How to Make a Wedding Timeline That Won’t Make You Want to Pull Your Hair Out

So earlier this week I asked my Facebook fanpage what information posts they’d like to see up in the blog, and we surprisingly got a tie between this and my previous decor post. However, most of the people who wanted to know about the timeline were other photographers. So welcome, photographers! If this can help you organize the day a bit better for your brides, good! I think the general public would very much benefit from people having a more firm grasp and realization of realistic wedding timelines. :)

There are just about a MILLION different ways to organize a wedding timeline. I think just about every wedding we do is slightly different, but two rules consistently apply:

1. You must prepare for a buffer of time for just about every activity on the timeline.

Really. Trust me. One of the first things I ask when helping my brides prepare their timeline is “How generally on time are you?” For instance, I am always notoriously early, and my sister has always been notoriously late (sorry, Laura). But even when brides tell me that they’re always early and on time, their wedding is almost never on time. Why? Because of your wedding party and family. :D Because everyone has that one family member or wedding party member who is always late… and there’s just no getting around it.

Or, you can be ALWAYS on time (like me) and accidentally forget your car keys on the 13th floor of the hotel (like me) and have someone have to run up and get them and suddenly what was on time has turned into twenty minutes late (horray!).

I think we’ve only had two weddings that had a timeline and were actually able to stick to it and be on time. Two. And that’s completely fine… IF you have a buffer of time scheduled around each activity. So that if things do start running behind (and they will), you can end up actually on time instead of late. Or you can use that time to take a breather and relax, or start things early.

2.  Try to take into account the time of day and how it will affect your pictures.

This is not always possible, but I try to make it possible whenever I can. When you have your wedding indoors, this applies less as your photographer can pretty much always find a shady spot to take pictures outside. However, keep in mind that if you want pictures in a large open area that takes in a lot of the background, you might want to wait to take those pictures until the sun goes down a bit.

When you have your wedding outside, time of day REALLY applies because you do NOT want an outdoor wedding at high noon in the middle of an open-area with no shade. How the light falls and when/where it falls it important to pictures. If you must get married in a very bright time of day, it’s important to get married in an area covered in shade for the comfort of you and your guests, and for well-exposed pictures with no high-noon shadows under your eyes. If you have the option to choose when you get married and you’re getting married in a large open area with no shade, it’s going to be best to do it in the early evening.

Also, make sure that you don’t assume evening is 5pm. ;) In June and July, sunset doesn’t come until 9pm, so getting married in a bright, open space still isn’t a good idea and you’ll still need shade. Ask your photographer if you aren’t sure what time the sun sets (or Google for sunset times and look up your city and state) and they’ll be able to guide you into what they think is best depending on the light.

There are also several variances which will affect how you organize your timeline:

1. First look vs. no first look

2. Traveling to venues vs. staying in one place

3. Time of ceremony (coupled with time of day)

4. Whether or not you want bridal party and family pictures beforehand

All of this stuff plays in big time with how you set everything up… and there are so many variables that it’s not possible to list them all out here, but here are a few examples of a typical timeline that we’ve set up.

THE NO-FIRST LOOK // TRADITIONAL BRIDE // TIMELINE OF AWESOME: (**Note: This timeline isn’t revolving around a specific time of day and assumes that the ceremony and reception venues are the same place)

1:00pm – Hair finishes up on the last bridesmaid and photographer arrives

1:20pm – Hair starts on the bride

2:30pm – Bride’s hair appointment wraps up and start of makeup (**Please check with your hair and makeup people for more accurate times)

3:20pm – Bride makeup wrap up // Bride puts on dress // Guys finally throw on their suits and walk out the door

3:30pm – Bride is now completely ready // Bridesmaids and family members find bouquets, gather purses, get their stuff together (**Note: This is usually the time when people start running late because for some reason everyone misplaces their lipstick)

3:45pm – Drive from hotel to ceremony location and stash everything you brought with you somewhere (put away purses, etc) // Guys typically have already arrived

4:00pm – Start pre-ceremony pictures of Bride+Bridesmaids

4:20pm – Pre-ceremony pictures of Groom+Groomsmen (**Now, you may be thinking… “Why would this take twenty minutes?” It takes twenty minutes because you have to bring out the bride who is wearing a giant gown and typically accompanied by 6 girls who keep losing their lipstick and other stuff. You get them out there, take the pictures, then you have to take them all back downstairs until the bride is safely hidden. Then you bring the guys up… take pictures… bring them back down. The pictures themselves never actually take that long, but it’s the wrangling and herding that take for-e-ver and is completely based on how fast your people move and how often they misplace their lipstick).

