7 Wedding Day Moments Couples Forget to Include in Their Timeline
When couples start building their wedding day timeline, they usually know the big things that need a time slot.
Ceremony. Cocktail hour. Dinner. First dance. Cake cutting. Maybe a first look and family portraits.
But after photographing weddings for years, we've noticed that some of the moments couples are most excited to have photographed are the ones they forgot to actually leave time for.
Your wedding timeline isn't just a schedule of events. It's also the framework that gives us enough breathing room to photograph the little moments in between.
Here are seven things we wish more couples would build into their wedding photography timeline.
1. Time for Wedding Details
Your invitation suite, rings, jewelry, shoes, perfume, vow books, family heirlooms, flowers and other meaningful details can all be photographed while you're getting ready.
Instead of realizing 30 minutes before the ceremony that the rings are still with your partner and the invitation is in the car, gather everything together in one place before we arrive.
Plan for: About 15–20 minutes of detail photography.
This can usually happen while you're getting ready, so it doesn't necessarily need to add extra time to your day. We just need the details available. The best way to do this is to have a box ready for us when we arrive at the venue and put someone in charge of to make sure it is handed to us as soon as we arrive.
Bonus Tip: if you are having a florist, ask them to set aside some extra blooms and greenery stems for us to style your photos with! It's a great way to tie everything together.
2. Getting Dressed
Getting dressed is often treated as something that takes five minutes.
It never does. In all honesty, it takes about 30 minutes.
There are buttons. Zippers. Jewelry. Shoes. Veils. Cufflinks. Ties. Sometimes there are multiple people helping.
And honestly, this is one of the parts of the day we love photographing. We get to see your love ones fussing over you and gushing about how beautiful your clothes are. It makes for the sweetest memories!
Plan for: At least 20–30 minutes for getting dressed and those surrounding moments.
Don't schedule us to arrive at 1:00 and expect to be completely dressed by 1:05, cause we will certainly miss all the fun!
3. The "Okay, We're Actually Ready" Moment
This one is easy to overlook and often doesn't happen, but we can try our best!
Everyone is dressed. Hair and makeup are finished. We are there snapping cute pics of everyone chilling for a moment. And BOOM suddenly everyone needs to go somewhere. Give yourselves a few minutes and take the time to soak in the day and sit in your feelings.
This is the perfect time for a first look with family, portraits with your wedding party, a quiet moment with your parents, or simply a chance to take a breath before the ceremony.
Plan for: 10–15 minutes of buffer time.
We promise you will never regret having a little breathing room in your timeline.
4. Family Photos Take Longer Than You Think
We love family photos. We also know that "family photos" can mean anything from five combinations to approximately 47 and can quickly become one of the more chaotic parts of your day.
The biggest timeline mistake we see is giving ourselves 10 minutes and then handing us a list with 20 different groupings.
Someone is in the bathroom. Someone went to get a drink. Someone didn't hear their name. Someone's uncle is suddenly missing.
It happens.
Plan for: Around 2–3 minutes per family grouping, plus a little buffer. Also make sure that everyone that is in family photos KNOWS they are expected to wait after the ceremony for family photos so they do not wander off. Having the officiant announce this can also be very helpful. Simply ask them to say: "If the couple has alerted you that you are participating in family photos, please find your way back to your seats after the ceremony ends, and we will get your photos taken care of in a timely manner. Then you will be dismissed to join cocktail hour."
Most importantly, send us the list ahead of time. It is most helpful if it is structured as follows:
Partner 1 Immediate Family:
Mom (Susan)
Dad (Joe)
Brother (Jim)
Grandma(Jane)
Grandpa(Stan)
Gramma (Jill)
Grampa (Clark)
Partner 1 Siblings:
Brother (Jim)
Partner 1 Parents:
Mom (Susan)
Dad (Joe)
Partner 1 Maternal Grandparents:
Grandma (Jane)
Grandpa (Stan)
Partner 1 Paternal Grandparents:
Gramma (Jill)
Grampa (Clark)
So on and so forth - by taking the larger group, then breaking it down into smaller groups, we can dismiss people once they are done with their section and let the groups waiting dwindle down until we are done!
We can help you organize it so you aren't standing there trying to remember who needs to be in each photo.
5. Time to Actually Enjoy Cocktail Hour
If you're doing a first look, you have a wonderful opportunity to attend your cocktail hour, but don't forget that you need time to actually enjoy it.
Couples sometimes schedule portraits for the entire cocktail hour, which means they spend that entire hour taking photos while their guests are drinking, eating, and hanging out.
You don't have to do that.
Plan for: 15–20 minutes of couple portraits, then give yourselves time to mingle. We are pretty speedy on your wedding day, and having spent time with you during your engagement session, so we know what works for you and what doesn't. We'll get plenty of beautiful photos without keeping you away from your friends and family for an hour. We can also pull you out for a few late night photos or photos during sunset if the timing is right!
6. The Reception Space Before Everyone Gets There
If you've spent months choosing your flowers, tablescapes, signage, cake, place settings and other reception details, we want to photograph them while they're still pristine and before your uncle has time to toss his blazer on the back of a chair.
Plan for: 5–10 minutes for us to photograph the reception space before guests enter. Ideally, we will take care of this right before the ceremony, if time doesn't allow for it then or catering isn't done setting up, we will pop back in during cocktail hour.
7. The Moments You Didn't Schedule
This might be the biggest one and it sounds impossible.
Your timeline can be perfectly planned down to the minute and still leave no room for the things you didn't know were going to happen.
Your dad pulls you aside before the ceremony.
Your grandmother wants a photo with you.
Your friends start an impromptu dance party while you're getting ready.
Your partner gives you a letter.
Someone gets emotional.
Someone makes everyone laugh.
You decide you want to sneak away for five minutes together.
These are the moments we can't always predict, and they're often the moments you'll remember most.
Plan for: More buffer than you think you need.
A wedding day that is scheduled too tightly doesn't leave room for the actual wedding day to happen because you are too busy being shuffled from zone to zone, timed event to timed event.
Give Your Wedding Day Some Breathing Room
The goal of a good wedding timeline isn't to make every minute productive, it's to make sure you have enough time to experience your day without constantly looking at the clock.
As photographers, we'd much rather have a timeline with a little breathing room than one where everything is scheduled back-to-back. It gives us space to photograph the unexpected moments with purpose, keeps portraits from feeling rushed, and gives you permission to actually enjoy what's happening around you.
So when you're building your wedding day timeline, don't just ask:
"What events do we NEED to fit in?"
Also ask yourselves:
"What do we want to have time to FEEL?"
Because those are often the photographs you'll care about the most when it is all said and done.
