Newlyweds embrace under veil spotted with pearls with sunset in the background.

Many of us have been wedding guests and maybe a few of us have even had our own wedding before—but for a large majority of people, planning a wedding is a first time experience! From learning how to contact, hire, and coordinate wedding vendors to discovering all of the things you’ll need to purchase to bring your dream day together, it can be an overwhelming experience. On top of that, the planning doesn’t just end the second you have hired and secured all of your necessary items. You then need to plan the flow of your day—what time will you get ready, where will you get ready, who will get ready with you, when should guests arrive, how do you make sure you take those formal must-have photos, when should dinner be served, and when should everyone go home. There is A LOT to think about and it’s important that these details are worked out in advance so that you and your love can truly enjoy your wedding day.

The easiest way to create your timeline is to work with your wedding planner—this may either be a person you hire for day of, month of, or for full planning services or a professional that comes with your venue. These wedding professionals know the ins and outs of wedding days and can help you identify everything you’ll need to consider when it comes to the flow of your day.

That said, some people can opt not to hire a wedding planner. This can be because of budget, wedding size, a day-of coordinator comes with the venue, and so much more. Either way, if this is you, you’ll want to make sure this is a service your photographer can help provide! Wedding photographers also intimately know how wedding days work and can have advice and sample timelines to help you outline your wedding.

For my couples, this is a complimentary service that I provide in all of my wedding packages! Whether you need help creating one or just need some advice or review, I will be there to lend a hand! From this experience, I’ve determined that there are five key moments throughout the day that may not be obvious to first-time wedding throwers and should definitely be considered when planning.

5 things that can affect your wedding timeline

The first look
I’ve previously written a blog post on the benefits of doing a first look, and it’s these same benefits that make it an important detail to include when trying to plan your wedding day. Whether you and your partner want to do a first look can significantly impact your timeline. This isn’t because doing a first look takes up a lot of time—in fact, most first looks take less than 15 minutes.
Where it really impacts the timeline is how you can move your formal photos, where you’ll both need to be included (wedding party and family formals) before your ceremony. This will allow you to get a bulk of those more boring, but still very important formal photos out of the way in the beginning of your day, ultimately allowing you to enjoy your cocktail hour and be more present with your guests.
If being present and having time to socialize and party is a priority for you, you’ll definitely want to consider adding in time on your timeline to have a first look! But don’t forget, doing a first look and a majority of your photos before the ceremony will also mean that you will need to be ready a little earlier than expected. If my couple is doing a first look, I always recommend being ready at least 2.5 hours before the ceremony, but this recommendation can depend on your wedding party size.
Wedding party size
When it comes to wedding parties—they can be both fun and overwhelming. It’s important to keep in mind that your wedding party will likely be drinking, socializing, and enjoying the day. The more individuals you have in your party, the more time it will take to complete the wedding party photos and individual portraits with each of your members. So when it comes time to set aside a portion of your day on your timeline dedicated to these photos, it’s important that you know how many people will be in your wedding party and communicate this to any wedding professional who may be helping you put this timeline together.
From my experience with wedding party photos, groups of 10 or less (for example 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen or 4 groomspeople and 5 groomsmaids—or whatever your wedding party may look like) will require about 30 minutes. For larger wedding parties, where you’re looking at 12 to 20 plus people, you’ll want to be realistic and set aside at least an hour. Of course, if you’ve requested a second shooter in your wedding package, it’s likely your wedding photographer will be able to split the work and as a result reduce the time needed. If you don’t know if a second shooter is included, make sure to ask your wedding photographer! These are typically easy add-ons, but you won’t want to wait until the last second to request one—make sure you give your photographer enough time to coordinate the additional coverage.
Family formals shot list
Family formal photos can feel a bit like herding cats. While these photos are incredibly valuable and sentimental to everyone involved, they can be rather tiresome and redundant. In fact, I’ve seen many family members grow weary and restless during this time.
To help streamline this process and get you two back into your day, there are two easy things you can do to help your photographer and family members get through this experience quickly:
- Keep it to just immediate family members—For those with larger families, it may be tempting to get a photo with each and every aunt and uncle, that can begin to take away from your day and, if your photographer is delivering a specific number of images, take away from other valuable moments that may otherwise have been captured. Instead, I recommend taking more informal shots during your cocktail hour while you’re walking around mingling. This will allow you to enjoy your evening and still capture you with all of your loved ones.
- Make a list prior to your wedding day—To help your photographer wrangle everyone for photos and to make sure you get all of the groupings you want, write out a list of names, relations, and pairings in advance of the day. You’ll also want to limit this number of groupings to no more than 15. Trying to squeeze in any more will often lead to exceeding your allotted time and cause you to go off of your timeline.
If you’re able to successfully limit your family formals to immediate family members and no more than 15 total groupings, you’ll likely only need to set aside 30 minutes total to complete these photos. My pro tip: Tell you family members prior to your wedding day if they will need to be in the photos. Then, tell them to arrive 30 minutes prior to when they need to be there for photos or have your officiant ask them to stay after the ceremony concludes. Either way, this will help ensure everyone is where they need to be, when they need to be there.
Golden hour
As I often tell my couples, the sun waits for no one. While most of your evening will be flexible and you will likely be able to go with the natural flow of events, golden hour is one of the few things that cannot be moved or postponed. If golden hour photos are a priority to you, you’ll need to be ready at the drop of a hat to run off quite literally into the sunset with your photographer—regardless of what else is going on.
Beyond the inflexibility that comes with golden hour, you’ll also want to be cognizant of what time sunset is and the environment that you’re in. A quick Google search of the city and date will tell you what time sunset is. But you’ll then need to consider your venue’s surroundings. Are you in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest or along the coast in Santa Barbara, California? Depending on the mountains and coverage of trees, your sunset time may vary quite drastically. Again, I recommend working with your photographer on this. They’ll likely be experts on knowing when sunset is and how your venue’s surroundings will affect it.
Grand exit
Do you and your partner want to have a grand exit? Whether its with sparklers, glow sticks, or biodegradable confetti, you may want to be sent off into the night with style! To do this, you’ll need to consider a few key things. First, what time does your venue close? You’ll want to be aware of when your party ends and when you’ll need to be off the property. Second, the level of partying you expect to do. If you know your friends and family, and if you know yourself, you may want to move this forward on your timeline for a faux exit so that way more people can participate. Finally, how many hours of photography coverage do you have? Depending on when your photography coverage starts and your package, you may either end up paying for additional coverage (if you want to go to the very end) or you may want to consider moving this moment forward for a faux exit to ensure this moment is captured. Regardless, these are all aspects of a grand exit that can dramatically affect when you do your grand exit.
Additionally, you may want to make sure that your venue or state doesn’t have any restrictions regarding the type materials used in your grand exit. Some venues and cities that are in fire-warning areas have restrictions regarding sparklers. Make sure you know what you can do in advance!

Planning your wedding day doesn’t have to be complicated

More than anything else, the best thing you can do when planning your wedding day timeline is communicate and be flexible. Work with your vendors, communicate your needs, and understand your priorities. The last thing you want on your wedding day is to be running around from moment to moment, stressed and unable to enjoy your day. The best thing you can do is outline your must-haves and priorities and be flexible regarding how those priorities will affect the rest of your day.

And of course, if your wedding vendors have any recommendations or best practices, consider them! They work in the field and they have a ton of experience with the flow of a wedding day.

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