sacramento wedding photography

In this three-part series I’m sharing my approach to helping couples plan their big day. In the first part we broke your wedding day down into mini-events. In the second part we went over your photography options and how each ties into capturing your complete wedding story. In this third part we’ll put your day back together in a timeline. Along the way, we’ll ask the question – what is most important to you? Because really, that’s what all this planning is about!

Last time, we looked at the events of your big day in terms of emotional images that tell your story. We broke your wedding day down into mini-stories and looked at the unique photos we could get in each. Your assignment was to go through that list and think about what matters to you.

So what do you want to include in your story? That will inform your choices in putting together your own, custom timeline.

Assuming you want to include everything, here is a recommended timeline. I’ve included start times as a rough guide.

The groom’s story – putting on final touches, sharing moments with the guys, the groom and his parents, portraits of the groom alone: 10am-11:30am
The bride’s story – getting ready before the ceremony, the bride and her bridesmaids, the bride and her parents, portraits of the bride alone: 12pm-2pm
Bride and groom first look: 2pm-2:15pm
Bridal party photos of the bride, groom, and bridal party enjoying time together, followed by fun, romantic, and fashion photos of the bride and groom – all done on location 2:15pm-3:45pm
Family photography: 4:15pm-4:45pm
Wedding ceremony: 5pm-6pm
Celebrating the newlyweds: 6pm-6:30pm
The reception starts: 7pm
Last look photos of the bride and groom to close off their story: 10:30pm-11pm
Carey Bryan Photography leaves: 11pm
The bride and groom leave the reception: 11:45pm
The last of the guests leave the reception: 12am

In making this timeline I’ve assumed that the bride and groom will see each other before the ceremony. If you and your fiance are planning to see each other for the first time during your ceremony, this timeline can be adjusted to fit your own plans by simply moving mini-stories around. That’s a great part of this mini-story approach – it is flexible enough to accommodate your own plans.

If your ceremony and reception are in the same location, that simplifies things in some ways – since some travel can be eliminated. If you and your fiance are not seeing each other before the ceremony, you’ll likely want to move your family photography and your bridal party location photography between your ceremony and your reception. In that case, serving light appetizers and cocktails to your guests during your location photography is one way to keep them entertained and provide them the opportunity to catch up with each other and make new friends.

The timeline is an overall schedule that includes the mini-stories that make up your wedding day. As your wedding approaches and you work with your vendors, you’ll want to run your timeline by them, make sure they know what you are planning, and have them help you fill in the spaces specific to their own areas of expertise. If you hire a DJ, he or she can help you keep your reception schedule on track. Likewise, your catering manager can verify that you have sufficient time allocated for your dining plans and your venue manager can look at your overall schedule in regards to setting up and changing around the venue.

Personally, I go over a couple’s timeline with them when they first meet with me. Most couples don’t have a firm timeline then, and that’s okay. We talk about their goals and what they have planned so far. As they plan their wedding I answer any scheduling questions they may have and I ask them to keep me updated on how their timeline is shaping up. A few weeks before their wedding, we meet up and go over their final timeline in detail – and match it up one more time with their photography. At that time there is still an opportunity to make minor adjustments if something looks like it might work better if slightly rearranged.

I hope this mini-series of posts has helped! Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment or sending me a tweet!

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Wedding timelines! For some brides the planning just falls together, but for many brides figuring out how to fit everything into their wedding day and arrange the schedule in a way that gives them enough time for all their events, gives them the time they want for all their photography, keeps the day flowing smoothly and keeps their guests entertained can be a daunting task!

Well, I’m here to help! In this three-part series I’ll share my approach to helping couples plan their big day. In this first part we’ll break your day down into mini-events. In the second we’ll go over your photography options and how each ties into capturing your complete wedding story. In the third, we’ll put your day back together in a wedding-day timeline. Along the way, we’ll ask the question – what is most important to you? Because really, that’s what all this planning is about!

To me, a wedding is a fantastic event! Not just because I love photographing weddings, but on deep human level in so many ways. First there’s the ceremony, where friends and family come to witness and experience a couple sharing their vows and starting their married life together. A wedding also is a time when family and friends may travel great distances and all come together in one spot – there is a reunion aspect to a wedding. There’s the bride before the wedding and the groom before the wedding, sharing special moments with close friends and family for the last time as singles. There’s the fun that the bridal party brings to the day. There are the details – the flowers, the decorations, the lighting, the music, the food, the cake, the place settings, … all the details, big and small, that make a couple’s day unique. Then there’s the celebration, the speeches and toasts, the cake cutting, the garter toss, the bouquet toss, the first dances, the dancing, … and the party.

In the middle of all this are the bride and groom, looking gorgeous and sharp, sharing this wonderful day together. When you are in the middle of all those events, it can seem like the day is a continuous buzz of activity that flows together. I’d like to help break that flow apart for you.

As your photographer, I see your wedding day as a series of mini events – a series of mini-stories – each with a beginning, a middle, and an end; just like a movie. In fact, that’s how I cover your wedding day – as a series of mini-stories or chapters, complete in themselves, yet flowing together in your album to tell your complete wedding-day story.

Like a good movie, it all starts with a back story. These are events I don’t witness but are an important part of your day. That includes perhaps a special breakfast and a spa visit or a massage. The first thing that really impacts your schedule is your hair and makeup. Once your hair and makeup are done, your main story starts!

Here, then, are the major pieces of your story. Think of these as high-level building building blocks from which to construct your timeline. Not necessarily in order:

• the bride getting ready before the ceremony, sharing the moment with her bridesmaids and parents
• the groom putting on final touches and sharing moments with his groomsmen and immediate family
• the first time the bride and groom see each other before their wedding, this may be a separate event or it may happen during the ceremony
• the bride, groom, and bridal party enjoying time together – perhaps before official activities take over
• the bride and groom spending time together and connecting with each other for the last time before they become husband and wife – if they do decide to see each other before their ceremony
• the details of the ceremony and reception locations
• the wedding ceremony
• the entire wedding assembly cheering and celebrating the newlyweds
• close family sharing moments with the couple
• the bride and groom sharing moments together as husband and wife before their reception and party
• the reception – a celebratory meal, toasts and speeches, the sharing of joy and happiness between everyone
• reception traditions – the first dances, the bouquet toss, the garter toss, the cake cutting, and any other traditions that are important to the couple
• reception dancing and partying
• the bride and groom sharing time together at the end of their celebration, before they leave together as husband and wife.

Each of these elements alone is a story in itself. Together, they tell the story of your wedding day.

Of course, there are many cultural and religious variations that might alter this sample list of story elements. This list meant as a high-level guideline to be adapted in light of your own traditions in order to help you pull your own, unique timeline together.

Next time, we’ll look at the elements of your wedding day and focus on your photography options to capture your wedding-day story.

I hope this post has helped! Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment or sending me a tweet!

Contact Carey | View Carey’s Wedding Gallery

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