You’re counting down the days to your wedding. There’s been so much to organise and think about e.g. the venues, caterers, hair stylists, florists, and the photographer; the list seems never ending. Now it’s time to arrange all this into a timetable for your special day.
You may think this is fairly obvious and easy to do, and it is. But when you come to finalize it, you may be asking yourself; how long will the ceremony take? What time should we leave the church for the bridal party photographs? Arranging a timetable of events of the day and being realistic about it is important. You want the day to flow smoothly and not to be rushed, so you don’t have to think about it too much on the day. Before you send out invitations it’s a good idea to work out a timetable so you can work out the best time for when the ceremony should start. If you make it too late then the events leading up to the reception may be rushed.
As a wedding photographer I have photographed many weddings. Those that are relaxed and fun and have allocated the timetable of events well, often end up with great photographs. If you book a photographer you will also find that many of the events during the day revolve around the photography. So it is well worth talking to your photographer about this before you start finalizing the timetable.
The two most important times that you arrange on the day are the ceremony starting time and the time you have to be back at the reception. These two times that you arrange are like the anchor points that determine whether all other events in between will be rushed or relaxed.
Here are some key tips for arranging timing.
Preparations- As a photographer I like to have the bride and bride’s family all prepared and ready well before leaving for the ceremony. This gives me time to take photographs of everyone looking their best and a little time to relax before leaving for the ceremony. Arrange with the hair and makeup stylist how long it should take each person and aim to be dressed and ready at least 45 minute before leaving for the ceremony.
Ceremony- This is normally well organized by the celebrant or minister and they will know how long the event will be, normally 30 minutes to an hour at most.
Congratulations- this is often overlooked and can take more time than you think. It all depends how many guests you have. It’s nice to allow enough time for each guest to congratulate the bride and groom. It’s difficult to estimate how long this may take, but allow at least 20 to 30 minutes or more for an average size wedding of 80 guests.
Large group photo- You may wish to have a large group photograph of everyone. Doing this straight after the congratulations is often the best time while everyone in the congregation is already gathered. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for this.
Family Photos- This seems to be the one event of the day that is most underestimated in time allocation. On average I take between 6-10 group shots, which takes 30-60 minutes. Have a list of each of the family members you want in each group and have several dedicated people to help round up family members and friends, to save time.
Bridal Photos- Every photographer is different but you want to allow at least an hour for the photographs and extra time to relax and have nibbles and a drink with your friends. The more locations you go to the more time is needed to drive to each location and for getting in and out of vehicles. You also don’t want to keep family and friends waiting too long back at the reception. Caterers generally like to have a set time. So if the events earlier have taken longer than expected then the time allocated for the bridal party photographs may be rushed.
Reception- The timetable around the reception obviously revolves around dinner. As long as you work with the caterers well then you can generally be quite relaxed on the timing of speeches, cutting of the cake and the first dance.
If you allocate a reasonable amount of time for each event you will find that the day will go smoothly without much thought of the time. You will enjoy your wedding more and you will be able to treasure great photographs for years to come.
I wish you all the best.