4:40pm – Ushering begins // Groomsmen usher or hang out // Brides and bridesmaids hang out

5:00pm – Ceremony starts

5:30pm – Ceremony ends and bridal party and family begin walking to picture location

5:45pm – Family pictures start (**This is the second part of the day that invariably leads to epic lateness because family members see other family members that they haven’t seen in a long time and start to talk to them. It’s pretty chaotic. Try to keep your family members focused or put blinders on them if possible. We gave them 15 minutes to get into position because typically someone gets lost or distracted. Once everyone is in place, we tend to do a 15 minute session with immediate family only – parents, grandparents, siblings, bride and groom. If other family members want pictures, we encourage them to wait until the reception when we can do a lot of informal pictures and group pictures). // Cocktail hour starts

6:00pm – Bridal party pictures of everyone together (**Takes about 20 minutes depending on how large your bridal party is and what locations we need to get to)

6:20pm – Newlywed pictures start

6:50pm – Bridal party lines up to enter the reception

7:00pm – Reception starts

11:00pm – Reception ends (**DJ, band, or planner will typically handle the reception timeline)

Now… if you’ll notice, that’s a pretty tight timeline. There’s no room for downtime. We’ve built in a couple of 10-15 minute buffers, but if you’ll notice, we’re assuming that the ceremony and the reception are being held in the same location for this timeline. That’s starting to be the case more often than not because it’s logistically easier. If you play out this scenario minute by minute, you’ll also notice that the cocktail hour is one hour and fifteen minutes long, which is slightly longer than normal… but sometimes that’s required depending on how easily distracted your family is and/or how large of a bridal party you have.

Our biggest intention with this timeline is to leave at least 20-30 minutes for newlywed pictures. We do that because they’re the most important pictures of the day, and that’s the amount of time required to get a variety of locations and quality shots.

THE FIRST LOOK // MODERN BRIDE // TIMELINE OF AWESOME: (**Note: This timeline isn’t revolving around a specific time of day and assumes that the ceremony and reception venues are the same place)

1:00pm – Hair finishes up on the last bridesmaid and photographer arrives

1:20pm – Hair starts on the bride

2:30pm – Bride’s hair appointment wraps up and start of makeup (**Please check with your hair and makeup people for more accurate times)

3:20pm – Bride makeup wrap up // Bride puts on dress // Guys finally throw on their suits and walk out the door

3:35pm – Bride is now completely ready // Bridesmaids and family members find bouquets, gather purses, get their stuff together (**Note: This is usually the time when people start running late because for some reason everyone misplaces their lipstick)

4:o0pm – Wedding party drive and arrive separately to the venue

4:20pm – Bride and groom arrive for first look

4:35pm – Bridal party arrives for bridal party pictures (everyone together + separate portraits of bride+bridesmaids, etc).

5:00pm – Family starts

5:15pm – Bride and groom “newlywed” pictures

5:45pm – Guys start ushering

6:00pm – Ceremony Starts

6:30pm – Ceremony Ends // Reception Starts

11:00pm – Reception ends (**DJ, band, or planner will typically handle the reception timeline)

Notice that this timeline saves much more time than the traditional timeline in a variety of ways:

1. The bridal party takes less time because you’re not having to photograph girls and guys separately because the groom has already seen the bride

2. The bride and groom have more time for pictures alone

3.  There’s more buffer time for lateness

4. There’s a longer reception

5. The fact that there’s a longer reception allow for you to more easily have your wedding at two separate locations (separate ceremony and separate reception)

6. It saves money if you don’t want to have a cocktail hour OR you can actually enjoy your cocktail hour – either way is great.

VARIABLE VARIABLES OF AWESOME THAT EARN YOU SUPER COOL BONUS POINTS WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER:

These are things that you can do that will save you a LOT of time and will also help you get better pictures and less stress for everyone involved. They’re not required to have stellar pictures, but it’ll make things easier on yourself.

1. Having your ceremony and reception in one place (Don’t start throwing a pity party for yourself if your stuff is all over the world. You can still organize it so that it’s logistically sane, it just might take a little more effort and planning…i.e. calculating in the driving and parking time and loading stuff into car time).

