Wedding Tips : wedding timeline

As you start to put together the timeline for your wedding day, it’s the timing that can be the big question. How long does everything take? And how much time do I need to allow for photos?

Before the ceremony, if you’re have prep photos we like to allow 1 - 1.5 hours with each partner. It’s great to let hair and makeup know what time we need to leave in advance, so they can schedule when you need to be ready to still also get dressed for some posed photos. As we need to be ready when you arrive at the ceremony, we’ll be leaving home before you.

When choosing your ceremony time, it often comes down to your choice of venue. If your ceremony is in the same location, then usually there’s a smaller gap between the two events, as your guests are going to stay onsite.

For church weddings, or where you have different locations, it can be a good idea to leave a bit extra time so guests have the opportunity to stop off at home in between, to freshen up or arrange the babysitter to come over so they can then have a kid free night with you.

A church ceremony can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, for civil ceremonies we allow 30 minutes. This gives you plenty of time for arrival and signing the paperwork as well as the vows.

After this, there’s time for guests to congratulate you and move into family and/or group photos. Love full group photos of all your guests? That’s then 15 minutes to allow in your schedule to get this organised. Overall, 20-45 minutes for congrats and family photos, this once again has a bit of a time range dependant on number of guests and family combos.

Your photo session time with your photographer can be as little or as long as you like. We’ve had 15 minutes through to four hours! Our advice is no more than on location per hour, that gives you plenty of time to get some great photos, plus makeup touchups, have a drink and relax a little bit.

And then of course you roll into your reception, where your venue can help with planning the timeline.