How to Plan the Wedding Day Timeline

As wedding photographers, one of the most important part of our job is to assist our couples to come up with the best tentative timeline for their wedding day. And when we say “tentative” because if you’re getting married in Punta Cana, we know that weather is an important factor to consider. Breaking down your entire wedding day into an organized timeline helps you to keep everything on track when the big day finally arrives.

During our booking process, we’ll have two meetings -a virtual and a presencial- to meet you and talk about your wedding celebration. We’ll be all ears about your concerns and doubts and considering our experience shooting here for more than 13 years, we have plenty experience.

We also know that every wedding is a unique and personal experience, but let us suggest to you our ‘ideal’ timeline for your wedding day considering sunset time for your particular day and available daylight for your pictures.

If your wedding is happening between April and August, it is summer time. So, the perfect hour to set your wedding ceremony is 4.00pm and it would not be too hot. But for the rest of the year, 3.00pm is a good time, specially during November – February when the sun goes down around 6.00pm.

We usually start our photo and/or video services two hours earlier than your ceremony, this gives us plenty time to do your get ready pictures. We highly recommend you to have two photographers for this coverage, one will stay with you and the other one will be with your fiancé, both photographers will get detail shots of the dress, rings, invitation and by that time, the bride’s hair and makeup is complete. So, make sure that your reservation at the spa was accordingly with the time that your photographers arrive.

During this two hours, the photographer capture some intimate moments of your maid of honor and maybe bridesmaids too, helping you zip up your dress and slip on your shoes. Then the photographer can get some beautiful bridal portraits, casual and fun pictures between the bride and her friends. Don’t miss the toasting with the champagne and have some props.

In case you and your fiancé decide to have a first look, it would be an ideal window of time for your photographer(s) to capture some portraits of just the two of you. If you have a big bridal party, we recommend you to do your couple session before your ceremony, so after that you only have to do your family & friends pictures.

Depending on the type of wedding ceremony you will have, it could take between 15 to 60 minutes. Typically, symbolic or civil ceremonies last around 20 minutes, while religious-based ceremonies can last up to an hour.

Right after your ceremony, it is time for group pictures. At this point and considering it can be quite hard for your guests to stand in the sun, we highly recommend to write a list with all the possible combinations, so you don’t miss any shoot!.

When you are done with the group shots, invite guests to go to the cocktail hour, while the two of you escape for some post-ceremony photos with the photographer. Set aside time in your wedding itinerary to take additional portraits together during the 30 (or so) minutes leading up to sunset, which offers opportunities for some incredible natural lighting. Take note that the actual time of sunset varies widely, depending on where and what time of year you’re getting married in. For that reason, we always check on Timeanddate.com – we find that it’s always completely accurate.