Here’s how much time you’ll need for getting ready photos the morning of your wedding day

Want to know how I approach getting ready & morning of the wedding for the gals, along with how much time I recommend allowing for each of these special moments? Read below to learn my thought process and approach.

While this post uses language in reference to brides, people getting hair & makeup done and those wearing dresses, it can be used as a reference for anyone’s wedding morning photos, regardless of gender, identity & choice of attire.

START HERE before diving into the nitty gritty of “how long” moments take. Answer these questions before reading anything else below. Write down the answers to refer back to as you read the rest of this blog post and plan out the timeline of your morning. This will help you remain focused on your priorities and vision for the day and allow yourself intentional time to be present the morning of your wedding.

• When you think about the morning of your wedding, what comes to mind?

• How do you want to spend that time?

• Who do you want to spend the morning with?

• How do you want to feel throughout the morning?

• How do you want to feel when you leave to go see your soon-to-be spouse for the first time?

These are all important questions to ask before planning out the timeline of your morning.

Most importantly: The information below is meant as a guideline, and by no means is it meant as a rule or intended to be followed down to the minute. Every person is different and every wedding morning is different. Incorporate the moments that feel most authentic to you and exclude the moments that don’t represent you or wouldn’t add something meaningful to your wedding morning.

(A very close) 2nd most importantly: It’s my professional opinion as a wedding photographer that it’s never a bad idea to add extra buffer time to your wedding morning. Think about it this way: the morning of your wedding can set the tone for the rest of the day, or at least the moments that immediately follow it. If you’re having your first look with your soon-to-be spouse first thing after you leave your getting ready location, do you want to arrive feeling stressed, rushed and possibly annoyed? I doubt it. You want to arrive feeling full-hearted and at ease, with maybe a few natural wedding day jitters. Allow yourself the extra 10 minutes here and there, even if it ends up being used to sit and yap some more with your girls, I promise it’s worth it.

Just tell me how much time I need! Here’s the TLDR:

• If you incorporate all of the items listed below, the least amount of time to factor in for your photographer being present while you’re getting ready is an hour and 20 minutes.

• If you incorporate all of the items listed below, the most amount of time to factor in for your photographer being present while you’re getting ready is 4 hours and 20 minutes.

That’s a huge difference! I’ve never experienced a wedding morning that incorporated all of these items and ended up requiring more than 2.5 hours of photo coverage, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll need the full four hours of photo coverage dedicated to your wedding morning. Unless of course having the morning’s full itinerary photographed at a relaxed pace is a priority for you! Then I’m here for it.

To understand how there can be such a large range of time requirements to photograph the moments of your wedding morning, read the description for each item to get a better idea of how long it could reasonably take for you and your group.

You won’t be able to control exactly how long each moment will take, nor should you try to! Talk with your photographer, as well as your planner/coordinator and hair & makeup team, ahead of time about your vision for your wedding morning and the mood, vibes & moments you hope to have present throughout, and they can give their thoughts on how to approach the timing of everything.

• Flatlay - 5-30 minutes

  Not sure what a flatlay is? Check out my blog post about it, found on the Resources page. This depends on a few factors. 1) The importance of the flatlay to you. If you don’t care about it at all, you can skip it entirely. Or maybe you want one simple shot and then have your photographer move on to photographing the action. You may adore flatlay photos and have been visualizing yours for months, so you want your photographer to spend time getting creative with your items. 2) The number of items you want featured in your flatlay. There are so many possible items to include in a flatlay. While there is no right or wrong number or combination of items, the more items included means the longer it will take to set the arrangement and photograph it. 3) The organization of your items upon your photographer’s arrival. I recommend having all of these items together in a box or a bag that you or a VIP getting ready with you can direct your photographer to as soon as they arrive and are ready to start taking photos.

