Sample Photo Timeline - 6 hour coverage

Wedding day timeline with icons: getting ready at 3:00 pm, ceremony at 4:00 pm, cocktail hour at 4:35 pm, dinner at 6:00 pm, dance party at 7:30 pm, cake at 9:00 pm. Pastel pink background with white decorative elements.

Getting Ready

Depending on your coverage hours, we do like to start our booked coverage with a bit of getting ready.

Usually we arrive at least one hour before your ceremony start time to capture you getting in your wedding day outfit and all your family and friends hanging out with you before your walk down the aisle.

Allocate at least 30 - 45 mins, plus buffer time = 1 hour

A bride with brown hair styled in an elegant updo and dressed in a white beaded wedding gown smiling as she is touched on the cheek by an older woman with short brown hair wearing a pink satin dress, in a brightly lit room.

Two men in formal attire, one adjusting his suit jacket and the other touching his shoulder, inside a bright room with large windows overlooking a scenic landscape.

Sample Time: 3:00 pm | Photographer starts coverage
Photographer arrives at 2:30 pm

Depending on ceremony time - family portraits & wedding party photos can take place immediately after first looks, before ceremony.

A First Look

What is a first look you might ask?

It’s when you and your love see each other before the ceremony and that walk down the aisle.

This is your day and I would never want to pressure you to do this just for the sake of more photos or making it easier for me.

To be honest, only about 10% of my couples opt for a first look.

If a first look with your partner isn’t something you are interested in - you can opt to do one with a parent, your kid or other cherished person in your community instead.

Whatever you decide - I’m all for it!

Allocate at least 30 minutes

a group of well dressed people surrounding a man and a woman under a handmade chuppah made out of birch wood as a wedding ceremony is being performed

A groom in a tuxedo holding a microphone during a wedding ceremony, looking at a bride with a veil covering her face, outdoors with blurred trees in the background.

Sample time: 4:00 pm

The ceremony

Here is the moment you’ve been waiting for!

Whatever you have planned during your ceremony, be it personal vows underneath a chuppah or a handfasting ceremony and one of your best friends officiating - I’ll be there to capture it all.

Some people opt to announce to guests to put away their cell phones and tablets so that they can be fully present during this time. While it’s not a requirement, it would be the most helpful - or at least for people to stay in their seats and rows instead of jumping into the aisles to grab their own perfect shot. I promise to share the images (that is if you don’t mind sharing!) and once the ceremony is over - it’s all fair game and they can put their faces to their cell phones if they want!

Optional: Stop at the last row of seats and wave your arms up in the air like you just got married! (um, cause you did!) WOO HOO…and I’ll be there to grab a photo of you and your guests looking at me! — if this is a photo you def want, let me know so I can bring a step stool - cause I’m short, ha!

Allocate at least 20 - 30 minutes

A wedding ceremony taking place outdoors among tall trees with a bride and groom at the altar, surrounded by bridesmaids and groomsmen, with seated guests watching.

A couple getting married outdoors under a white canopy with mountains in the background, surrounded by guests seated on either side.

A couple exchanging wedding vows during a ceremony, with a woman reading vows into a microphone, in front of a large window.

A wedding party outdoors standing on a brick patio with trees and a building in the background. The bride and groom are in the center, with the bride holding a bouquet of flowers and wearing a white wedding dress, and the groom in a gray suit. Four other people, two men and two women, are standing beside them, dressed in formal attire.

A group of five people at a wedding outdoors. The bride is holding a bouquet of flowers, wearing a white lace wedding dress. The groom is in a black tuxedo with a bow tie. Two women stand on either side, one in a black dress and the other in a maroon dress. A young girl in a white dress with a floral headband is also present. The background shows trees and garden foliage.

Family Portraits

During Cocktail hour

Immediately following your ceremony, especially if you didn’t have a first look - we’ll get right into the family portraits. We do this so that we can get to them quickly, so you can get back to celebrating with your family and friends at your cocktail hour!

It does take a little effort and help- because right after the ceremony, every one of your guests will want to hug you, talk to you and congratulate you. BUT DON’T GET DISTRACTED! Once we get through the family portraits, you’ll be back to celebrating with everyone in no time!

