The best photos happen when nobody’s watching the clock. Here’s how to plan a day with enough slack for that.
Start with your ceremony and dinner times, add the journeys between them, then build the rest of the day around what you care about most. After more than 1,000 weddings, we’ve noticed that the days that feel easiest have one thing in common: a plan with some slack in it. Here’s how we’d approach a wedding day timeline in Ireland, with an example schedule further down.
“They also helped us relax (and laugh) in front of the lens so the pictures reflect our real dynamic.”
— Kwynn · Google review
Fix the times you can’t easily move
Confirm your ceremony time with whoever is conducting it, and your dinner call with the venue. Add the journeys between your preparations, ceremony and reception. Those are your anchors. Then tell us what you’re most looking forward to: the drinks reception with your friends, a quiet half hour together, or the whole family in one place. We’ll build the photography and film plan around that.
Set a ready-by time for the morning
Being finished with hair and make-up and being ready to leave are two different things. You still need to get dressed, find the earrings, help someone with a buttonhole and say hello to whoever arrives at the door. Agree a ready-by time with your hair and make-up team that allows for all of that, and make sure anyone in the morning photographs is ready too. If your mum is helping with your dress, she needs to be dressed first.
Leave time to eat and sit down for five minutes. Our coverage starts two hours before the ceremony, but your hair and make-up may need to start well before that.
Allow for the real journey
A twenty-minute drive rarely means you’ll be walking down the aisle twenty minutes after leaving. Allow for gathering everyone, getting into cars, parking, walking to the entrance and the inevitable trip back inside for something forgotten. If you’re moving between locations, send us the addresses and transport plan, and we’ll work out where the photographer and videographer need to be.
Decide early on a first look
We often suggest seeing each other before the ceremony. With the right planning, your couple photographs, and your family photographs if everyone is there in time, can all be done before the ceremony. It’s very practical, and it frees up your entire afternoon for celebrating. It does move the morning earlier, so decide before you lock in hair and make-up times. If seeing each other at the aisle is what you’ve always pictured, we’ll plan around that instead. Our first look or aisle reveal guide goes through both options.
Keep family photos short, then get back to the party
Agree the family groups that matter most before the day, and pick one person who knows everyone to round them up. Tell us about any sensitive family circumstances privately beforehand, so nobody has to explain anything in front of a crowd. We’d much rather have you in the photographs than wandering around looking for an uncle.
Protect your time with guests
You’ve brought your favourite people together, so make sure you actually get to see them. With a first look, your photographs can be finished before the ceremony and the afternoon is yours. If you’re seeing each other at the aisle, 15 minutes of family photographs straight after the ceremony and 15 minutes for the two of you is plenty for most weddings. Either way, we might suggest a short wander later if the evening light is good. Our Jolene & Sean wedding story at Boyne Hill House shows the mix we look for: the two of you, the people around you and everything happening in between.
Keep speeches short
Short speeches are much, much better than long, drawn-out ones. A few good stories and something heartfelt will stay with people longer than a full list of thank-yous. Ask speakers to rehearse out loud, and agree the running order with the venue. If you want the speeches filmed, let us know when they’re happening: with dinner-call coverage, speeches are only included if they happen before dinner. First-dance coverage includes them either way.
Check the light for your month
In Ireland, daylight changes the plan more than almost anything else. In June it stays bright until around 10pm, so there’s plenty of time for a short wander in the evening. In December it’s dark soon after 3:30pm, particularly in the East of the country, so couple photographs need to happen before the ceremony or straight after it. If you’re getting married between November and February, mention it early and we’ll plan around the light.
Leave the weather to us
We’ve seen it all before. Talk to us instead of refreshing a forecast app all morning. We’ll work with you and the venue on the options: shelter, indoor light, or picking the right moment to step outside.
An example wedding day timeline
Here’s how a day with a 2pm ceremony might run when you’re getting ready and getting married at the same venue, and seeing each other at the aisle. With a first look, the 3pm photographs move to before the ceremony and you’re with your guests from the moment it ends. It’s only an example. We’ll set your actual times around your ceremony, venue and plans.
12pm: photography and film coverage starts with the last of the preparations
1:30pm: ready-by time, dressed and with a few minutes to spare
2pm: ceremony
2:45pm: congratulations and the drinks reception
3pm: 15 minutes of family photographs, then 15 minutes for the two of you
3:30pm: back with your guests for the rest of the reception
4:30pm: Wedding party portraits
5:30pm: dinner call, with speeches before or after the meal
9:30pm: first dance, with coverage finishing a couple of songs later
Hand the practical questions to someone else
Share the running order and supplier contacts with your venue coordinator and one person you trust. Let them handle directions, arrivals and small decisions. Your phone can have a quiet day.
If you’ve booked with us, your questionnaire arrives six weeks before the wedding. Once it’s done, book a call with one of the team who’ll be at your wedding and we’ll go through the plan in detail.
Wedding day timeline checklist
Confirm ceremony and dinner times, locations and travel
Agree a ready-by time with hair and make-up that leaves time to get dressed
Decide whether you want a first look
Choose your key family groups and someone to gather them
Check what the light will be like in your month
Keep speeches short and tell the venue and film team when they’re on
Hand the running order to someone you trust
Leave room for the moments you can hear.
Katie and Fran’s Dublin wedding brings together a quiet first look, city streets and a pub full of their people. Watch the trailer for a feel for how those parts of the day fit together.
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