• Dress details - 5-15 minutes

  These are shots of your dress on a hanger before you put it on. This also depends on a few factors. 1) How obvious of a space there is for your dress to hang. If there isn’t an obvious or intended spot for the dress, your photographer may have to explore the space and try a couple of spots to see what works best with the backdrop and lighting. If there are multiple great contenders for where to hang the dress and your photographer has time to spare, they may try out both spots. 2) The cleanliness of the space. If the ideal space for the dress photos is cluttered when it’s time to take the dress photos, time will need to be taken to clear the space of clutter and possibly furniture before taking the photos. You may not be able to control the cleanliness of the space ahead of time, particularly if you do not know where your photographer will take these photos, however, if it is possible to keep the room or at least a portion of the room where you are getting ready cleared, this can help eliminate the amount of time spent by your photographer clearing the space later on.

• Candids (pre getting dressed) - 15-30 minutes

  This can include photos of you & your VIPs having your hair and makeup done, as well as you all hanging out enjoying each other’s company in the space. This depends on the number of people getting ready with you, as well as the amount of remaining hair & makeup work remains to be completed upon your photographer’s arrival.

• Posed robe/PJ photos - 5-15 minutes

  Lots of wedding parties pick out custom or matching robes or pajamas for everyone to wear during the morning while they’re getting ready together. If you’d like posed photos in these outfits in addition to candids, it can take 5-15 minutes. This depends on: 1) the number of people in the photos, 2) the number of combinations of who is in the photos, 3) if there are any props you’d like to add to the photos, and 4) the number of locations you want for the photos.

• Mini boudoir session - 10-30 minutes

  This is optional! If you want to add on a mini boudoir session the morning of your wedding after you’re all glammed up and feeling your best before you get into your dress, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. This depends on the number of outfits you want to wear and your priority of spending time on these photos before getting dressed.

• Time getting dressed (no photos) - 10-30 minutes

  While there are no photos taken of you while you’re getting into your dress, it’s an important part of the morning to account for in the timeline with buffer time allotted. Some wedding dresses are very simple and easy to put on, while others can be very complex with dozens of buttons, fits that require skillful fashion taping or tricky veil + hairstyle combinations required careful placing. From my experience, allow yourself more time than you think you’ll actually need to get dressed. If you end up not taking as long as you allowed for, you can keep that extra time to just chill and breath alone or with your (V)VIP(s) for a moment before resuming being photographed and rejoining the group.

  This is the same amount of time I’d allot for your wedding party and VIPs to get dressed themselves. It can be quicker if they all have their outfits and can get dressed in the room where everyone is getting ready, and it can take long if everyone has to return to their own rooms throughout a hotel to change and then return to the common space.

• Fully dressed, pre-group reveal candids - 5-15 minutes

  Think of these photos as the “finishing touches” photos once you’re in your dress. I’ll wait outside your door for the all clear once you’re in your dress, then I can come in and photograph you and whoever else may be helping you get into your dress as you put on any of your final pieces, such as jewelry, shoes and veil. If you want to “pretend” or recreate any such photos, we can do so, however, I always encourage and prefer to let these happen naturally, so just call me in before these steps happen so you don’t feel like you and your VIPs are putting on a performance for the camera.

  Important! There’s no need to rush through this moment. I’m sure you and whoever is helping you get ready, whether family or friend, has been dreaming of this exact moment for literal decades. Slow down. Soak it in. Enjoy each other’s company.

  We can also take posed photos with whoever is helping you during this time as well.

• Solo portraits - 5-20 minutes

  It’s very common and highly likely you’ll think you’ve never looked or felt better than you will on your wedding day once you’re in your dress. Let’s document that moment! The length of these photos depends on the number of backdrops and locations available to us in your getting ready space.

  We’ll still get solo posed portraits of you later on during the day at your designated portrait locations too!

• Opening letter(s)/gift(s) - 5-15 minutes

  Maybe you exchanged letters with your soon-to-be spouse to read before seeing each other, or maybe your parents gifted you a special present to open with them privately the morning of your wedding. Allow intentional time for these special moments that you’ll all remember for years to come.