2. Getting ready with your future spouse (This is my favorite. No stress. No arriving-at-different-times-through-different-entrances-walkie-talkie-spy-style. Just getting ready with your best friend and therefore having adorable pictures).

3. Having a first look (Seriously, that timeline is soooo much less stressful. But again – don’t throw a pity party for yourself if you choose not to do it).

4. Occupy family members and friends that aren’t in the formal pictures (Make sure that family and friends who aren’t listed to be in the formal pictures are somewhere else. If not, they will make suggestions on posing and they will tell you who should be added to the picture… thus adding on a bajillion minutes and forcing you to have your pictures taken with people you haven’t seen in 20+ years).

As you can see, timeline planning is not easy. :) It’s best to work with and contact your photographer to see how they can help you set it up. It typically takes me a few hours to sort out the knots and kinks that are typically in a timeline that someone hands me to set it up in a way that’s workable and allows for a little extra buffer. Despite this buffer, we have had approximately two weddings who have been on time and stuck to the original timeline. :) Sometimes things end up being on time, but certain portions had to be cut short (bride and groom pictures are unfortunately on most couple’s chopping block first because they don’t want to anger or upset family members or friends).

For those photographers out there wondering why it’s set up in 10 hour increments, Geoff and I do ten hour day weddings. I know some of you do unlimited hours, and some of you do 5 hours, others 8. We decided on ten hours because we feel like that’s a long day with plenty of time to get everything done, but also that’s the max amount that I can physically do a day (carrying around pounds and pounds of equipment and being on your feet all day is pretty hard on your back when you’re small statured). When we did unlimited hours, we had a few people request 16 hour days… and that I just can’t do physically. :)

Thoughts? Questions? Discussions?

Environmentally Friendly Wedding Exits: A Guest Post for the Handmade Wedding Blog

Recently I’ve had the honor of becoming part of the Handmade Wedding Blog’s writing team! I do guest blog posts once a month to inform brides about a chosen topic. :) It feels good to spread the knowledge in the wedding world! They’re published on the first Wednesday of each month. I’ve already written one about how to choose your photographer… and this week’s wedding post is about eco-friendly wedding exits (and their non-eco-friendly counterparts to avoid). Check it out!

 

How to Make Your Wedding More Personalized: Spicing Up Your Decor with Easy Stuff.

Hey guys! Long time no blog. ;) We’ve been spending January getting all of our ducks in a row for the oncoming wedding season, but we’re all set now and anxious to blog! I polled some fans on my Facebook fan page this morning (http://www.facebook.com/carolynscottphotography) about what informative post they’d like to see regarding weddings, and it was tied between how to make your wedding more personal and how to organize your timeline. So today we tackle personalizing your wedding, and later this week we’ll deal with the timeline. :)

There is an endless sea of ways to personalize your wedding. Since everyone is different and unique, each wedding subtly reflects the personalities of the couples we meet. But sometimes people don’t know where to start… or aren’t quite sure how to personalize their wedding when so many weddings they see contain the same elements. So I’m here to show you a few different ideas that real couples of mine have used brilliantly in the past and hopefully you can glean some inspiration from them!

SPICING UP YOUR INVITATIONS:

Invitations don’t have to be formal or plain anymore unless you’d prefer it. Here’s some funky stationary we’ve seen as of late that really reflect the personalities of the couple:

Above: (Left) Katie+Blake’s one page program for their wedding ceremony, outlining the evening and thanking family, friends, and vendors

Below: Abby+Grisha’s handmade wedding invitations. The envelopes were made from a book of maps around the world. The envelope shown below was kept by Abby because it was made using the map of their honeymoon destination.

HANGING UP YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS:

Photos of the family are great to have around a wedding. It gives family and friends a talking point and something to look at while they’re milling around. We’ve seen pictures of family members in frames, in scrapbooks, hanging from trees, and on clotheslines. And who doesn’t love a baby picture of the bride and groom? :)

UTILIZING YOUR HOME:

What better, EASIER, and more personal thing to do than utilize your home for your wedding? Weddings at home are the chillest of the chill. Everyone’s in one spot. There’s no driving around to various locations. And usually Fido can be incorporated. Plus, it saves a ton of money. If you already have your venue picked out, why not get ready at home? It usually makes for a much more appealing space for pictures than a hotel room and can frequently have more light. PLUS there are some funky and cool places to take shoe shots and other pictures. :)

Above: Getting ready portraits taken in Morgan’s home allowed for some funky dress and shoe shots, along with portraits of Big Snack the cat.

