The Five Key Steps to Planning Your Wedding Photography Timeline

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a couple who can spend $90,000 on their wedding and invite 6,000 people to celebrate is probably on the wrong path. However, even if you’re on the right path, planning your wedding photography should include some planning. The amount of photos you can get is limited, so make sure you get everything possible will help you achieve that best-ever quality you envisioned in your head. Also, if you’re thinking of spending over $2,000 for your wedding photography, you’ll definitely want to plan in advance and get the best possible pictures and videos.

Once you’ve created the timeline and made sure the location is set up for you, taking those seven key steps will provide the best opportunity to capture the highest quality pictures and video for you and your loved ones.

Below are the Five steps we have taken in order to plan out our wedding photography timeline:

Step 1: Determine Your Shooting Strategy

Unless you’re shooting a natural location, like a mountain, waterfall, or cityscape, most wedding locations are not completely natural. You need to decide how you’re going to get your shots. Is it going to be on a ladder, balancing on the sides of the building, or on a chair with your legs sticking out? What are you going to bring to the location with you? Is it going to be a tripod or are you going to take pictures standing up?

What are you going to bring to the location to set up the shots you want? Are you going to use your own camera or will you rent a camera and a tripod? What kind of camera are you going to use? Do you have a lens that you are confident you can get a shot from? You have to understand what kind of pictures you want and what you can do to get them.

Step 2: Figure Out Your Shooting Space

Consider where you will be going for the photos you want and how you’re going to get to them. There are seven different ways you can get to your wedding location, depending on what day it is, which time of day you want to go, and which path you’re going to be taking to get to the location. If it’s a morning wedding, plan your photography earlier and go as far as you can because there is less traffic.

If it’s an evening wedding, plan on going to the location an hour before it starts and then finishing up as it gets dark. Also, plan the path you’re going to take to the location because you have to get over the fence, go through a gate, and then through the exit. When you get there, plan on parking the car. It can take some time to get your equipment set up and you need to plan in advance what you’re going to wear and how you’re going to get around.

Step 3: Create Your Photo Plans

Prior to the big day, create a calendar for the wedding that tells you what you want to do. Look at that calendar the morning of your wedding and plan your shooting schedule for the day. If you’re going for afternoon wedding photos, plan on getting to the location an hour before the ceremony starts, so that you can set up your equipment and start shooting.

If it’s a morning wedding, plan on getting there in the morning and having the photographer waiting for you before you get out of bed. Look at the calendar to understand what the lighting is like at the time you’re shooting and plan your shots accordingly. If the sun is in the wrong direction at a certain point in the day, that will change your photographs.

Look at the calendar and plan around your lighting. Look at your calendar the morning of the wedding to figure out what time you’re getting up and when you’re going to be leaving to get to the location in time.

Step 4: Talk to Your Photographers

If you have other photographers at your wedding, discuss their timeline for shooting. If you’re planning for an evening wedding, talk with your photographers about what time they are going to shoot and what time they plan to start shooting. Talk to the photographers and ask them how long they plan on taking photos for the ceremony.

If the photographer starts shooting before the ceremony is over, that means they won’t be in the right position for pictures at the end of the ceremony. The photographer has to plan around the timing of the ceremony. Find out what your photographers are doing to get to the wedding location. Most photographers have a timeline of how long it takes them to get to the wedding location.

Step 5: Before You Plan for an Engagement Session

Make sure your photographers know what you want. You have to plan the wedding just like you would for an engagement session because you have seven steps to shoot. You have to plan in advance, plan ahead, and think about the photography from your wedding days.

Think about your timeline, plan ahead and plan your photography around your timeline. If you plan ahead, you’ll be more likely to have a natural wedding that has natural colors and natural scenes that come out naturally.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve talked about planning your photography, planning for an engagement session, and planning for a wedding. The seven steps you’ll take to get to your photography begin with planning, talking to your photographers, planning ahead, and planning for natural scenes. Once you plan your photography, you’ll be able to shoot natural colors and pictures that come out naturally and that work to your timeline.