Planning Your Wedding Timeline
When it comes to everything you have to do, this is one of the easiest items to get started on.
In all reality, we start be setting up your photography timeline and everything else will fall into place.
Once you know what time your ceremony will start, everything else works around the ceremony start time and the photography timeline.
Step #1
Figure Out Your Wedding Date
This may sound self explanatory but there is one little item that can easily change your timeline here and that is your wedding date.
***Not to mention a majority of vendors won’t be able to officially book with you until this is set in stone by booking your venue***
Season
Winter and late Spring/Fall can quickly become a factor here.
I know an outdoor ceremony at sunset sounds amazing but your family photos will be in the dark by the time a ceremony is over, even a short one.
We’ll get into this more in a little bit but lock down your venue and date first to see what season you’ll have your wedding in.
Roughly, sunset will fall around 5:30 during the winter. Of course this is completely dependent on your location at exact date for your wedding.
Book Your Wedding Venue
Hands down the single most important factor in determining your wedding date.
You may have your perfect venue in mind but if you don’t have them booked or have seen what they have for availability, you can either be waiting 18-24 months for your perfect date or, you’ll be looking for another venue.
Get your shopping done now.
Jennings Trace
Montgomery, TX 77356
Step #2
Figure Out Sunset
Once you have your date set, figure out when sunset is for that time AND location.
You will want to make sure there is enough time after your ceremony for both creative photos (if you don’t do a first look) and family photos.
There are several apps to help you figure out sunrise & sunset or you can just use Google to figure out your sunset for the time.
Just do a simple search of the city, state and date for your wedding.
We used
“Sunset in Houston, TX Jan 23, 2022“
and this is what we got back…
Phone App
Here is the main phone app that I use to find out sunset/sunrise
It’s a free app although I’m about to find something else if it keeps asking me for to upgrade.
We Recommend
• Ceremony to finish at least an hour and half prior to sunset
• 2 hours prior if you are doing video.
This will give you plenty of time to knock out family photos and get some creative shots in before/during sunset.
Step #3
Start Planning Your Ceremony Time
If you know sunset is at 5:30 pm (or 17:30 for everyone else in the world), we should plan the ceremony to be over by 4pm at the latest.
If you keep your ceremony to 30 minutes, you can now have everyone else be set up and ready for a 3:30 ceremony
Sunset minus 1-1/2 – 2 hours for your ceremony ending time for winter or late fall / early spring
Step #4
Plan the Photography Timeline
Now that you know what time your ceremony will begin, you can download and use our worksheet to easily plan out your day.
It’s the same worksheet I use with all of my wedding clients to help organize their day
- Now that you know what time your ceremony will begin, you can download and use our worksheet to easily plan out your day.
- Photography will start 3 hours before your ceremony (2 without a first look)
- Hair and makeup will need to be done right before the photographer starts shooting so everyone should be dressed and ready to go
- DJ’s, planners, designers, and caterers can all be planned out now that you know what time the ceremony and photography will be and when you’ll be ready to have dinner.
