FAQ: Timeline

Today on the blog we are sharing some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about timelines. Below you can read the questions and find out our answers. Hopefully this will help you plan out your day accordingly if you’re creating a timeline for yourself. If you are working with us, chances are we made a timeline with you over the phone during the consultation. If we didn’t create a timeline for you already, let us know and we’ll send you one for free!

What time should my ceremony start?

A: This all depends a bit on what time of wedding you’re having. Catholic wedding ceremonies may require you to start at a certain time. These ceremonies most often happen around 1 or 2pm and last around an hour. You’ll likely have little control over when your ceremony starts as it will be up to the church. If you are having a ceremony that is more in your control, then we’d recommend you schedule it for 3 hours prior to sunset. This will give us enough time to get through all of your photos afterwards without having to worry about losing the light. If you are sharing in a first look then we’d recommend scheduling the ceremony 2 hours prior to sunset.

How long do I need for hair and makeup?

A: This will completely depend on how many people need to get hair and makeup done. It’ll also depend on how quickly your hair and makeup artists work. We recommend asking your photographers to create a timeline for you and to let you know what time hair and makeup will need to be finished up. Once you know when it needs to be finished, you can work backwards and ask your hair and makeup artist how long they think it’ll take to do hair and makeup for everyone. If they say it takes 4 hours to get everyone done, add an extra 30-45 minutes to that in case something runs behind. We’d rather you be early and not stressed than on time and stressing out. Better to sit around and relax than stress out.

When should I do portraits?

A: Again this all depends on if you’re sharing in a first look or not. If you’re not sharing in a first look then your portraits will likely happen towards the end of cocktail hour and you’ll have around 10 minutes for those. If you’re sharing in a first look then we schedule first looks and portraits to last for around 45 minutes to 1 hour and those typically happen 2 hours prior to the ceremony starting.

Should I do family photos before or after the ceremony?

A: Your family photos can definitely happen before the ceremony, but it’s also okay for them to happen afterwards. If they are going to happen earlier, we would just bump everything in your timeline up by 30 minutes. If they happen afterwards, everything stays the same. We only suggest doing family pictures before the ceremony if you know your families are often on time to things. If you know your families run late then we’d recommend doing it after the ceremony since everyone is already there.

Q: We’re doing an exit at the end of the reception. Will you still be there to capture it?

A: This all depends on the amount of coverage that you have with us. More often than not, if you have a 10 hour collection with us then we will be there at the end of the night. If our coverage won’t last to the end of the night then we recommend doing what we call a “faux-exit.” This is where we’ll take you two, your bridal party and your immediate families and head outside and photograph your sparkler exit before we leave. This actually sometimes works a bit better because there are fewer people to give instructions to and it means you can go multiple times through sparklers rather than running through once and getting in a car and driving off. Either way, whether we’re there to the end of the night or leaving part of the way through, we can definitely photograph an exit for you.