One of the biggest questions that my brides often ask is, “How much time do I really need?” My packages are mainly differentiated by the amount of coverage, so brides often ask, “Is 8 hours enough or do I need 10?” “Will 6 hours be too little?” To be honest, it is completely up to you and your wedding style. There are so many different factors that build into a timeline, and it can be really overwhelming when you start to dig into it. In order to create a timeline for you I’ll need to know the answers to a few questions:

1. When is your ceremony start time?
2. Are you doing a first look? Check out this blogto help you decide 🙂
3. Is the ceremony at the same venue as the reception?

These are all important factors to take into consideration that will have a significant impact on your timeline. Luckily, I offer timeline creation as a service free of charge for all of my brides! I love working with them to build the best timelines for their wedding day. As a photographer, I know how much time I need for the first look, family formals and getting ready pictures. I don’t expect you to know that, so I don’t expect you to be able to build out your timeline without running into a few hurdles along the way.

I always recommend front-loading your wedding day. What do I mean by this? Well, after an hour or two of photographing receptions, the images start to look repetitive. There’s only so many dancing pictures you can take. By all means, I will stay for all of the main reception events (first dances, cake cutting, toasts, garter/bouquet toss, etc.) but there is no need for me to spend hours photographing your reception when we could have more time at the beginning of the day for portraits and details. By working with my brides to create their own ideal timeline, it eases stress on the day of for both me and the bride, we are able to work around the best times of day for light, and there will be plenty of time to fit in what I need to capture in order to fully tell the story of your wedding day.

In order to see the creative and artistic images that you see on my blogs and in my portfolio, I need to have the appropriate amount of time (and light) built into the timeline. That’s why it is so important to include your photographer into the wedding planning process. The more involved you allow us to be, the better your experience.