6-hour wedding timeline template for photographers

The 6-hour package is the most common short one and the one that goes wrong most often, because couples buy 6 hours and expect 8. This is the short version of the wedding day timeline template. It covers getting ready through the first 45 minutes of dancing, at one location, with a first look. The two lists after it say what to remove when the couple wants something this schedule has no room for, and what stays no matter what.

Copy it, change the times, and send it to the couple with both lists. The lists are the conversation.

The template

Time	What is happening	Photo moment
2:00 PM	Photographer arrives. Details for 20 minutes, everything in one box. Then the last of getting ready: the dress going on, the reveal to parents.	Yes
2:40 PM	Partner 1 dressed. Portraits in the room, 15 minutes.	Yes
2:55 PM	Partner 2 dressed. Portraits, 10 minutes. With a second shooter this runs alongside the row above.	Yes
3:05 PM	First look and couple portraits, 25 minutes.	Yes
3:30 PM	Wedding party, 20 minutes. Full group, each side, done.	Yes
3:50 PM	Couple tucked away. Ceremony details and guests arriving.	Yes
4:00 PM	Ceremony, 30 minutes.	Yes
4:30 PM	Family photos, 20 minutes. 12 groupings maximum.	Yes
4:50 PM	Couple portraits in the ceremony light, 15 minutes.	Yes
5:05 PM	Cocktail hour candids. Reception room details before the doors open.	Yes
5:30 PM	Grand entrance, straight into the first dance.	Yes
5:40 PM	Dinner. Eat when the couple eats.	No
6:20 PM	Toasts.	Yes
6:40 PM	Parent dances, then cake cutting.	Yes
7:00 PM	Sunset portraits, 10 minutes, if the sun is low enough.	Yes
7:15 PM	Open dancing, 45 minutes. Or a staged exit at 7:45 PM with the wedding party.	Yes
8:00 PM	Photographer departs.

Without a first look

Move the couple portraits after the ceremony and cut the wedding party to a single full-group frame. Family photos at 4:30 PM, wedding party at 4:50 PM for 10 minutes, couple portraits at 5:00 PM for 20 minutes, and the couple walks into the reception at 5:30 PM having seen none of their cocktail hour. Say that out loud before they decide. The first look pros and cons page has the rest of the argument.

What to cut

1. The first 90 minutes of getting ready. Arrive 60 minutes before the dress goes on, not 3 hours. The hair-and-makeup frames all look the same after the first 10.
2. Details from 45 minutes to 20. One flat lay with the invitation and rings, the dress from the back, the shoes. That is the set.
3. Wedding party pairs. Full group, each side, one loose frame. Partner-with-each-attendant is 10 frames that take 10 minutes and get printed by nobody.
4. Family groupings from 20 to 12. Parents, grandparents, siblings, both sides together. Extended family gets one frame per side. The family photo list template has the full list to cut from.
5. The second hour of dancing. After 45 minutes you have the frames. The next hour produces the same photographs with more sweat.
6. Table photos. 30 minutes, gone.
7. The real exit. Replace it with a staged one: at 7:45 PM, 15 minutes, the wedding party and 20 sparklers outside while the party carries on inside.
8. The second location. Six hours at two locations is 5 hours of photography. If the couple insists, cut getting ready to zero and arrive at the ceremony site.
9. The receiving line. It costs 30 minutes at any length of day.

What never to cut

1. The 15 minutes before the ceremony. The site empty, the guests arriving, the couple tucked away. It is the only buffer in the day, and hair and makeup will need it.
2. The ceremony, start to finish. Processional to license. Do not arrive 5 minutes into it to save time on the front end.
3. Family photos. Shorter, not gone. 12 groupings in 20 minutes with a wrangler.
4. 15 minutes of couple portraits in daylight. Not 5. This is the set they print.
5. The first dance and the toasts. Move them earlier before you cut them. Toasts before dinner is a fair request and most caterers prefer it.
6. The reception room empty. 2 frames, 3 minutes, before the doors open. The planner will ask for them.

The rules

• Front-load or back-load. Choose. Six hours covers getting ready through the first hour of dancing, or the ceremony through the exit. Not both. The couple picks, in writing, before the timeline is built.
• Pull the reception events forward. Entrance straight into the first dance, toasts during the first course, parent dances and cake before dessert. A compressed reception is the only way 6 hours reaches open dancing.
• Ask for 5 must-have moments. They decide what gets cut. If the dance floor is on the list, the early getting ready goes.
• Offer the extra hour. One more hour at the end usually costs the couple less than the compromise does. Unless the venue’s hard stop is 8:00 PM anyway.
• Everything moves when hair and makeup does. With no slack, a 20-minute delay at 2:00 PM is a 20-minute delay at 7:00 PM. The 10-hour wedding timeline template shows what a day with buffers looks like.

Questions to ask before you finalize it

1. Getting ready or the dance floor? Six hours covers one of them properly.
2. Is everything at one location? If not, this is a 5-hour day.
3. Is there a first look? Without one you miss cocktail hour.
4. How many family groupings? 12 is the limit at 6 hours.
5. What time is sunset?
6. Can the toasts move before dinner? It buys 30 minutes of dancing.
7. Do you want a staged exit at 7:45 PM with the wedding party?