• First look / dress reveal with family members & wedding party - 5-15 minutes (each)

  Allow 5-15 minutes for each first look/dress reveal, i.e. 5-15 minutes for a first look with dad, then another 5-15 minutes for a first look with bridesmaids. If the other people are not ready on time or not everyone is ready at the same time, we’ll need to wait for them before starting, so this would factor in to any buffer time as well. Additionally, if we’ll need to go to a different location for these reveals, that time will need to be factored into it as well.

  I have found that bridesmaid reveals can take some of the most time if everyone goes off to their own rooms to get dressed and has to return to the shared space for the reveal. Ensure they all know what time they need to return; I recommend telling them to return sooner than they actually need to to get ahead of any delays 🙂

  Important! There’s no need to rush through this moment. I’m sure you and whoever is seeing you in your dress for the first time, whether family or friend, has been dreaming of this exact moment for literal decades. Slow down. Soak it in. Enjoy each other’s company.

• Departing the getting ready space/location - 10-30 minutes

  I have found one of the most commonly stressful times of the morning is leaving the space to go to the next location.

  If your ability to leave is dependent on everyone else’s readiness to leave, multiply the amount of time it takes to be ready to and any stress associated with it by the number of people in your entourage. Now, that’s not to say having more people getting ready with you is a bad thing, not at all. I’m saying be proactive and use the most organized people in the group to help everyone stay on track with getting ready, cleaning up their space and organizing their items to be able to move on to the rest of the fun of the day.

  The following tasks should be done sooner than 5 minutes before it’s time to leave: bathroom breaks, makeup touchups, organizing/cleaning up the space (if required), dropping off items in hotel rooms, etc.

  Next you’ll need to factor in the time it will take to leave the room/suite and get to the transportation. i.e. As a Chicago wedding photographer, something I’ve seen before - If you’re getting ready in an old high rise hotel in downtown Chicago with limited or small elevators and a big group, consider how long it could take for everyone to actually get downstairs. Compare this to if there are 3 of you total and all it takes for you to leave is carrying three bags and three bouquets out of your ground level AirBnb to your car directly out on the street, it could take just 5 minutes.

There are also other factors not listed here that may fall outside of your or your photographer’s control when it comes to the timing of your morning:

• Timing of hair & makeup completion. The completion of hair & makeup falling behind schedule can happen, whether that is due to late arrivals by your wedding party & VIPs, complex looks, redoing or changing looks, late arrivals by your hair & makeup team, and the amount of requested or required touchups (and probably others I’m not thinking of that hair & makeup artists can speak to!). It’s very important that you tell your wedding party and anyone else having their hair & makeup done by your hired hair & makeup team to show up early for their time slot. One person sleeping in and arriving late to their time slot can cause the entire morning to fall behind. Whenever there is a delay in the completion of hair & makeup, I photograph everything I can on our list that does not require the person or people who are still not yet fully glammed. However, there are some things that cannot happen or be photographed until everyone is finished with hair & makeup. i.e. full wedding party photos (in robes/PJs or wedding party reveal) cannot happen until everyone is finished with hair & makeup.

• Arrival of your florals. If you arranged with your florist to have your florals delivered to your getting ready location, delays in the arrival of the florals can cause delays in the getting ready timeline. Most of the getting ready photos can be completed without florals, however, if flatlays are super important to you and you want your florals (via loose blooms) incorporated in your flatlay, we’ll need to wait for your florals before completing the flatlay photos. I’ve rarely experienced delays in floral deliveries, and your planner or coordinator will be in contact with your florist before and on your wedding day to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Mentioning these possibilities is not meant to stress you out! It’s to acknowledge that things out of your control can cause delays and minor hiccups to the flow of your morning, and some simple, clear & proactive communication, whether by you, your planner/coordinator, your maid of honor or another organized VIP, can help mitigate these potential delays.

Have specific questions about how to apply this advice to your day? Don’t hesitate to reach out for more personalized advice.