The Wedding Day Timeline Part I | Wedding Tips

I'm really excited to talk about the wedding timeline today.  When I meet with couples and share my experiences of wedding day timelines and often get comments such as, "Oh yea! I forgot you have lots of experience about how a wedding day runs!" I shoot an average of 25 weddings a year and have photographed more than one hundred weddings.

As a wedding photographer my experience shapes the way I approach effectively photograph any wedding day. I firmly believe that wedding photography needs to be a mix of documenting the stories of the day (photojournalism) and capturing timeless portraits. My approach to any wedding day is to work diligently from the start to capture as much as possible earlier in the day. The more that we can capture earlier, the more we can focus on the documentation of how your day unfolds, starting with the ceremony and into the celebration.

Part I: Getting Ready (1-3 hours before ceremony begins) I can arrive at the salon or home where you are getting ready. Sometimes I arrive directly to church if that’s where you are putting your dress. The goal is to capture the anticipation as you prepare for your day. It’s capturing the moment you put on your dress, your Mother by your side to help, and seeing the emotion from your loved ones. If you're not going to see your bride/groom I include: Detail Shots (dress, shoes, flowers, rings, the church empty, etc), a Bridal Portrait, a Groom Portrait, Portraits of Any Children in the wedding (you never know when children will melt down during the day!), Mother/Father with Bride, Mother/Father with the Groom, and Bridesmaids with Bride at the ceremony location, and finally Groomsmen with Groom at the ceremony location. For those who choose for a "First Look" where the bride and groom meet before the ceremony we would also take many Formal photos before the ceremony begins including: Bride/Groom and Bridal Party photos.

So as you begin to consider your wedding day some important questions to consider are these:

*Which getting ready photos are important to me?

*Will we (bride/groom) see each other before the ceremony? Does a First Look make more sense because of a time crunch in the schedule or because we want to start our celebration immediately following?

*Where will I put my wedding gown on?

*Will all my bridesmaids be with me when I get ready?

*Are there are traditions I want to keep (or new ones to make)? (Mom helping put my dress on, capturing something borrowed/something blue/something old/something new, etc)

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more on the wedding day timeline. If you have any comments or questions or ideas, Please share them below! I'd love to hear from you!

Thank you!  Melanie

www.melaniereyesphotography.com