Planning
Building The Wedding Photography Timeline
A working schedule built around light, emotion, your vision, and the chapters
Some wedding timelines are built backwards from when the caterer wants to plate the food. That works fine for the food and badly for the photographs, because the light does not negotiate. Building the day around two fixed points — the ceremony and sunset — allows everything else to slot in around them.
What follows is a shape rather than a schedule; every wedding gets its own version, written with you and shared with anyone who needs to know.
Early afternoon
WEDDING DAY DETAILS & GETTING READY
As wedding photographers, we usually arrive while you're getting ready and shoot still life details. We also photograph both parties getting ready. Ninety minutes here is generous; sixty is workable if the couple is in the same building.
ONE TO TWO HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY
INDIVIDUAL WEDDING PORTRAITS, THEN FIRST LOOK, THEN COUPLE PORTRAITS
after the getting ready portion of the day, we often shoot individual portraits of each of the soon-to-be-wed. Then, a first look buys back an hour later in the day and takes the pressure off a newly married couple. Immediately after the first look is the best window for couple portraits, because everyone is dressed and looking their best.
NINETY TO SIXTY MINUTES BEFORE CEREMONY
Wedding party and family formals
We have 30 years of experience photographing family and wedding party formals, often with a written shot list. Though in many weddings NOT shot by us, formals are the single most common place a timeline slips, we get the job done with plenty of time left over for you to relax before the ceremony. This is where the experience level of a New Orleans wedding photographers really shines.
WEDDING CEREMONY
WHEN IT ALL BECOMES OFFICIAL - THE WEDDING CEREMONY
Often lasting about twenty minutes for a civil ceremony, or an hour for a full church wedding, we photograph ceremonies like the sacred moments that they are...quietly, while shooting mostly from the back with long lenses, thereby avoiding distracting from your special moments.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER CEREMONY
WEDDING SECOND LINE PARADE
The band usually steps off within a few minutes of the recessional and the parade lasts anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. The parade route, permit and staging point are all settled well in advance, so all we need to do is capture the chaos.
Cocktail hour
RECEPTION SPACE, GUESTS, AND MAYBE THE GOLDEN-HOUR PULL-OUT
The wedding reception space gets photographed while it is still perfect. If we can arrange it, ten minutes of the couple stepping outside at last light almost always results in some of the best portraits of the day...it's all about the light.
Reception
THE WEDDING RECEPTION (THE PARTY)
This section is all about the grand entrance or the intimate dinner, the first dances or the one slow dance while the jazz band at the club plays your favorite song, the wedding toasts and the wedding cake. After that the coverage is reactive — dance floor, band, street. Coverage usually ends with the send-off if not otherwise scheduled.
Where Timelines Break
- Family formals where one or two family members are missing, or a bridal party member is in the bathroom for way too long (you know who you are, Jeremy).
- Travel between venues is grossly underestimated. In the French Quarter, walking is often faster than driving, and a second line parade is also travel. Give yourself extra time.
- Wedding portraits scheduled after sunset. Once the light is gone, it is gone. We work with studio flash lighting for low-light scenarios, but nothing beats a sunset as your background.
- Hair and makeup running long — the most reliable delay at any wedding. Pad it.
Two Ways To Build The Day
First Look vs. Traditional Timeline
The First Look Schedule
- Couple and wedding party portraits happen before the ceremony, while hair and makeup are fresh.
- You get to enjoy your whole cocktail hour with your guests.
- Makes the most of daylight on fall and winter dates, when the sun sets early.
- Calms pre-ceremony nerves — the big moment is private and unhurried.
The Traditional (Aisle) Schedule
- Keeps the classic first sight at the end of the aisle.
- Works best for spring and summer dates with late sunsets.
- Couple portraits move to an extended cocktail hour or a golden-hour pull-out.
- Needs a tighter plan for family formals right after the recessional.
Planning Around The Light
New Orleans Daylight By Season
Fall & Winter (November – February)
Once clocks fall back, the sun sets between about 5:00 and 6:00 PM. Without a first look, ceremonies usually need to start by mid-afternoon to leave any daylight for couple portraits.
Spring & Summer (March – October)
Sunsets stretch from around 7:00 PM to just after 8:00 PM. Ceremonies can comfortably start at 5:30 or 6:00 PM with golden light left for courtyard cocktail hours and portraits.
Planning
Timeline Questions
- How does sunset time in New Orleans dictate our ceremony start?
- Sunset in New Orleans runs from around 5:00 PM in early December to just after 8:00 PM in late June. For natural-light couple portraits and golden-hour courtyard frames, we build the day backwards from sunset — ideally wrapping outdoor portraits 15 to 20 minutes before last light, or scheduling a short ten-minute sunset pull-out during cocktail hour.
- DOES DOING A FIRST LOOK REALLY SAVE TIME DURING THE RECEPTION?
- Yes. A First Look moves most of the couple and wedding party portraits to before the ceremony, while hair and makeup are fresh. Once the ceremony and second line wrap, you walk straight into cocktail hour or the party instead of spending time posing while your guests celebrate without you.
- How much time should we allow for a New Orleans second line parade?
- The walking itself is often 10 to 20 minutes, but the schedule needs closer to 30-40. Allow about ten minutes to gather guests, hand out handkerchiefs and parasols, and line up the band and police escort, plus another ten at the destination for everyone to get inside the reception.
- How long do family formals realistically take?
- With a written shot list of named groupings, each grouping takes about two to three minutes. A typical list of eight to ten groupings takes 20 to 25 minutes. We run them efficiently so nobody is standing around waiting. remember, we've been doing this for almost 30 years, so we have a system that allows everyone to get their special photo quickly, but not feel rushed.
- What if our church or venue has strict photography rules or time limits?
- Many historic New Orleans churches have tight ceremony windows and restrictions on flash and photographer movement. Knowing the rules ahead of time lets us position long lenses before the processional and schedule altar formals right after the recessional without running past the venue's cut-off.
- How much buffer should we build in for hair and makeup?
- Hair and makeup is the most common cause of timeline delays. Schedule it to finish at least 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to get dressed, so the rest of the day's photo windows don't get squeezed.