“I don’t need a wedding coordinator because my photographer will do the wedding day timeline.” I hear this way too often! And it isn’t true. Your photographer is too nice to tell you that it isn’t his or her job to do your wedding day timeline.
Hear me out. A photographer needs to plan your photography timeline. Absolutely! They are the best person on your wedding team to know how long each shot will take and how much time to allow for photos throughout the wedding day.
Your photographer shouldn’t be in charge of the complete wedding timeline. They simply aren’t aware of every moving piece that needs to be scheduled throughout the day. Nor should they be. You want them to focus on their zone of genius: Your wedding day photos!
You, as the bride or groom, should not be in charge of your complete timeline, either. You’ve probably never planned a wedding before and you simply don’t know all the details involved. You don’t know the idiosyncrasies of your venue. You don’t have the experience to know how long a particular set up is going to take. And you definitely don’t have the time to be the go-between for all your wedding pros! You should be relaxing as much as possible in the weeks leading up to your wedding day.
Here is a sample of a wedding day timeline I created for a recent wedding.
As you can see, my timelines are very detailed. (And the selection above only includes a couple of hours out of this 16-hour day!) The wedding day timeline allows me to double-check important elements as we set up and before I sign off on deliveries.
The wedding day timeline is a key element to your wedding day going how you want it to go. (And it’s one of my favorite things. Logistics are my jam.) So, let me focus on that…and let your photographer focus on your photos!
I realized wedding planning was my passion when, after working a 12-hour wedding day, I came home and was so energized that I couldn’t go to sleep. I had just worked an entire day, on my feet, and was ready to plan the next event instead of heading to bed! In former careers, an 8-hour shift would leave me exhausted. This new-found energy around my work was very welcomed! Now I plan weddings all around the Metro Detroit & Ann Arbor areas.