Timings On The Big Day - How To Schedule Your Wedding
There is not a one-size-fits-all schedule for weddings, the way you plan the timings of your day all comes down to preference and what will work best for you. Here are some things I have found from shooting 100+ weddings.
Ceremony
When it comes to planning the ceremony, unless you are planning well in advance, you may find yourself limited to the times that your registrars/vicar can do. Here are the advantages to having an earlier vs a later ceremony:
Earlier - (Until 2PM)
More time enjoying the day with guests
Gets the scary bit out of the way
Older guests can experience more of the day and still leave at a reasonable hour
Later (2PM onwards)
More quiet time with family and close ones in the morning
Don’t have to get up super early (although you will likely wake up early anyway!)
Allows more time for guests to travel to the venue (especially useful if they are coming from far or if it is a busy time of year)
What does Sam think?
Generally, I find that ceremonies from 1 onwards work the best. This way, there is way less stress in the morning and more time to fix things when they go wrong.
Speeches
Ah, the age old question - do you have the speeches before or after the wedding breakfast? This partially depends when your food is being served (usually between 3-5).
Benefits of speeches before food: This is often the speech givers preferred option as then they can relax and enjoy their food. Less heckling as people have had less to drink Much easier to have all the guests ready in one place (trust me, guests tend to go missing after food)
Benefits of speeches after food: People have likely had a bit to drink, causing better reactions! Unless they have had lots of canapés or other food in the day, guests will be hungry Great way to kick off the evening There is an alternate option which is to have speeches interspersed with courses. This can work but people are often not really listening as they finish their food. It is also quite tricky for the caterers (speeches can go on and food goes cold once it is ready) plus it is not ideal for photographers/videographers as this is when we take our much needed break.
What does Sam think?
I have to admit that I am biased here as I much prefer speeches before food. This way I can relax and properly recharge without worrying about speeches starting early without anyone telling me. As what is best for your guests though, I think it totally depends how late the food is being served and whether people have had anything else to eat during the day.
First Dance/Party Time
This is one of the more flexible times but is really important to get right so that the evening kicks off properly. If the party is starting straight after the first dance, you likely want people to populate the dance floor for the band. If so, having the first dance later is definitely the best bet for you as people are far more likely to bust some moves after a few more drinks and when the sun has gone, moving them inside.
If you are nervous about it, you may want to have the first dance earlier to get it out of the way. This also works well if you have a slightly older crowd that might not stay particularly late. People may well still fill the dance floor but when it is still light out and people haven’t had much of a chance to drink their boogie juice (alcohol), it idoesn’t happen often. If you really want to get it out of the way but you still want people to dance to the band, you could have the first dance early and then put on some background music while the band/DJ set up.
If you are after those beautiful, golden light sunset photos, definitely consider the implications of this on your timing for first dance. This is the least likely part of the day to run on time so even if you plan it well before the sunset - band delays, missing family members and a myriad of other reasons mean that the dance could easily get pushed back to the critical sunset time.
What does Sam think?
It totally depends on the clouds and the surroundings but for me, at the very minimum, I would like a window of around half an hour before sunset. It may not necessarily take that long to shoot, but having that window means that if the sky suddenly kicks off at any point, I won’t be heartbrokenly watching a beautiful sunset happen outside as we round people up for the first dance. It should be said that sometimes the sky looks the best after sunset, but if you free up half and hour before, that is the time in which we have the best chance to get some gorgeous photos!