Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

As your wedding photographer, I will help you create a minute-by-minute timeline of your wedding day. Sometimes, however, the venue has already worked with you to decide on a ceremony time before you have even hired me! As long as that is not the case, I can absolutely recommend what times of day I think would work best for your ceremony, while also accommodating all that needs to get done photo-wise. I 100% want you to feel prepared before you make this decision though, so here are a few things to keep in mind when picking your ceremony start time!

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

Lighting

Sunset is pretty much the focal point of your whole timeline. Ideally we’ll take all of your photos in natural daylight, which helps us capture the best images possible! While I definitely can shoot with artificial lighting or flash and make it look awesome, that method just has a bit of a different feel than my usual outdoorsy, earthy, warm images you’ve seen! I love capturing some night portraits or portraits inside your venue if there is a cool spot, but for the most part, natural lighting is the way to go!

To help you determine when you should schedule your ceremony start and end time (especially if it’s going to be outdoors), you can easily Google the sunset time!

Just type “sunset time, {Wedding Venue Zip Code}, {Wedding Date}” (EX: sunset time, 07821, 7/21/20)  and you’ll instantly find out when the sun will set on your wedding day!

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

If you are doing a first look beforehand, I would recommend planning your ceremony to be about 45-60 minutes before the sun sets, depending on how long of a ceremony you are planning! Usually, outdoor ceremonies are around anywhere from 15-30 minutes long, so I would suggest adding in some buffer time and go 45 minutes before sunset to be safe. This way, you can still get a few extra minutes right after the ceremony for some JUST MARRIED sunset portraits!

If you plan your ceremony too close to sunset or during the sunset, we won’t have any time after your ceremony for outdoor, natural light photos. You would also run the risk of having pretty dark images for the tail end of your ceremony. 

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

Timeline Stressors

The MOST common timeline stressor I run into is not having enough time for ALL of the portraits that need to get done when there isn’t a first look. If you are not doing a first look (especially if your ceremony and reception are at the same venue) you will likely need to factor in a minimum of 1.5 hours and ideally 2 hours to complete Family Formal Portraits, Bridal Party Portraits, and Bride and Groom Portraits before heading to the reception. This means that you will have to chat with your venue about doing an extended cocktail hour for your guests.

I’ve had couples in the past who have everything at one venue, no first look, and no extended cocktail hour. What happens then is that if your ceremony, family portraits, or wedding party portraits run over time for any reason, whether your flower girl won’t sit still for the camera, your brother’s at the bar or the rain just can’t make up its mind, etc., it is YOUR bride and groom portrait time that gets cut short 🙁

Those photos are pretty freaking important, and I always want to make sure you have PLENTY of beautiful images of you two from your big day. So I cannot stress enough how important it is to give enough time to get everything done so that we’re not scrambling to squeeze in only 5-10 minutes of portraits when we ideally want 30-45 minutes!

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

If you are doing a first look (woot woot!), you should be able to get all of your formal photos done BEFORE the ceremony starts! And at the very least, you can get all of your bride and groom portraits and bridal party photos done beforehand and then only have to do family afterward. This is usually the case if certain family members can’t make it to the venue before the ceremony. Now here’s the best part, getting all or most of your portraits done before the ceremony means that you actually get to go to your cocktail hour!! Heck yeah!! Get ready for the BEST food and drinks and you get to spend more time with your guests!

So just remember, you’ll need to dedicate about 1.5 – 2 hours to your photos in order to capture everyone who means so much to you! These 2 hours are for the Bride and Groom portraits (30-45 min), Family portraits (30 min), and Wedding Party photos (45 min)! Wondering why these times are what they are?! Here’s a blog post all about the importance of buffer time in your timeline!

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

There is way more that goes into the timeline in the morning and after cocktail hour, but here is an abbreviated version of a timeline with a first look and ceremony starting at 6:30 pm and sunset at 7:15 pm:

4:00 – 4:15 – First look

4:15 – 4:45 – Bride & groom portraits

4:45 – 5:00 – Full bridal party photos

5:00 – 5:15 – Groom & groomsmen

5:15 – 5:30 – Bride & bridesmaids

5:30 – 6:00 – Family photos

6:00 – 6:30 – Bride and groom hidden away from early arriving guests, photographers shoot ceremony details

6:30 – 7:00 – Wedding Ceremony

7:00 – 7:15 – Husband and wife sunset portraits

7:15 – Sunset

7:00 – 8:00 – Cocktail Hour, photographers shoot reception details & cocktail hour

8:00 – Reception begins

Tori Kelner Photography Weddings

Here is an abbreviated version of a possible timeline without a first look and ceremony starting at 3:00 pm and sunset at 5:15 pm:

3:00 – 3:30 – Wedding Ceremony

3:30 – 5:30 – Cocktail Hour 

3:30 – 4:00 – Family Photos

4:00 – 4:15 – Full bridal party photos

4:15 – 4:30 – Groom & groomsmen

4:30 – 4:45 – Bride & bridesmaids

4:45 – 5:15 – Bride & groom portraits

5:15 – Sunset

5:15 – 5:30 – Photographers shoot reception details

5:30 – Reception begins

 

I hope that you find these tips helpful in planning the ideal time to start and end your ceremony! Keep in mind that I am always here to help you and would love nothing more than to chat with you about how to make your wedding day timeline flow seamlessly without sacrificing your photo time!

Choosing the Perfect Wedding Ceremony Start Time

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