Are you stuck?
Are you stuck on trying to figure out what time to start your wedding at? There are so many moving parts on the day of your wedding, that you have been thinking about for the last 6+ months of wedding planning, and this one simple task has you stuck in a rut. Let's not forget how much you've already accomplished throughout the planning process.
Before you send out your invites and a set a time, here are the Top 5 Things You Need to Consider:
1) What time is sunset on the day of your wedding?
Unless you live in Arizona or you're having a sunrise wedding, Daylights Saving Time is a real b*tch. Especially in the fall. You can do this by Googling "Sunset time in {Insert City, State} on {Insert your Wedding Date}."
2) Do the two of you want to have a first look?
This is a big one that will really determine how much of your photos will take place before or after the ceremony. If you plan to have a first look, it's probably safe to say that the majority of your formal photos (i.e. Family, Wedding Party, Bridal Portraits) will happen before the ceremony. If not, majority of your photos will have to take place after your ceremony, so you'll want to allot extra time for that.
3) Are you having an indoor ceremony or outdoor ceremony?
If you're having an indoor ceremony, and don't mind skipping sunset photos, then you won't have too much to worry about when it comes to the time you set your ceremony. But if you are having an outdoor ceremony and want photos during daylight, keep going.
4) How long will your ceremony last?
It's becoming more and more common for couples to opt for a quick ceremony because our attention spans are becoming so short. However, it is still common to have the traditional wedding (whether that's Catholic or not), lasting 30 minutes to an hour long for full mass. So this will obviously play into when to start your ceremony as well.
5) Do you want sunset photos?
Personally, I'm a big proponent on this because there's nothing better than that first few hours of marital bliss, away from the chaos that is happening at your reception. Especially, if you're an introverted-extrovert (or any sort of introvert for that matter), you are really going to need this time to recharge. After all your wedding day will feel like a blur when it's all over. If you plan to have sunset photos, the best time to do this is during Golden Hour, which is typically the last hour before sunset. You definitely do not have to set aside a full hour for sunset photos though--it could just be 15-20 minutes or longer if you choose.
So for example, if you're getting married on the ever so popular October 22, 2022 in Lincoln, Nebraska, you know that you want a first look and sunset photos, next, you'll need to know when sunset is. After doing a quick Google search, sunset is at 6:36pm. Okay, so keep going down the list--you plan to have your a super quick ceremony, maybe 20 minutes or less. So now that you know these details, it's time to work backwards with your sunset time.
Sunset 6:36pm
Sunset photos 6:00pm (this gives you a good buffer of time to capture sunset photos before the light slips into Blue Hour)
Dinner 5:15pm
Toasts 5:00pm
Grand Entrance 4:45pm
Fun Bridal party photos before entering Reception 4:00pm
Ceremony 3:30pm
You obviously can change this timeline based on what you want to do for your own wedding, but it will give you a rough outline to work with and apply for your own wedding. Obviously, there are quite a few other variables that need to be taken into consideration when planning but every wedding is different. Once you have this rough outline, it'll be easier to build a full wedding day timeline. If you don't want the stress of building your own wedding day timeline, we offer wedding day timeline planning with our photography services. It will take so much stress off of you plate leading up to your wedding day, and prevent you from getting bombarded with even more questions on your big day. You can learn more by filling out a quick form here.