10-hour Wedding Day Timeline
Crafting a wedding day timeline that flows effortlessly is all about prepping and organising in advance. Breaking down your entire day into a well-thought-out timeline ensures everything stays on track when the big day arrives. The more detailed your plan, the smoother things will likely go. Of course, the day may bring changes, and timings might shift a bit, and that's perfectly okay! The timeline serves as a foundation for vendors to work with, so the closer we stick to the schedule, the more likely we are to capture all the photos we’ve planned to create.
We have broken down a 10-hour day for you - keep in mind, it's only an indication, as the timeline can vary based on many factors, such as if you’re doing a first look, where your pre-wedding locations are to the venue, if your wedding ceremony and reception are at different locations, plus more! Having said that, we hope there’s enough here for you to still find it a useful reference.
The Groom’s Preparation - 45mins
There’s a reason the boys are first. They have to be ready first in order to get to the venue so they can welcome the guests as they arrive. It’s also a lot easier for boys to take off a jacket and loosen a tie than it is for a bride to get out of a dress to make themselves comfortable if they’re ready too early. Lastly, brides are seldom ready before they absolutely need to be. There’s a lot more unexpected things that can happen with the dress, hair, make up etc, so photographing the brides after the boys makes a lot of sense.
When we arrive at the grooms location, you will ideally be showered and ready to get dressed, but still hanging out in your casual clothes so we can get a few shots of you doing whatever you’re doing, the suits hanging up and the detailed photos before we capture the boys all in their suits. If you have buttonholes, it never hurts to ask your florist for the magnets rather than the pins as that can save the groomsmen a huge headache and not leave holes in your suits. We see it all the time with the struggle to pin it in, so we’ve found a link below to help prep the boys ahead of the day.
The Bride’s Preparation - 1-1.5 hours
Like the boys, we like to arrive before you’re in your dresses. So whether you’re hanging out in your robes or casual gear, we can get the whole transformation. If you’d like some make up photos, try to time the make up artist to finish around 10mins after we arrive and we can get those shots first. A note on the hair and make up – it’s critical that these don’t run drastically over time. It’s probably the main reason that causes the bridal party to leave late, which pushes back the ceremony and everything else. This ultimately translates to less time for your couple’s portraits.
Before we arrive, please:
Leave a tidy area with the best window light, it means we won’t need to spend any time cleaning and can get shots of you and the girls instead.
If you’d like a shot of your dress, leave it hanging in this room and don’t forget to have it on a beautiful hanger!
Try to allow enough time to get the dress on if it’s a complicated design with lots of lacing for instance. They can make this look easy in the bridal shop but don’t believe it will be that easy on the day!
Pre Ceremony - 30 minutes to 1 hour
The pre-ceremony is just a little buffer of time after we leave the girls where we can get shots of your guests arriving and seeing each other, a few details of the ceremony set up and of course the groom nerves setting in! It’s also an opportunity to run through any last minute things with the celebrant to make sure we’re all on the same page. We allow 1 hour pre-wedding ceremony if you have opted for a videography package, as we need time to set up the cameras and test the audio.
The Ceremony - 30mins to 1 hour
Obviously, the thirty minutes we’ve mentioned is nothing more than a vague guide. We’ve seen ceremonies go for 10 minutes, and we’ve seen them go for one hour. If you’re not religious, most ceremonies are around 25-30 minutes. If you’re having a religious wedding in a church, these usually last between 40 minutes to 1 hour.
When it comes time to have your first kiss as husband and wife, make the most of it! This isn’t a time to be timid, everyone will be cheering for you both, make the kiss last for longer than 2 seconds so we can capture it all.
Now for walking back down the aisle - When you’re walking back down the aisle to the cheers of the crowd, grab each other by the hand and get excited, you’re married, you’ve done it! We suggest you hold your bouquet on your outside hand therefore you can raise this into the air as you walk down the aisle towards us. These photos are some of our favourites. Providing flower petals or confetti at least to the people sitting on the aisle also adds so much to the action of the photos!
