Your Wedding Day Timeline Guide- Wedding party photographs

Wedding party photographs, Wedding day is very exciting and the most memorable day of your life as you will be saying your “I Do’s”. Honestly, it is also a day filled with anxiety, nervousness and a lot of people and vendor management. As a wedding film and photography team, we have seen many weddings even with planners run through chaos for many reasons- one being not allocating sufficient time between sessions. 

Here, let’s focus on one session at a time, and divide your wedding day from the perspective of a wedding film and photography personnel. The following are our recommendations for you to have a great wedding day, rest assured!

Wedding party photographs

1.Hair 

Before your wedding day, make sure to trial your desired hair style. Most bridal services do trials before the event. 

Brides Hair- 1 hour

Bridesmaids hair- 30 minutes per person

2.Make-up

Bride’s makeup- 45-60 minutes (It gives rough time to make any tweaks if needed)

Bridesmaids make-up- 45 minutes per person

If there are more than three people including the bride to be attended to for hair and makeup, ask HMUA to bring an assistant. 

3.When is the best time for photographers to come? 

During the middle of your hair-session is the best time for your wedding documentation team to arrive. They can:

• Document your hair getting done 
• Outfit shoot (They will need time to take the outfit and find a perfect spot to hang it, inside or outside of your home, to get some cute outfit shoots)
• Bridal accessories and shoes!
•  Document make-up getting done
• If you have a special letter to your loved one, you can read it for speech recording
• Mother-daughter session
• Bride+bridesmaids fun moments

This is what many photographers call: getting- ready sessions. If you are travelling to the saloon, always double the time. Always better more time than less!

4.Grooms and groomsmen 

We are here to document the fun, laughter and all the jokes when your guy gets ready. And some more of that GQ poses. From cuff links to bow tie, we document all. These are sessions where a two photographer-film team comes in handy as they can document getting ready and pre-event sessions for both the parties. 

5.Father-of-the-Bride first look 

Soon after the bride gets ready, this session always sheds some tears. Fathers are the first to notice the change that has occurred over time for their daughter. He sure won’t be able to grasp all that in this one look and these moments mean so much to him and your family. We give nearly 30 minutes for dad’s first look and bridal party pre-event session.

Wedding party photographs

6.First look

If you and your guy plan to have a first look (and we have all the reasons why you should have one!) allocate another 20 minutes. 

7.Bride and Groom entry

Typically the groomsmen and groom arrive an hour and a half before the ceremony. Always have legroom for delays. The bridal party and the bride are the last to arrive. If the bride won’t be taking photos of herself at the church, she and her bridesmaids usually wait in the limo. We don’t want to break the ice before a planned bridal entry! 

8.The Ceremony

Usually events last around 30-40 minutes. 

9.Family photographs

Family photographs take nearly an hour, provided your family is organised! This is some of the first pictures taken after you have married your man. For your family, we understand these sessions as memories of a new addition to their growing home!

10.Wedding party photographs

It’s time for a session with the bride+groom and their groomsmen and bridesmaids. This can also be a fun session and this is the time you guys are out there for the first time as men and wife! This will take upto 20-30 minutes.

11.Dining

Receptions are sometimes scheduled the same day after 1-2 hours of ceremony or the next day in some cultures. However, after the photographs, the bride and groom enter the hall for dining. It starts 1-2 hours after the ceremony. 

12.Couple session

If you didn’t have a first look session, you may use this time for your intimate couple session. This is the time to photograph just the two of you at your desired wedding location. Some 20-30 minutes for this session. 

If you can tell us your timing, it helps us understand your needs and the time you are planning to approximately start each session. This is a great resource to work with our clients in detail before the event to make sure we have everything essential to document their day!