Where do you even begin crafting your wedding day timeline?! As your wedding videographer (and an event planner by trade), I am here to help!

Crafting your timeline can feel overwhelming if you have never done it before. Rest assured, they are nothing to be worried about and once you start, things will fall into place.

Here’s some of my favourite tips to get you started. Be sure to read to the end for my favourite tip of all time, and a sample timeline you can reference!

LIGHTING

Maybe I’m biased being a videographer, but lighting is always my starting point for timelines. Whether you’re planning for sunrise or sunset, my first priority is to find out when Golden Hour will be, and what part of my day it is most important for. This also applied where the sun will be for the ceremony!

Golden Hour is the hour after sunrise and before sunset. It is the most beautiful lighting for photo and video, so after your ceremony, this will be your couple’s portrait session and it’s the best time to take advantage of the gorgeous lighting!

You can use a sun tracker app, or many of your fave weather forecast platforms, to help you identify when the Golden Hour window will be for your proposed date!

IDENTIFY YOUR KEY TIMELINE ELEMENTS

Before you start working backwards from Golden Hour, identify the key timeline elements that you need to account for. These commonly include;

• Getting ready - hair and makeup artists in particular

• Transportation to and from all of your locations (leave more time than you think you need)

• First look - if that’s what you want to do

• Ceremony or vow exchange

• Family portraits

• Couple portraits

• Food and champagne toasts

• Adventure activities

HAIR AND MAKEUP

The timing of your hair and makeup will depend on how many people are involved. Is it just you, a small wedding party, a large wedding party plus the mothers of the couple..? If you are doing your own hair and makeup - be sure to leave yourself ample time so you can enjoy the process, and easily deal with any slip-ups if necessary. No one wants to apply eyeliner in a rush!

If you are booking artists I would recommend looking for a hair and makeup team that only take one booking per day. This will remove a bit of the overall timeline pressure.

Your hair/makeup artist should work with you on your timeline to let you know how much time they need for your party size.

Your photographer and videographer will then work with you (and the artist) to find the ideal timing for your prep shoot. Usually they will aim to arrive 30 minutes before your hair and makeup is completed so that you feel glamorous in all of your footage - and they can fill in any excess time by getting to know your wedding party, getting detail shots, and checking in with you.

We will also work with you on how this timing lines up with going to your fiance’s location for their prep.

On average, you can factor in one hour for your hair, and one hour for your makeup, with 15 minutes for final touch-ups, but it is always best to speak with your chosen artist to confirm this.

LEAVE PADDING

Wedding days never go perfectly to plan - and you want to leave yourself time to enjoy the ride! Always leave a buffer around each timeline element, so that you don’t feel rushed getting ready, or you don’t panic if there are traffic delays on your way.

If Google Maps says the drive is going to take 30 minutes, give yourself 45 minutes to an hour, which accounts for your mode of transportation to arrive, rallying yourself and others into the car, traffic delays, and parking.

FAmILY PHOTO SHOT LIST

If you are planning on having family portraits, please, I definitely recommend writing a shot list in advance with your photographer. Family portraits are a great memento to keep from your day and they can either be a well oiled machine, or a big time suck - and often tiring for the couple.

Give a copy of this list to someone you trust that you know can hustle (e.g. your planner, MoH etc.) , and your photographer. Together, they will make sure that all family members are ready and waiting to hop into that photo once called. Also be sure to word up your officiant, so they can ask family members over the loudspeaker, to stay behind when the ceremony finishes.

The best way to keep a family portrait session running smoothly, is to write it in an efficient order. Aim to add or subtract individuals from the photo so that you aren’t having to spend too much time sending whole groups in and out. For example;

Shot 1: Couple, Bride’s Mum & Dad.

Shot 2: Couple, Bride’s Mum, Dad, + Sister & Brother join in.

Shot 3: Couple, Bride’s Mum, Dad, Sister & Brother, + Bride’s Grandma & Grandad join in.

Shot 4: Couple, Bride’s Grandma & Grandad stay. Mum. Dad, Sister & Brother leave.

Shot 5: Bride’s Grandparents leave. Groom’s Mum & Dad join.

So on, and so forth, until you have made your way through the combinations of your guests that are most important to you for portrait photographs.

Family portraits are usually better suited to photography rather than videography, so I will often use this time to capture drone footage, and interactions between other guests. If there are particular family portraits you would like in your film, please let me know. Otherwise I try to capture moments of you and your family together in an unposed setting throughout the day.

SCHEDULE IN QUALITY TIME

In my humble opinion, this is the most important, but most overlooked element of a wedding day timeline. Your day is going to go by in a flash (which is why having a film to look back in is so great), and it is really easy to get caught up in all of the activities, the portraits, and the mingling with guests, that you get to the end of the night and realise you haven’t had any quiet time together as a couple.

I encourage my couples to actually build quality alone time into their wedding day timeline so that it doesn’t get missed. As elopements are focused on a “just us” experience, this is much easier to do, but it can and should be a part of traditional timelines as well.

Schedule in even just half an hour, to have a picnic at your couple portrait location or to relax in a quiet place. You don’t need any fancy or exciting activities and it doesn’t have to be at a particular time of day. Take the time to just be. Soak it all in together. Talk about the day, about how amazing each other looks, and how overwhelmingly incredible it is to finally be in that moment together, married.

You can invite your photo and video team if you feel comfortable/want that time captured, but I would encourage you to discuss your intentions for this timeline element with them, so that they know this is purely fly-on-the-wall time. No posing, no interfering.

A convenient time to do this is after your ceremony and couple portrait session. It’s amazing to ride the high of being married into your couple portrait session and it shows in your footage, but after that, while you have already been whisked away for photographs and guests are entertaining themselves, go enjoy a quiet moment together. If you’re like me and you don’t mind blowing traditions out of the water - you could also consider having a fancy breakfast together the morning of your wedding!

Taking these tips into account, let’s build some sample wedding day timelines

I will put my Golden Hour or non-negotiable activity times in first, then I build everything else around it:

SAMPLE WEDDING TIMELINE

Based on 7 hour package

10:00am - 3:00pm | Prep time! The start of your prep time is highly dependent on the number of people having their hair and makeup done. Speak with your team to see how much time they need per person, to help you find your magic start time!

1:00-2pm | Wedding videographer is with Fiance #1

2:00-2:30pm | Wedding videographer travels from Fiance #1 prep to Fiance #2 prep

2:30-3:30pm | Wedding videographer is with Fiance #2

3:30-4:00pm | Wedding videographer travels to ceremony location for set up of equipment

4:00-4:30pm | Wedding party travel to ceremony location

4:30-4:30/5:00pm | Ceremony and formalities (this is dependent on what type of ceremony you’ve gone for)

5:00-5:30pm | Family photos at ceremony location

Travel to Couple Portrait Location (if required)

5:30pm - 6:00pm | Golden Hour Couple and Bridal Party Portraits session

6:00-6:30pm | Couple alone together (this section allows to have time added if we go over the photo/video session)

6:30-7:00pm | Travel to reception location

7:00pm onwards | Reception. Speeches, Dances, however you see fit! It’s great to do speeches while everyone is settled down to eat so you don’t have to rally everyone, and it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the party once dancing begins!