One of the very first questions I receive in a wedding consultation is
How much time do I need for photos on my wedding day?.jpg)
Knowing how long and when photos are to take place sets up most of the other vendors for the day and knowing how to put this together can help tremendously and alleviate lots of stress when meeting with other vendors and figuring out how your day might look.
Typically when I get this question, there are a few other questions that I usually have for the couple:
What time is your wedding at?
How long is your ceremony?
Will you be doing a first look, or do you plan on not seeing each other before the ceremony?
How large is your wedding party?
What photos are most important to you?
Do you want to go to an alternate location between the ceremony and reception?
From here, we can start setting up the time line of the day. So to give you an example say you have a 4:00 wedding, the ceremony is 30 minutes long, you are planning on seeing each other beforehand for the first look, want an alternate location and have an average wedding party of 10 attendants and the photos of you and your spouse are of utmost importance.
Knowing all this information, I would advise you on booking a 10 hour day and the time line would look like this:
1:00- Wedding party to arrive at getting ready location, detail shots, finishing touches shots
1:30-First look with bride and groom, photos together
2:00- Wedding Party photos
2:30- Bride’s family photo (add in grandparents and other extended family)
3:00- Groom’s family photo (add in grandparents and other extended family)
3:30- Prep/ hide for ceremony
4:00- Ceremony Begins
4:30- Ceremony ends/ greet guests
5:00- Head to alternate location in transportation
7:00- Announcement of bride and groom
7:15 Dinner served/ Cake cutting/ Sunset photos of Bride and Groom/ Toasts
8:30- Dance begins- Reception candids
11:00 End of contract
Hope that helps in your planning!