Below: Melissa+ Chris held their wedding at a friend’s farm that they were living on at the time. Friends helped in the kitchen by preparing all of the food for the feast and the cakes.

Above: Jenna+Josh get married in the backyard and creatively use their carport as a first dance space.

Below: (Left) Kelsey+Adam have an informal reception on their back porch. (Right) Melissa+Chris’s back yard farm reception.

GUEST INTERACTION: HOW TO ACHIEVE IT AND WHY IT’S GOOD

There’s going to be a time during your wedding day when the guests are kind of bored (mostly it’s because we’re taking pictures of you). Cocktail hours are fine and good, but the best weddings I’ve seen with the happiest guests have involved some sort of craft project to keep them entertained during the lulls in the timeline. This gets the guests interacting, interested, and less likely to leave your reception early. Plus you get some incredibly amusing pictures and keepsakes… all while sticking to the theme of creating a personal wedding based around you as a couple.

Above: In lieu of a DJ-spun dance reception, Melanie+Eric opted for a trivia game which was much more up their alley. Their friends hosted it (Right) and the guests wrote down their answers to trivia about Melanie+Eric’s relationship (Left). It caused a lot of laughs and kept the guests entertained.

Below: The guest book at Melanie+Eric’s wedding also kept the guests entertained by having them fill out a form. It was double-sized and created by Melanie on her computer. They printed out the sheets, hole-punched them, put them in a binder, and provided the guests with tons of colored markers to fill in their answers. This simple idea kept the guests constantly entertained… as well as myself, who kept returning to the guest book to check out the new answers (which were always hilarious).

Above: At their Christmas-themed wedding, Gwen+Nick had guests decorate ornaments to put on their Christmas tree. A themed wedding is an INCREDIBLY easy way to add your personality to ANY wedding as well as make it easier to limit your decoration options if you’re too overwhelmed. Ours was Halloween themed. :)

Below: Shannon+Phil made a makeshift Photobooth that kept their guests entertained throughout the night as well as served as a guest book! Providing guests with a Polaroid camera, film, gluesticks, a scrapbook, silly props, and a black curtain, guests went back repeatedly to take goofy pictures and pasted them into the scrapbook with accompanying messages.

Above: Caitlin+Christopher kept their slew of out-of-town guests occupied by providing a world atlas as their guest book, with each guest signing next to their own of travel.

Below: Various games can provide entertainment for a lull in the timeline for guests, as well as provide fun interaction for those guests of yours who don’t enjoy dancing.

ALTER YOUR ALTAR:

Churches, indoor, and outdoor spaces alike can all use some sprucing up sometimes. Just because it’s a plain space now doesn’t mean it has to be for your wedding day. Check out these ideas other couples used to spice up their space in a personal way!

Above: (Left) Married at Marbles, Lindsey+Jonathan were faced with having a background that was literally a giant black projection screen. Trying to figure out how to decorate it, Jonathan came up with the idea of projecting their favorite painting onto the screen, creating a beautiful and personal projection behind them. (Right) A salvaged fireplace mantle and two vintage doors were repainted and reused as a background to an indoor wedding.

Below: (Top Right) Liz+Chris were married with two young trees to mark their altar space. The trees were then taken and planted at their new home, adding a beautiful and personal touch to their wedding. (Bottom Right) Special cloth that had been in the family for generations was used to decorate this huppa adorning the ceremony.

ADDING A PERSONAL TOUCH TO YOUR RECEPTION SPACE:

So you’ve rented a hall… and now you’re not quite sure what to do with it. Ask yourself: if it were your home and you were having a party, how would you decorate it? After all, a wedding is pretty much just a giant (more meaningful) party. :) Consider what the couples below did in order to spruce up their reception in a way that suited their tastes and changed the space for a better (and more personal) way.

Above: (Left) Adding uplighting to any space instantly brings your wedding colors into your reception and creates a club-like vibe. (Right) This school gymnasium was beautifully turned into a stunning reception space simply by adding curtains, uplighting, and classy decoration that highlight the couple’s personalities.

