How to - Have a Stress Free Wedding Day - Traditional Ceremony



We all dream of having a stress free Wedding Day, where we wake up, the birds are singing, the Hair & Makeup artists arrive on time, everything runs smoothly and the Wedding Party are are ready and on time for photos and you're looking forward to marrying your best friend.

It might all sound too good to be true - but you can have the Wedding Day of your dreams with a bit of forward planning

A well planned wedding day timeline can be your secret weapon and for a Wedding Photographer, it can mean the difference between good photos and great photos, because you've allowed that time for relaxed and creative images to be created.

Even though all Weddings are different - we've created a Wedding Day Timeline that allows us to schedule in sufficient time for those important photographs, so that we don't miss a thing!

This is a typical 8 hour timeline (traditional wedding - not the First Look )

11:30        Arrive at Grooms Location for Getting Ready & Detail Photos

12:30        Arrive at Bride's Location for Getting Ready & Detail Photos

1:00          All Hair & Makeup Finished (this applies to EVERYONE) - Bride into Dress

1:30         Dress is on and the final touches are done - Bridal Portraits/Bridesmaids/Parents.

2:45        Photos finished - Go to the Ceremony Location - photograph details, details, details

3:00        Ceremony Begins

3:30        Ceremony Ends (meet & greet Guests for 15 mins)

3:45        Group Shot with Guests

4:00        Family Portraits

5:00        Bridal Party Portraits

5:30        Bride/Groom Portraits

6:30         Head to Reception for Grand Entrance / Cake Cutting / First Dance / Party

7:30        We leave you to party with your Guests...

Getting Ready

 In one of my previous posts - I explained How to - get better getting ready photos on your Wedding Day but I'd like to re-iterate the importance of having plenty of time to shoot getting ready details (hair being done, shoes, the dresses, your jewellery and keep-sakes)

Next - let your makeup artists and hair stylists know when they need to be finished and allow a little extra time, in case they arrive late.

And of course, try your dress on before the Wedding Day (with one of the Bridesmaids - so she's well trained) to time how long it takes to get into it.  Allow at least 30 minutes.  The hair, makeup and dress are the most common time wasters on this Special Day. 



Group Shots with Guests

If time allows, we like to gather all your guests into a celebratory huddle and get their photos taken with both you and your new husband.  This can take a bit of time - so we like to get a couple of bossy...  noooo that's not the right word....  authoritative... family members on our side to help.



Family Portraits

With our two designated 'authoritative' family members in tow...  we'll set about getting the very important Family Portraits out of the way.  We will ask you for a list of names prior to the Wedding Day to give to our 'helpers'

Shooting these straight after the Ceremony ensures that everyone is 'on deck' and we generally allow 30 minutes for the following:

Bride's Side - Bride with Parents and Siblings, Bride with just Parents, Bride with just Siblings, Bride with Mum, Bride with Dad, Bride with Grandparents

Groom's Side - Groom with Parents and Siblings, Groom with just Parents, Groom with just Siblings, Groom with Mum, Groom with Dad, Groom with Grandparents.

Group Shots - Bride and Groom with Bride's Parents & Siblings, Bride and Groom with Bride's Parents only, Bride and Groom with Bride's Parents & Grandparents, Bride and Groom with Groom's Parents & Siblings, Bride and Groom with Groom's Parents only, Bride and Groom with Groom's Parents & Grandparents and finally, everyone together.

This frees up the family to join the Guest back at the Reception.


Bridal Party Portraits

As you've chosen these friends or family members to stand by you on your Wedding Day, we like to get some great shots of you all spending time together. We schedule 30 minutes for you to all gather together and document how much fun this day is!!

We like to get everyone looking at the camera, the whole group together, you with your girls, your groom with the guys and as many candid shots we can muster out of you all.



The Bride & Groom Portraits

We like to schedule a full hour for these photos.  We generally take you off to a different location so you're both free to be yourselves and enjoy this time as the new Mr & Mrs.

Ideally this is as late in the afternoon as possible, to get that beautiful "Golden Hour" light (check out the last post How to - Get the best Photographs on your Wedding Day - Lighting and Timing ).




We will aim for fun, romantic and editorial photographs for you to treasure, forever.

I hope that we can talk more about this...  if you have anything to add, if you feel I haven't covered something important...  let me know in the comments below...

I look forward to hearing from you...

Love, much love...  Kristen xxxx





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