Hey all!! Happy FRIDAY! I am spending this Friday working in my home office and enjoying the beautiful sun that is FINALLY popping out. I swear, January lasted forever and brought the yuckiest weather. We made it through and I’m stoked for an early spring feeling. Bren, Ivy and I are even planning on going on a walk this evening.

Todays blog post features some helpful tips when planning your wedding day! The timeline of your day can make you feel at ease or overwhelmed. As your wedding photographers, we want you to feel comfortable and relaxed on your day and having a timeline that doesn’t flow or allow the proper time for each thing can make your day more stressful than necessary. After photographing over a hundred weddings in the past few years, I have come to know how much time each moment of the wedding day takes. Every wedding day is different which is why we work with each couple to create their own custom timelines, but this is a great starting point!

We believe that 8 hours of coverage is the perfect amount of coverage for most traditional weddings. This usually covers the end of getting ready through open dance floor. We recommend 10 hours for couples who may have a longer ceremony, multiple locations, want us there till the end of the reception or just want to make sure they get their day covered to the full! During our initial consult, we will discuss with you what coverage amount will fit you like a glass slipper.

We always put buffers into each section of the wedding day to make sure that even if other things are running behind, your photos won’t feel rushed. At no point of your day do we want you to feel stressed because of the timeline.

8 Hours of Wedding Coverage – No First Look

• 1 PM – Details and Getting Ready
• 2 PM – Bride Gets Dressed
• 2:30 PM -Bridal Portraits + Bridesmaids ( This may also include the brides photos with her family)
• 3 PM- Grooms Portraits + Groomsmen ( This may also include the grooms photos with his family)
• 3:30 PM – In Hiding before Ceremony
• 4 PM- Ceremony
• 4:30 PM – Family Photos
• 5 PM- Bridal Party
• 5:15 PM- Bride and Groom Portraits
• 6 PM- Entrance into Reception
• 6:45 PM – First Dance, Parent Dances
• 7 PM- Toasts + Cake Cutting
• 7:30 PM – Dance Floor Opens
• 7:45 PM- Sunset Portraits
• 9 PM Photographers Leave

8 Hours of Wedding Coverage with A First Look

• 1 PM- Details and Getting Ready
• 2 PM- Bride gets dressed
• 2:30 PM – First look & Portraits
• 3 PM- Bridal Party Photos
• 4 PM – Family Photos
• 4:30 Pm – In Hiding before Ceremony
• 5 PM – Ceremony
• 5:30 PM – Extended Family Photos
• 6 PM- A few just married portraits and then chill till entrance!
• 6:30 PM – Entrance into Reception
• 7:15 PM – First Dance, Parent Dances
• 7:30 PM – Toast + Cake Cutting
• 7:45 PM- Sunset Portraits
• 8 PM – Open Dance Floor
• 9 PM- Photographers Leave

As mentioned above, these are just a starting point. We create your timeline based on your ceremony time, how long your ceremony is and anything additional things you may want to add. This could include first look with your bridesmaids, first look with dad, first look with any siblings, etc. usually 30 minutes to an hour of open dance floor is usually the right amount of time to get all those fun dance floor photos! If you choose to have an exit ( like sparklers) we will schedule that right before we leave for the night. We can do a staged exit and then you go back in and party, or you may choose to extend coverage so we are there till the end. Many couples who are planning a banger of a party or just don’t want to break up their reception choose to do this!

I hope this information was helpful! We create custom timelines for each of our couples but know how long each moment of the day usually takes. These are also based on what works best for me and my team – each photographer is different and requires more or less time for certain things!

See ya real soon! – Nat

Check out our last wedding of 2023 on the blog : https://nataliekathrynphoto.com/the-carrick-house-lexington-ky/

Looking for a wedding photographer for your day? Contact us! We can’t wait to hear all about what you’re dreaming up!