YOUR IDEAL WEDDING TIMELINE
For our own wedding we chose to have a first look and to schedule our family portraits before the ceremony. This ended up working out beautifully— our families had an exclusive event to attend before the festivities began, and we had a gleeful and emotional time alone without any onlookers. While we understand that a first look is not in every couple’s plans, we encourage you to consider it! It’s one of our favorite moments from our day. Read on for info about both options.
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We love creating timeless, classic images of every wedding day. In order to give us the flexibility and time we need to make these images, we’ve developed two ideal timeline options to help the day run smoothly and to allow us plenty of time for romantic portraits, beautiful family formals, and capturing the details you’ve spent so much time selecting during the wedding planning process.
SO YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT...
THE FIRST LOOK
Picture this: you’ve spent the day of your wedding getting dressed in your beautiful clothes, laughing and playing with your wedding party, and preparing to make a commitment to the one you love the most. You may be feeling a little anxious— despite best efforts, a wedding can be a nerve-wracking experience!
Above: Angela + John held hands and spoke a few words before turning to see each other (below). Best faces EVER.
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A first look lets you show yourself to the love of your life in private, with nothing to stop you from laughing, shrieking, crying or simply talking excitedly about all that has happened and all that is about to happen. With no one nearby you’ll be able to spend a few precious minutes alone together before heading to your ceremony, revitalized and ready for the trip to the altar (where you will still have excitement during your trip down the aisle— we promise!).
Bonus: if you plan your day accordingly, you can choose to do both your couple portraits and family formals before the ceremony, leaving you free to join your guests during the cocktail hour (traditionally when family formals take place). Essentially seeing each other before the ceremony means you get to party more. Who doesn't want that?
THE AISLE REVEAL
The quintessential romantic moment in any movie featuring a wedding is the instant the happy couple glimpse each other from the head and foot of the aisle, revealing their wedding finery, expressions, and emotions. Guests and family are witnesses to this moment, and are excited to be present during such an important moment in the couple’s day.
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Despite the increasing popularity of a first look, the traditional aisle reveal is still part of the day some couples have decided works best for them, whether it’s for religious or family traditions— or simply because it’s something they’ve imagined every time they’ve dreamed of their own wedding.
Start planning your timeline early if you choose the aisle reveal; you may want to structure additional time before the cocktail party begins to allow plenty of time for couple portraits and family formals (if attending the cocktail party is a priority for you). We’re always available for advice with your itinerary, or you can consult a wedding planner or day-of coordinator for more specialized assistance. Tip: add a Day-After Session to your coverage for extra portrait time.
TO LOOK OR NOT TO LOOK?
What do we recommend? We’ve had this discussion with many couples and from a photographer’s perspective we are in favor of the First Look. This is for a variety of reasons (simplifying the timeline, fewer distractions for you, and practically zero restrictions imposed by venues or officiants), put the main reason is that it gives us a few amazing moments when we can practically see the love shining out of you. Photographically speaking, this is golden!
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But while we may feel strongly about which option works best on the average wedding day, your wedding is not about us! We will whole-heartedly support your decision, whether you see each other before the ceremony or wait until it begins. Regardless of which option you choose, we want you to have all the info you need to craft a careful timeline so you can have a great time at your wedding! Check out our sample timelines below, and feel free to drop us a line if you'd like a printable version.
NOTE: these timelines are very generic.
The example timelines on this page assume that your preparations, ceremony and reception are held at the same location, with a ceremony time of 5pm. Both timelines are constructed assuming that a second photographer is added to your coverage; most wedding days can easily be covered by Em, but for larger celebrations and weddings where multiple events are occurring simultaneously a second photographer can be a useful upgrade to your package. The First Look version assumes that you also chose to schedule the family formals before the ceremony. Both of these timelines assume a “typical” wedding day with one bride, one groom, and a reasonably small wedding party; of course every wedding is different, and we’re ready and willing to document every moment, regardless of whether you're "typical"! (Best advice: be yourself and have fun. It's your wedding!) There are too many timeline variations to put on this page, but we can't wait to hear about your plans, particularly if they deviate wildly from the samples outlined here. If you have questions about how to adjust a timeline to the details of your day, please feel free to ask.