Allocate at least 30 minutes (45 mins for a buffer)
(I promise it will actually be way less time 😉)

Completing your wedding timeline questionnaire will help us create your family formals list easily. We do ask for immediate family formal lists only but will make sure to have time to do extended family during reception - this is also why I highly recommend having our photo booth for reception (or cocktail hour) so that any group photos we miss, can easily be done in a photo booth - and your guests will have a great time taking these photos!

Wedding Party

During Cocktail hour

Immediately after the family formals, if you have a wedding party, we’ll do a few of those formals - from individuals to pairs to the groups of both sides. If you’ve done a first look, we may have done this before the ceremony! And if we have, then that just means you get to enjoy more of your cocktail party- YAY!!

Included in the timeframe above

Group of wedding guests standing outdoors in front of lush greenery, dressed in formal attire, holding bouquets of flowers.

Reception

Dinner & Toasts

After the ceremony & cocktail hour (which we hope you’ll be able to enjoy too because we are pretty fast and thorough during the family formals & wedding party photos) - then it’s time to relax and enjoy the rest of the night’s scheduled events AND ALSO EAT & DRINK cause you’re MARRIED!

We try to eat when you and your wedding party eat so that we are ready to capture the toasts & speeches. (and it’s also nice to re-energize and eat a little here and there too! But we are pretty used to stuffing our faces in under 5 minutes when we’ve had to wait for a meal after the guests too. It’s not ideal, but we go with it! I try and let the caterer or planner know the ideal times for us to shovel food into our faces so that we are ready to continue photographing your event but sometimes - it doesn’t work in our favor)

A bride and groom embrace outdoors during sunset, with the sunlight creating a halo effect around them.

Captured on film, Leal Vineyards in Hollister

Allocate at least 30 minutes, this includes a little buffer

Golden Hour

Magic Hour & Sunset

Sometime during your reception, after toasts (or sometimes right before) I’ll ask to whisk you two away to do a quick 10-15 minute session and will promise to bring you back before the next set of schedule events.

Because I create your wedding photo timeline at least 4 weeks before your day - we make sure that the time of this fits within your schedule and you don’t miss a thing! I make sure to find out the approximate time of sunset and work around this - collaborating with your planner or coordinator too, of course, so that we are all on the same page!

You can check the sunset time for your date here.

A couple in wedding attire holding hands and sharing a kiss on a beach during sunset, with rocks and the ocean in the background.

Pro tip: check the sunset times of your date & city here, I like taking golden hour photos about 30 mins before sunset time.

People dancing and celebrating at a formal event in a banquet hall, with some guests seated at tables and others on the dance floor, in a black-and-white photo.

First Dances

Let’s get this Party Started

Sometimes, depending on your ceremony start time after the golden hour/sunset portraits - you head back and get ready for your first dance together and your dances with your parents - if you’ve planned this for your day.

Of course if there are other events you’ve planned, please let us know…like a money dance, or a shoe game, the hora or a flash mob, Who knows? Whatever it is - let us know, so we can be best prepared!

People dancing at a celebration or party indoors with rustic decor, tables, and candles.

Group of people at a celebration, smiling and hugging, with a man in a gray suit at the center, in an indoor venue.

People dancing and having fun at a party with colorful lights, some holding money.

Group of six people in formal attire posing and smiling at a party or celebration, with a bar and other guests in the background.

Let’s Party

Open Dancing

After the first dances and any games/events you’ve had planned it’s just time to PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!! AND ENJOY THE CELEBRATION OF YOU TWO!!

Are you having a grand exit planned? With sparklers or confetti cannons?? LET US KNOW! We want to be in on the action and make sure we are ready to capture it.

A wedding day timeline will be emailed to you at least 4-6 weeks before your wedding date, so we get all the necessary details of your wedding day.

People dancing and celebrating at a lively party or wedding reception.

A bride and groom standing close together on a log in a vineyard at sunset, sharing a moment of intimacy.

Happily Ever After

It’s Just the beginning

Within 48 hours, I’ll send you some sneak peeks via text and if you’ve approved social media sharing, will post there too!

Then 6-8 weeks from your wedding date, you’ll receive your full gallery via an email - so watch out for it! This email will contain the link to your wedding photos, easily viewable and shareable online.

If you’d like a photo or two to use for your thank you cards, sooner than the 6-8 weeks - just let me know! And' I’ll make sure to give you a few options.

**Peak wedding season is from June - October.
During these busier months, galleries may be delivered between 9-12 weeks.

Have a Question? Reach out!