Once you’re near the end of the last aisle, stop and enjoy a BIG juicy kiss as newly weds, even include a little dip - there will be confetti floating and everyone cheering which makes for a great photo & video op!
The Big Group Photo - 10mins
The big group photo is optional. We’re not going to sugar coat it, this can be the most painful part of the day. If you want this shot, the only time to take it is straight after the ceremony when we can funnel all of your guests into one place as close by as possible. The further away we have to go to get this shot, the longer it will take to move all of your guests who are catching up and chatting. We’ll discuss location options quickly before moving everyone, and ask for your MC to help wrangle everyone. Cutting it is also the easiest way to make back some time on the day if we’re running late for your bridal portraits.
Family Photos - 15 to 30 minutes
This is our time to get all of those must-have group shots. The kind of photos where you can’t wake up the next day and say “I can’t believe we didn’t get a shot with my grandparents!”. Like the big group photo, these can be a headache to organise as they require a lot of different people who are busy catching up and chatting to not get distracted, stay close and be ready to jump in to their photo.
Wedding Party Photos - 15 to 30 minutes
Let the fun begin! Let’s get you all hanging out and celebrating. If you want to pop open a bottle of bubbles or crack some beers, DO IT! We can get the traditional wedding party photos, but we’re far more interested in how you all interact together. We like to offer the group direction where we need, otherwise we love to make you relax and have some fun with your best friends - if you have a UE boom bring this along to have a boogie and get pumped up.
Couple’s Portraits - 15 to 20 mins
When we get to the couple’s portraits, something you may not have anticipated is just how much you’ll enjoy taking this time away from your wedding guests to actually celebrate privately with your new husband/wife. As amazing as it is to have all of your closest friends and family with you on one day, congratulating you, it can also get a bit overwhelming as it’s the most attention you’ve ever received in your life. So take this time to just enjoy each other, catch up on your mornings you’ve had and talk about what you’ve loved so far.
If at any moment you want to head back to your guests, or go and chill out with some wine and canapés, let us know. We’re here to help you do it your way and have the best wedding day possible.
The Reception - Open Ended
Let’s raise a glass for the newly married couple! We’ve made it back for your announcement. Hopefully you’ve had a few minutes to chill. We suggest you cut your cake after you’ve entered the reception, so this can be taken away and cut up (this can take longer than you think).
If, throughout the reception, there’s an interesting night shot to get, we may come and grab you. You may appreciate the break from the wedding or you may not want to leave. As long as you’re staying true to yourself and what you want, we’re happy with this.
Dinner Timings
If you’re planning to sit down for dinner with your guests we usually allow 1 hour from serving to clean up. We suggest you ask your catering team to serve you first and us, so we don’t miss out on any photo & video ops after you’ve eaten!
Sunset Photos
Sunset Photos! This may or may not be an option depending on the location, weather, time of year and the reception schedule, but it’s something to keep in mind when formulating the timings with your venue. You can check out what time the sun will set on your wedding day by simply googling your wedding date, location and the word ‘sunset’. BUT we usually include this in our timeline for you anyway!
So to recap on the above, see below a 10-hour wedding day timeline:
11:30 pm - Arrive at grooms house
12:30 pm - Arrive at brides house
3 pm - Guests arrive
3:30 pm - Ceremony
4 pm - Celebrate the newly wed
4:15 pm - Group photo
4:25 pm - Family and Friends photos
4:45 pm - Bridal party photos
5:50 pm - Guests seated
6 pm - Couple walk in / cake cut
6:10 pm - First speeches
6:30 pm - Dinner
7 pm - Sunset photos (changes depending on time of year)
7:30 pm - Last speeches
8 pm - First dance / dance floor
8:30 pm - Flash photos (changes depending on time of year)
9:30 pm - Amour Weddings leave
We send all of our couples a rough timeline when booking to suit their day and best time for lighting. Two weeks before their wedding we sit down again in person or over ZOOM to finalise the details of the day. You will also receive from us a pre-wedding guide pack for tips and tricks on their day.
