Planning the perfect wedding ceremony time
When planning your wedding timeline, there are usually only a few fixed times on the day. In other words, they are impractical to change on the wedding.
Some of those include the arrival time of your photographer, hair and makeup artists and other vendors, and the scheduled time of the meals at your venue.
But there are really only two things that can’t ever be changed (even if you wanted to) ... the first being the ceremony time (as it will be on your invitation) and the second less obviously, the sunset time!
There are exceptions to this of course, such as elopements where you can change the ceremony time and simply notify each guest again. But it’s not ideal.
That’s why when I first speak to couples about their wedding plans, I almost always check to see whether their intended ceremony time will work for their planned activities post ceremony.
If you have booked a popular venue to host your ceremony and reception, your first discussion about the ceremony time might be with an events coordinator or events manager. Most professional wedding event coordinators are aware of how important sunset time is, so they will generally suggest a ceremony time about two hours from sunset.
This is often where things go wrong in the planning process. The client accepts this time at face value, then sends out invitations to everyone, then finally chooses a photographer! It is only once the client speaks to their photographer in more detail that they realise there may not be quite enough time to do everything planned (and still do so in a relaxed, stress-free fashion).
So, here are the key questions that can affect the ideal ceremony time…
Honestly, How Likely is Everyone to Arrive on Time?
People generally have a reputation for being on time or not, and at many weddings it is almost common knowledge that the Bride is not going to arrive exactly on time (whether due to custom or habit).
The more people you invite to your wedding, the more likely there will be guests that are late for all sorts of reasons. Even if you are on time, I recommend starting the ceremony time about 5 minutes later than the timeline suggests.
I also recommend your invitation time is about 15 minutes before the real start time. So if you intend on walking down the aisle at 1PM, an invitation time of 12.45PM is ideal in my opinion. Having two times on your invitation (12.45PM for a 1PM wedding) is confusing so a small white lie doesn’t go astray here.
How Long is the Ceremony, Really?
The best person to ask about the ceremony duration is the celebrant, but always add 5-10 minutes onto this estimate to be on the safe side. Also bear in mind that you can always cut out parts of your ceremony to reduce the time.
The shortest possible time for a legal ceremony in Australia is about 5 minutes excluding the signing, which is not something I would recommend, but it can happen if needed! (and does happen at the Brisbane Registry for example).
Also make sure you factor in the time for signing. This always takes about 5 minutes, so the shortest possible combined ceremony/signing time is about 10-15 minutes.
A typical ‘short’ but relaxed ceremony and signing which perhaps has vows and introductions or more involvement by the celebrant takes about 30 minutes in total.
While you may have every intention of arriving on time, in my experience it is not uncommon for a ceremony to start 15-30 minutes later than planned for all sorts of reasons, so it makes sense to add some buffer time to the end of the ceremony.
Hugs and Congratulations Time Depends on Guests Numbers!
The ceremony time does not normally include the hugs, congratulations and hand-shakes from all your guests which are often part of the celebration. In many cases for larger weddings, this may be your only interaction with some guests on the day itself and your chance to thank them for coming etc.
Receiving this congratulations from guests is a wonderful and exhilarating part of the day, and is also great for agile candid photographers to snap many photos.
But it greatly depends on how many guests there are, as to how long this will actually take. So think about how long it will take to interact with (say) 100 guests. You could be looking at anything from 15-30 minutes for congratulations alone (added to the ceremony time).
Are you Planning a Large Group Photo of all Guests?
Similar to hugs and congratulations, the time required for a large group photo can be largely dependent on the total number of guests. Most professional wedding photographers will have already discussed with you the logistics of pulling this photo off quickly and efficiently. It normally involves having someone with a loud voice and assertive demeanour rounding people up for this shot directly after hugs and congratulations.
In most cases it isn’t practical for the photographer to announce or cajole people for the large group photo (as they are configuring their camera and lighting for the shot).
The large group photo is always a compromise and a challenge for your photographer. Ideally it is taken close to where guests are, but those spaces may not be ideal. So it may be planned to take the photo up to 200m from where guests are currently standing.
