. Some of the most emotional moments of the day happened during this time, so don’t cut it short.
- Next, let’s move on to the first look and bride and groom portraits. Transportation is the number one killer on a wedding day. It would be wonderful to go to multiple locations around the city or in the suburbs in a few minutes. But with weekend traffic, it just doesn’t work that way. Make sure you’re leaving at least one hour in your wedding day timeline for us to capture your first look standard and creative images of the two of you as well as individual portraits, meaning the bride and groom separately.
- For the ceremony, you’re going to want to leave 15 minutes up to two hours to ceremony length depends largely on the culture and if the ceremony will be performed in a house of worship, speak with the officiant to determine the length of your ceremony.
- The bridal party. Now this is also going to depend on the size of the bridal party and if you have one or two photographers booked, but 20 to 30 minutes should be enough for two photographers to photograph individual and group shots of the bridesmaids and groomsmen and the entire bridal party together. The exception to this would be if the group shots are going to be set up and posed say in a Vanity Fair style that will most certainly add time because of the lighting and posing involved for that type of photo.
- Next, family photos. Leave about same thing about 20 to 30 minutes for family photos. And just to be clear, this would be for immediate family only, which is your parents, grandparents, siblings and their spouses and children. And lastly, the reception and you’re going to want to leave three to four hours of time in the timeline for that. Once we’re at the reception, we switch to the venue and DJ or band leaders timeline, we communicate with them to determine the flow of the evening and when the best time will be to take our couples out for an end of the night shot.
- The last shot of the evening is a crucial piece during the reception as it will be the last image in the wedding album. Before bringing our bride and groom out for the last photo. We find a location close to the reception room and set our lighting up in advance. This way we can quickly and efficiently capture the image so a couple can get back to the party as quickly as possible.