Planning the Perfect Wedding Day Schedule - TréCreative Tips&Tricks
We want to preface this article by saying, we do not claim to be the end all know all of wedding scheduling. This is just how we personally do weddings, and for us it has worked time and time again, so we thought we'd share :)
Where to Start...
Creating the perfect wedding day schedule can almost always seem like a daunting task. There are so many vendors that need to know when to be set up by, deliver flowers, finish hair and make up and be ready for photos. Have no fear, we're here to help! Below find some of our tried and true, tricks to a PERFECT wedding day schedule.
With the exception of maybe a wedding planner, the wedding photographer (or videographer) is the one vendor that gets the privilege of hanging out with the couple for the entire day, so it makes sense for photographers to help their couples plan the schedule of the day. Personally, we sit down with each of our couples (and their coordinators if they have one) to plan out their day-of schedule prior to their wedding. We LOVE doing this! Wedding photography and videography is definitely an investment, and we want to insure that our couples are getting a return on that investment (in the form of amazing photos and video). When we're involved in the scheduling process it makes for a truly stress free day every single time and here's how...
When we first starting doing wedding photography and videography at TréCreative, we decided we were going to have unlimited hours on all our wedding day experiences. This is pretty uncommon in our industry, and you may think we sound crazy... but for us, it is of utmost importance. We may work longer hours than others, but this allows us and our couples to have a truly amazing experience from getting ready to "goodbyes". It's more important to us to capture the whole story of a wedding day as opposed to making our couples feel rushed because we have an hourly cap.
The Day Begins
We like to show up about half way through the girls getting ready process. This allows our brides to have some alone time with her bridesmaids before the cameras are on. We usually find we are there for an hour or two before she puts on the dress. During this time we love to capture lots of details, like the shoes, invitations, jewelry, dress, and lots of candids while the girls get ready.
Next we like to schedule between 30-45 minutes for putting on the dress. Now we totally realize it doesn't always take that much time to get into a dress, but sometimes it does :D We also love getting some solo portraits of the bride at her getting ready location before the rest of the day's photos begin.
To First Look or Not To First Look?
Now doing a First Look (where the bride & groom share a private moment before the ceremony), is a whole 'nother blog post in itself! We'll write our own at a later date, hold us to that! Personally, we decided to do one at our own wedding after reading THIS article by the wonderful Katelyn James. We can work with couples that opt to do one, and ones that opt to wait until the ceremony to see each other. To keep this post as succinct as possible, we're going to write about our "first look" schedule, as that is what the majority of our couples are choosing as of late. If you're sticking with tradition and waiting until the ceremony, TOTALLY fine! We have a perfect wedding day schedule for you too (at the bottom of this post)!
Stephen and I always make sure to scout out the first look spot ahead of time. We want each first look to be private and intimate and for that reason the location we choose is crucial. We schedule in around an hour or more for first look and portraits. After capturing the couples reactions as they see each other for the first time, we always make sure to step away for 5-10 minutes. This is to make sure the couple gets some alone time together to enjoy the day, with no cameras. In reality, this may be the only alone time they get the entire day, and our couples love this moment of peace together amidst an exciting day. First looks are always an incredibly special moment to capture and we feel beyond honored to share these moments with our couples!
SMILE!
After the first look we head right into portraits. During this time we always make sure our bride has her beautiful bouquet and extra lipstick on hand :D
As mentioned above, for these Bride&Groom portraits we love to have around an hour. We can pack so much into this hour, getting our couples a variety of locations and photos to keepsake forever!
Party Time...Bridal Party That Is!
After bride and groom portraits we are greeted by the bridal party. Depending on size we like to have a solid hour to capture the groomsmen, bridesmaids and whole group photos. An hour is more than enough time, but gives us some buffer in case anything from the day has run behind. We always make sure to get shots of each individual side of the party, as well as individual shots of each member with the Bride/Groom. After bridal party photos have been captured, we always leave a half hour or more of down time for our couples to relax and touch up prior to the ceremony. During this time, we'll usually run over to sneak in some reception and venue details before guests arrive.
The Magic Formula
Our secret in providing a stress free, perfect schedule every wedding is this...schedule an extra 15 minutes on EVERYTHING. Does it really take 45 minutes to put on a dress, or one hour to do bridal party photos? No...but having that extra buffer allows for a carefree day where everything magically runs on time. And even when things do fall behind, it's no problem at all because we have that extra time scheduled in. Here's two examples of some schedules we've used in the past, we'll list out from getting ready to the ceremony with suggested time allotted for each section in [brackets], then we'll list out what that translated to in actual times below.
TréCreative First Look Schedule:
[1-2hrs] Girls Getting Ready/Details Photos
[45m-1hr] Groom Getting Ready Photos
[30-45m] Putting On Dress
[1hr-1hr 15m] First Look + Bride&Groom Portraits
[1hr] Bridal Party Photos
[30-45m] Done with Photos (photographers capture reception/venue details, B&G relax and hide away before guests arrive)
[30-60m] Ceremony
[15-30m] Family Portraits (at ceremony site)
So for a 6pm Ceremony time that could translate into...
12:00pm Girls Getting Ready/Details Photos
1:30pm Groom Getting Ready Photos
2:30pm Putting On Dress
3:15pm First Look + Bride&Groom Portraits
4:30pm Bridal Party Photos
5:30pm Done with Photos (photographers capture reception/venue details, B&G relax and hide away before guests arrive)
6:00pm Ceremony
6:30pm Family Portraits (at ceremony site)
Off to Reception...
After the ceremony is slightly more fluid, we're very go-with-the-flow. We'll do the immediate and extended family portraits directly after the ceremony ends so that elderly relatives do not have to travel far from where they are. After that it's straight off to the cocktail hour or reception without making guests wait around, one of the many reasons some couples opt to do the First Look.
TréCreative Traditional Schedule:
[1-2hrs] Girls Getting Ready/Details Photos
[45m-1hr] Groom Getting Ready Photos
[30-45m] Putting On Dress
[1hr] Bride&Bridesmaids Portraits (we do this one first so that the girls can be hidden away before any early guests arrive)
[1hr] Groom&Groomsmen Portraits
[30-45m] Done with Photos (photographers capture reception/venue details, B&G relax and hide away before guests arrive)
[30-60m] Ceremony
[15-30m] Family Portraits (at ceremony site)
[15-30m] Whole Bridal Party Photos (both Groomsmen & Bridesmaids)
[45m-1hr] Bride&Groom Portraits
Off to Reception...
So for a 6pm Ceremony time that could translate into...
12:00pm Girls Getting Ready/Details Photos
1:45pm Groom Getting Ready Photos
2:45pm Putting On Dress
3:30pm Bride&Bridesmaids Portraits
4:30pm Groom&Groomsmen Portraits
5:30pm Done with Photos (photographers capture reception/venue details, B&G relax and hide away before guests arrive)
6:00pm Ceremony
6:30pm Family Portraits (at ceremony site)
Off to Reception...
Above are two different sample schedules, feel free to plug in your own ceremony time and adjust the times accordingly to create your own perfect wedding day schedule! NOTE, every wedding is different and that is why we still love to meet up with our couples to "fine tune" and shift things around if need be. Factors like family size, ceremony time, getting ready locations, travel time, and sunset time all play into crafting a perfect schedule. Either way, at the end of the day you're MARRIED and that's the best thing ever.
If you have any questions, let us know if the comments below or via email, we'd be more than happy to help you with any questions you have! If you found any of these wedding scheduling tips helpful, feel free to share them with a friend who could use it!