It’s that time of year for all of you spring brides!  Most likely you will soon be getting an email from your photographer finalizing the final details of your big day with a wedding questionnaire.  If it’s anything like mine, it asks about all the important details from how many people are in your bridal party to the exact timeline of the big day.  If you’re anything like me, the thought of breaking down my wedding day to an exact science kind of overwhelmed me… but in order for my guests to not have to sit around for an extra hour and a half waiting for me to arrive down the aisle, I knew that I had to schedule out the day.

A lot of times people say that weddings are scheduled around the pictures… for the most part that is true, especially if you’re having an evening wedding.  If your wedding is at 8pm in the winter time and you still want outdoor pictures with the sun shining then you are going to have to schedule your pictures before the sun sets!  This means looking into an option called the “First Look.”  Even if your wedding is going to be completely over when the sun still shines, there has to be some schedule for you to get all your pictures in before your reception.

For me, if my couples are not doing a first look, I need at least 90 minutes after the ceremony to take all of the photographs.  I need 30 minutes for Family Formals, 30 minutes for Bridal Party photos, and 30 minutes for Bride & Groom portraits.  If either the Family Formals or Bridal Party photos take less time, then we get more time for romantic portraits for the bride and groom!  In addition to time for those photographs, I also need time before the bride is in her dress to take pictures of all her bridal details.  In order for that to happen, I need at least 30-45 minutes to really “get in the groove” and capture your details beautifully.

So here is a sample of my timeline without a “First Look”:

2:00pm- Lauren starts with details and then gets “getting ready shots”
3:00pm-  Dress on!
3:15pm-  Bride with Bridesmaids for a few portraits
3:30pm- Groomsmen usher early guest / bride touches up makeup and goes into hiding!
4pm- Ceremony
4:40pm- Family formals
5:15pm- Bridal Party Portraits
5:45pm- Romantic portraits of the bride and groom… as many as we can do in 20mins!
6:15pm- Lineup for introductions
6:30ishpm- party begins!!!!

Timeline with the “First Look”:

12:45ishpm- Lauren begins with details and the bride getting ready!
1:30pm- The Dress is on, take a few fun bridal shots:)
2:15pm- First Look privately! and then the B&G’s romantic portraits!
3:00pm- All bridal party portraits
3:30pm- Groomsmen usher early guest / bride touches up makeup and goes into hiding!
4pm- Ceremony
4:40pm- Family formals
5:15pm- A few more romantic portraits for the newlyweds!
5:30-6ishpm- The Party Begins and the B&G can be introduced immediately!