Your Wedding Day Flow
The Wedding Day FlowPrivate Planner
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A photographer-informed wedding timeline

Build a day that feels calm before it feels scheduled.

Plan from getting ready through the reception, using sunset, travel, photography coverage and the moments that matter to you. At the end, you’ll have a personalised timeline you can take to your planner, venue and creative team.

Built around sunset Personalised to your day Designed to protect guest time
Your answers can be edited later

Start with the day itself.

Your date and wedding location let the planner work out the local sunset and build the day backwards from the best light.

Search any city in the world, then choose the correct result.
Calculated automatically from your wedding date, location and local timezone. You can still override it.
Photographer's recommendation

The best wedding timelines are usually built around sunset rather than around dinner. Once the light is protected, the rest of the day becomes much easier to place.

How much photography coverage are you planning?

Coverage is usually consecutive. That means the clock starts when the first photographer begins and runs continuously until the agreed finish time.

Recommendation
10 hours is a strong starting point.It usually gives the day enough breathing room to cover groom prep, bride prep, the ceremony, portraits and meaningful reception moments without constantly watching the clock.

How will the photo and video team work during prep?

Two photographers do not automatically mean two locations at once. Some teams stay together for different angles; others split up.

Why this matters

If the team splits during prep, the timeline can be compressed. If everyone moves together, travel and prep need to happen sequentially. The planner will use whichever option you choose.

Where are you getting ready?

Exact travel time matters because a photography package normally runs continuously — driving time still uses coverage.

Check Google Maps and enter the realistic minutes.
Enter 0 if the ceremony is on the same property.

Build prep around calm, not rushing.

The default approach gives the groom one relaxed hour and the bride two full hours.

Photographer's recommendation: bride — 2 hours

Hair and makeup should ideally be finished when photography begins. That means the bride can relax, have a glass of champagne, spend time with the wedding party, photograph details naturally, get dressed without panic, and still have a quiet 15 minutes before the ceremony.

Photographer's recommendation: groom — 1 hour

The groom's hour should also feel relaxed: getting ready, details, portraits and time for a beer or whisky with friends rather than rushing through a checklist.

Enter the exact number of minutes you want. This is added on top of the bride's 2-hour prep block.
Included
First looks with a father or bridesmaids stay inside the bride's two hours.Only a bride-and-groom first look adds extra time.

Choose your ceremony time based on sunset.

A strong starting point is about three hours before sunset. That protects time for the ceremony, congratulations, family photographs, time with your guests and your portrait session in the best light.

Why allow a full hour?

It leaves room for a late aisle start, the ceremony itself, signing the register, congratulations and confetti. If the formal ceremony is shorter, that time does not disappear — it becomes extra time with your guests.

Protect canapé time.

The default structure keeps family portraits short and gives the rest of that hour back to you and your guests.

Recommended structure: 20 minutes family portraits + 40 minutes enjoying canapés with your guests.
Photographer's recommendation

Plan roughly 20 minutes for family portraits and 40 minutes where you are simply part of your own canapé hour. If family portraits finish faster, that extra time belongs to you and your guests.

Use the final light intentionally.

The recommended portrait block is one hour in total, including the wedding party, with the session ideally ending about 10 minutes after sunset.

A few minutes with no photographer, planner or guests — just the two of you before the reception begins.
Why finish just after sunset?

That last part of the session often gives you softer colour and a short blue-hour window. The wedding party is included in this portrait hour rather than becoming a separate long block.

Then disappear for a few minutes

After portraits, take a short private pause before you enter the reception. It may be the first time all day that nobody needs anything from you — no photographer, no planner, no guests. Just the two of you.

Build the reception around your preferences.

There is no single correct order. Choose where you want the major moments and the planner will lay out a clean starting point.

Keep the reception flexible

This section is a suggested order, not a rule. Your planner, MC and caterer may adjust it around food service. The aim is to give you a useful starting point you can hand to them.

One last question.

This does not change your timeline. It simply lets the result page show a relevant next step — or stay completely out of the way.

Kobus Tollig ProductionsThe Wedding Day Flow
Your personalised result

Recommended ceremony
Coverage begins
Coverage ends
Sunset
Suggested structure

Your wedding-day timeline

Getting ready

Why the prep blocks are generous

They are there to remove pressure, not create more photographs. The bride's two hours allow details, people, dressing and quiet time. The groom's hour keeps his prep natural rather than rushed.

Canapés

Do not give the whole hour away

Family portraits are important, but the couple should still experience the congratulations, food, drinks and people immediately after the ceremony.

Portraits

One focused hour is enough

The wedding party and couple portraits can live inside one well-planned block around the best light instead of repeatedly pulling you away from the celebration.

Reception

Use the result as a conversation starter

Send this to your planner, MC, venue and photographer. They can adjust the order around catering, speeches, traditions and logistics while keeping the overall flow intact.

A final thought

Be there for it.

A good timeline is not about controlling every minute. It is about creating enough structure that you stop thinking about the clock and actually experience your wedding day.