FIRST LOOK TIMELINE
for couples who want to see each other before the ceremony
12:00 - Get Ready
Em arrives at the bride’s getting-ready location sometime during the hair/makeup process. The second photographer may help her with detail photos, scout the venue, or start immediately with the groom, depending on the schedule. (The getting ready time may need to be considerably earlier if there are a lot of people getting ready at the same time; talk to your makeup/hair team and always plan for something to run late.)
2:00 - Get Dressed
Final touches on makeup, pictures of the bride and her family and/or bridesmaids helping her get ready. A few minutes of bridal portraits alone after she is dressed, then portraits of the bride and her bridesmaids. During this time the second photographer will be documenting the groom and groomsmen as they get ready, followed by individual and group portraits.
3:00 - First Look + Couple Portraits
This will be completely alone, just the two of you and the two of us with our cameras.
3:45 - Wedding Party Portraits
The two of you with your gals & guys. These are easy and fun!
4:00 - Family Formals
Basic formals will likely take less than 30 minutes, but we build in cushion time to ease the stress of the wedding day timeline. We recommend asking family members to arrive 15 minutes early to ensure a precise start time. (30 minutes allows 8-10 groupings; more time is necessary if you plan on having additional groupings.)
4:30 - Break + Refresh
You and the wedding party can get out of sight while guests start to arrive; this is a good time to freshen up and have a breather.
5:00 - Ceremony
Congratulations, you’re married! After the ceremony family and guests can head directly to cocktail hour. Time for the celebration to get started!
5:30 - Afterglow Portraits
This is a perfect opportunity to escape with us and avoid a receiving line, which can form automatically if you don't take steps to avoid it. This gives us time to capture the happy afterglow and excited smiles you’ll be sharing with each other in your first minutes as a married couple!
5:45 - You head to the cocktail hour/reception!
...and the rest of the night is yours! We may pull you away later in the evening for a few moments if we find a beautifully romantic spot for a portrait, but for the most part we'll focus on capturing the life of the party as you dance the night away.
AISLE REVEAL TIMELINE
for couples who want to wait until the ceremony to see each other
1:00 - Get Ready
Em arrives at the bride’s getting-ready location sometime during the hair/makeup process. The second photographer may help with detail photos, scout the venue, or start immediately with the groom, depending on the schedule. (The getting ready time may need to be considerably earlier if there are a lot of people getting ready at the same time; talk to your makeup/hair team and always plan for something to run late.)
3:15 - Get Dressed
Final touches on makeup, pictures of the bride and her family and/or bridesmaids helping her get ready. A few minutes of bridal portraits alone after she is dressed, then portraits of the bride and her bridesmaids. During this time the second photographer will be documenting the groom and groomsmen as they get ready, followed by individual and group portraits.
4:30 - Take Your Places
You and the wedding party can get out of sight while guests start to arrive; this is a good time to freshen up and have a breather.
5:00 - Ceremony Begins
Congratulations, you’re married! Be sure to inform family members and the wedding party to stay behind after the ceremony for formal portraits before they go to the cocktail hour.
5:30 - Ceremony Finishes
Guests not required for family and wedding party formals head to the cocktail hour.
5:35 - Family Formals
Basic formals will likely take less than 30 minutes, but you may want to build in cushion time to ease the stress of the wedding day timeline. (30 minutes allows 8-10 groupings; more time is necessary if you plan on having additional groupings.)
6:05 - Couple Portraits
Romantic, beautiful portraits celebrating your first moments alone as a married couple. We use minimal direction to put you in the best light, then capture the love and smiles you’ll share with each other, creating our signature couple portraits. (If couple portraits are a big priority for you, you may want to consider having a longer cocktail hour so that there's plenty of time to capture everything!)
6:35 - You head to the cocktail hour/reception!
...and the rest of the night is yours! We may pull you away later in the evening for a few moments if we find a beautifully romantic spot for a portrait, but for the most part we'll focus on capturing the life of the party as you dance the night away.
Questions?
We're more than happy to chat with our clients and see if we can help, but please bear in mind that we aren't wedding planners by profession! If you find yourself needing someone to rewrite your timeline with numerous details outside of what's addressed above we'll refer you to a wedding planner or day-of coordinator; a good one can be worth their weight in gold. As we learned at our own wedding, sometimes having professional help is key to having a smooth and easy-going wedding day! Feel free to shoot us an email if you'd like to go over any details.