Below: (1) A couple writes their name in chalk on a wall in their reception space. (2) A couple adds lanterns and drapery to the ceiling to create a more intimate space. (3) Another example of uplighting a reception to bring in the wedding colors. (4) A couple uses wildflowers from a local farm to tie in their views of supporting local farmers with their wedding. (5). Colorful lanterns are hung inside a reception tent to liven up the atmosphere.

HEY MR. DJ: I WANT A BAND

I’ve met a few couples that just aren’t into modern or mainstream music. Bringing their own personality to their party instead of partaking in the norm, they chose to hire various bands (ranging from an oldies band to a mountain jugband to an indie-country band) that reflect their tastes.

DISSING THE STANDARD CAKE FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE… THEM:

A few of our couples ::gasp!:: haven’t liked cake. :) A few more of them went to try their wedding cake… and couldn’t choose just one. Instead of squeezing themselves into the model wedding cake idea, they chose to bring to the table what suited them best… and highlighted their personality.

SHOWCASING YOUR PERSONALITY AT YOUR WEDDING: I DID IT MY WAY

Here are some hodgepodge images of things that couples have done to make themselves stand out from the crowd. I tend to attract couples who don’t take themselves incredibly seriously (thankfully!) and tend to highlight that playful nature at their weddings. Their weddings end up fun, relaxed, and just fit the couple to an absolute “t”. Let’s look at things they did that might spark some creativity of your own. :)

Above: Martha+Justin, who both have jobs in the science field, incorporated their jobs into their wedding by using a standard Computation Book and turning it into their guest book, complete with pictures of themselves marked with funny lab notes. :)

Below: Sarah+Jimmy’s centerpieces were double sided on every table: one side included one goal they had set aside for themselves as a couple to accomplish each year, and the flip side was a quote about love that was significant to them.

Above: Continuing with Sarah+Jimmy’s wedding, the couple’s wedding favors were bags of coffee from the breakfast place where they ate the day they were engaged. A perfect way to personalize your wedding favors!

Below: (1) The groom was a fireman, so this personalized fireman’s hat was brought in as unique decor for their wedding. (2) Another vintage door was hand painted using regular paint, chalkboard paint, and chalk and set aside as decor. (3) A mini-replica of the couple’s house was used as a card holder. (4) Sweet tea home-brewed by the couple was given away as a favor at a backyard wedding. (5) Taffy, a candy native to the bride’s New Jersey shore, was the personal favor at this wedding.

Above Six Squares: (1) This nature-loving couple opted for the Unity Volcano instead of a Unity Candle at their offbeat ceremony (yes, with baking soda and vinegar like middle school… it was beyond awesome). (2) Taylor+Chris made their guests mix CDs of their favorite songs packaged in cute initial packaging for their favors. (3) A sword passed down through generations and used to cut many wedding cakes is used at Liz+Chris’s wedding. (4) Rosemary, an herb important to the couple and meant for remembrance is placed on the napkins of all of the guests. (5) In lieu of standard favors, this couple presented their guests with a small plantable succulent. (6) Table numbers were identified in this clever way at the wedding of two math professors.

Above: In addition to creating fun and personal decor, don’t forget to let your own personality shine through. :) Weddings can be stressful, but if you relax and allow yourself to be, well, you (like this bride did), you can turn your regular first look into something hilarious and unforgettable.

Below: Pie was served instead of cake at this wedding. Also, in lieu of having a standard receiving line or greeting guests at their tables, the couple decided to don aprons and scoop ice cream onto the plate of every guest who came through their line. It was an adorable and quirky version of a traditional guest greeting… and was very much in line with their personalities.

Above: These seemingly random items all had meaning for the couple and were gathered over several years. Funny and cute sayings were added using Scrabble tiles (the “Nice Tie” saying was placed at the table facing the bride’s dad… who paid more for his tie than his whole suit, much to the amusement of his family).

Below: The scientists strike again! Using test tubes taken from their lab (they weren’t used!), the couple filled them with M&Ms and tags. Their centerpieces incorporated wildflowers and the groom’s personal collection of books about space and science.

I hope that this blog post was able to strike up some ideas on how to incorporate your personalities into your wedding! Please feel free to list further suggestions (I definitely didn’t cover them all!) or start a discussion based on decor. I love learning about ways to take things that are inexpensive and personal to create an awesome wedding vibe!