It will take about 10 minutes to capture a large group photo of everyone, and most of that time is simply marshalling guests into formation. Check with your photographer about how much time they require, but don’t plan for this photo to be taken in less than 10 minutes.
How Many Family Group photos Have you Planned?
Family group photos are important and almost universally requested by my clients. They are also the most ‘dangerous’ period of the wedding timeline where things can very easily (without planning and guidance from an experienced photographer) spiral out of control in terms of the timeline.
As a rule of thumb, it will take about 10 minutes for your photographer to setup for these photos (tripod, extra lighting if required etc.) and approximately 2-3 minutes per photo.
If that sounds like a long time to take one photo, it is! However that time includes finding guests, marshalling them into place, removing handbags and sunglasses and mobile phones, and getting the attention of babies and toddlers. On top of that, the photographer will need to take 3-4 photos and choose the best one later. They will also need (ideally) to check that there is at least one good photo where the Bride & Groom are looking at the camera, smiling etc.
Check with your photographer about how much time is required for Family Group photos, but allow approximately 30 minutes for 8-12 photos.
Family Group photos should always be planned and printed on a list that can be ticked off, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Think About Yourself!
What normally follows family group photos is couples portraits somewhere on location, or close to the ceremony location. But that doesn’t mean this period needs to dominate the day.
At this point, I want you to think about yourself... How will you both feel after just getting married, having been just hugged 75 people and been made to stand still for 20 minutes in close (hot) proximity to others to have your photo taken for Family Group Photos?
You will feel somewhat exhausted and in need of a nana nap. While there won’t be time for a nap, there should be time to at least catch your breath and rehydrate!
It will also be difficult not to interact and chat more with guests (as it’s your first opportunity to do so). Especially those that are not heading to the reception due to other family commitments such as young children.
This also gives you a chance to pop off the bathroom to check hair and makeup before starting your portrait session and drink several glasses of water.
It also gives the photographer time to reconfigure their gear for the portrait session, such as changing lenses, bringing out lighting etc.
How Long are you Spending Doing Portraits?
Just how long you need for portraits should be discussed with your photographer and agreed beforehand, and please also factor in driving time and parking time if you are heading off-location.
In general, 15 minutes is ideal for capturing a handful of couples photos with the minimum impact on other guests and your energy levels. If you have a bridal party and want photos of the bridal party as well, then probably 30 minutes is about the shortest feasible time.
From there this can increase to 45-60 minutes depending entirely on your preferences. Your photographer may have other suggestions too, depending on what works best for their style, but ultimately is at your discretion. It should, however, have been something planned and discussed at your pre-wedding consultation so there is mutual agreement.
I personally do not recommend any outdoor portrait session in Brisbane lasting longer than 45 minutes, especially, and I will repeat that, especially in the summer months!
Your portrait session is generally best started about one hour before sunset, but this may also depend on the setting. For example in the Brisbane CBD the buildings can block the setting sun, as can tall trees.
In my experience you will want to arrive back at your wedding reception before sunset, and also allow 5-10 minutes to refresh before your grand entrance. Many (great) wedding friendly venues such as Blackbird Cafe have lovely air conditioned rooms specifically designed for the bridal party to relax, sit down and recharge before entering the main reception area. Allow some time for this as well ;)
Also bear in mind your photographer will need to enter the wedding reception area and prepare their gear/flash for your grand entrance. This will take at least five minutes, as they need to store their gear somewhere, possibly have a quick chat with the MC or DJ etc.
Summary
All of these factors come into play when planning your ceremony time (none of which will be known by the venue). There are a multitude of expected and unexpected things that can contribute to the timeline. For that reason I don’t recommend following ‘rough guidelines’ that might suggest starting your ceremony two or three hours before sunset. There is no one size fits all approach unfortunately.
I recommend a careful analysis of all the above (preferably with an experienced photographer) and always allow some extra buffer time for your sanity, drink breaks and for the unexpected!
Finally, don’t feel you have to dedicate 60 to 90 minutes for couples portraits and bridal party photos (unless you really want to!). Brisbane is a sub-tropical climate, and nothing will zap your energy quicker than being in the hot sun in formal attire (or even outside for that matter) for longer than you need to ;)
