August 18, 2020
“Wow! The time has flown!” the bride thought to herself. What a day it had been! The ceremony was magical! The daddy daughter dance was beautiful! The speeches even went better than expected. “My goodness!” She thought, “It’s already 8:30PM! We still need to cut the cake, toss the flowers, and remove the garter! Oh no, we only have the vendors here for another 30 minutes!” This is never a good situation to be in. Your wedding day has gone flawlessly but the only detail overlooked was how long you actually needed to keep the videographer, photographer, wedding planner, dj, ect…..
One of the most frequently asked questions we hear is, “How long should I plan to have you guys?” Only you know the answer to that one. However, today’s blog should help educate on what a typical wedding looks like from a photography standpoint. Hopefully it will direct you on what decision to make.
The standard we like to use for weddings is 8 hours. 8 hours allows us to capture all the details, getting ready photos, portrait, family, ceremony, and reception. An easy way to look at the day would be to divide it into two parts, pre ceremony and post.
The first four hours are typically shots of the venue, your special details, dress, rings, invitations, and so on. We also capture the getting ready photos of the bridal party during the first four hours. Sometimes people put a little less importance on this time. We personally think this is where some of the best memories are made. Being able to spend personal time with those you love most before the ceremony. About half way through this period we will start taking the bridal party’s portraits, bridals, then groom and his party. Lastly there is a 30 minute stretch of rest and retouch for the happy couple. During this time we like to capture venue pictures and pictures of guests as they arrive.
Now earlier I spoke about how the wedding day went flawlessly and the only hiccup was having to ask the vendors to stay a bit later. However, it is always best to anticipate that things may be a smidge behind schedule. There are SOOO many different variables that tend to make that happen, the best man, the minister, even grandma bless her heart! That is why the first four hours are where you should give yourself a little extra time. We like to think of the rest and retouch as a small 30 min cushion just in case.
After the ceremony it’s almost time to party! Between the actual ceremony, family portraits, and wedding party portraits normally about an hour and a half goes by. Then it’s time for the reception which will typically include father/daughter dance, mom/son dance, speeches, cake cut, garter throw, flower toss, dancing and don’t forget the grand exit!! All of these festivities take between two and three hours.
I hope this shared some light on what your special day will look like and maybe gave some info to help you arrange it the way you want. Something worth mentioning, I did not include a first look or touch in this timeline. However, another good way to make sure things stay on time is a first look. Then you are able to take the wedding party pictures before the ceremony.
Cheers
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~April and Jason Sapp
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