Scheduling for your wedding and how to get the timings right

The duration of some aspects of your wedding will be very obvious and written in stone, like your ceremony. But other timings at your wedding are less obvious. So here is some help on how to decide on timings and setting a schedule for your wedding that works.

Venues have valuable experience running weddings and will recommend durations to schedule. It is worth keeping in mind that these recommendations are either averages or a minimum.

So it is up to you if you want to allocate a little more time for something that is particularly important to you, but might not be to others.

For us photographers, this usually means that there is an hour for the drinks reception during which the group photos and the couple portraits are expected to be taken.
Whether this can work or not, depends on you.

How much time do you want to spend on photos?

Group Photos

My couples usually tell me that they want the photos, but done as quickly as possible. 
And that is just how I like it!

As a documentary wedding photographer, I enjoy nothing more than capturing the unplanned, fun and heart warming moments of your day. The groups are just something we do in addition. 
Let me tell you a secret: we will make them fun!

Rather than pluck a number of minutes out of thin air, let’s just do the maths on how long your group photos will take.

This is quite easy to do. On average, each group photo takes 5 minutes. That might sound long, but it is the industry standard almost all photographers work to. The fastest I have ever managed was a wedding where it took us an average of just over 3 minutes to take each photo.

So on average 5 group photos will take 25 minutes.

That is why I recommend to have a maximum of 10 groups planned. I talk more about this in my blog Why you should only have 10 group photos.

I know you are looking at your list right now wondering how the hell you will fit them all in or which ones to ditch!
Don’t worry, we will cover group shots in our pre-wedding planning call. I have some tips how you can make them more efficient. And I will help you whittle down that list if you want to.

So that is 5 minutes for each group, but how long do the couple portraits take?

Wedding Couple Portraits

The good news is, that the portraits themselves will take a little less time per photo than the groups, simply because it is just the two of you being photographed. However, we usually strike more than one pose in each location.

When I say strike a pose, don’t worry!

We are not curating a movie poster. I will give directions and prompts, not asking you to hold a pose you would never get into in real life… meaning your photos will look like your natural selves!

In order to give us time and space when we can concentrate on your photos, I recommend to reserve 30 minutes in your schedule for your couple portrait.
And here is a secret: I am usually finished quicker!

Chose the photo locations wisely

When planning your group and couple photos, it is important to remember that getting to and from the photo location takes time. Especially if you are moving a hundred people.

That’s why I recommend having all the group photos taken in one place, and not far from the reception area.

Wedding guests don’t move fast and there is usually a small child that needs the loo “right now”. And the further away you are, the longer it will take before child and parent are back.

After saving time on the group photos by taking them all in one location, can we now have 8 locations for couple portraits and be done in 15 minutes please?

Wouldn’t that be great! But no.

Walking between the locations will take time.
Taken into account that we will be further slowed down by you trying to keep your outfits clean and guests stopping you (it can’t be helped, you are the star of the show!) this will all take longer than you might expect.

That is why I recommend only choosing two locations. If you wonder how to best narrow it down to just two, you will find help here: Why and how to chose just 2 locations for wedding photos.

Schedule for your wedding photos so you won’t get bored

Something you might not expect but is worth considering is how boring you might find the tracking around and standing around for group photos.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged (amongst photographers at least), that the more time you spend between photos, the more you will long to just be back celebrating with your guests.

I respect that and I will do my best to help you avoid boredom.

What I do differently

First of all, we plan the photography for your day together.

I am here to help and advice. And I promise to be brutally honest, so you won’t have to suffer boredom or scheduling stress on your wedding day.

The way we plan and schedule your wedding group and couple photos means, that if at any point you feel like you had enough, you can go back to your guests save in the knowledge that we already have taken the photos you told me were the most important to you.

The power to schedule for your wedding is yours!

Remember, that this is your day and you should create a schedule for your wedding that suits you. 

So if you want a full hour or drinks reception with your guests, but you also want to take the group photos during that time, ask the venue to schedule in more time.

It is your day! You decide how much time you spend on each part of it. The only restriction is closing time.

So keep this in mind when scheduling for your wedding and follow me on socials to see when my next helpful blog goes live. Links in the footer.

If you want to know more or find out if I am available on your wedding date, get in touch via my contact form.
I look forward to hearing about your wedding!

Bright blessings,

 Alternative Wedding And Handfasting Photographer UK and EU