Toronto Weddings: How To Plan The Perfect Timeline
The key to a perfect wedding is to be organized and prepared as much as possible. Timing is everything, so creating the perfect wedding timeline is essential for things to run smoothly. Toronto weddings will be different for each season — and of course, each wedding timeline will be unique — but as long as it’s followed, everything will run smoothly and you’ll have a stress-free and memorable day!
Check out these tips on how to organize your flawless wedding planning timeline.
The Prep
Choosing A Hotel Location
When your Toronto wedding planning kicks off, our first tip is to pick a hotel you like the look of but also consider how you want your photos to look. Lots of natural lighting and somewhere aesthetically pleasing will give you the best visuals.
Having a hotel close to the venue is a great way to have a stress-free day. The less time you have to spend traveling, the more time there is to enjoy!
Choosing The Ceremony Location And Time
Lighting is key to capturing the best photos and there’s an optimal time to take those beautiful shots! For example, on a winter wedding timeline, it's common to have the ceremony around 12-2pm but on a summer wedding timeline and fall wedding timeline you’re more likely to have your ceremony around 2-4 pm.
2. Planning The Day
Getting Ready
Getting-ready photos usually take 30-60 minutes for grooms and around 1.5 hours for brides. Hair and makeup takes about 1 hour and slightly less for the bridal party — and we’ll arrive while the bride’s makeup and hair is being finished!
By the time the bride is ready, any bridal suite VIPs and bridesmaids should be dressed and prepared. This way, everyone can be in the background of the bride’s getting-ready photos. Make sure to have fun, pop some music on, and have a glass of bubbly. Just remember to keep things relaxed and exciting!
First Look vs No First Look
We highly recommend doing a first look, which usually takes about 30 minutes! First looks offer the perfect opportunity for the two of you to steal some time together before the excitement of the day — and it’s a great opportunity to capture beautiful, poignant photos. We can even split your first-look portraits before and after the ceremony, so you can actually enjoy your cocktail hour!
However, many couples still like to keep things traditional and see each other for the first time at the ceremony. This way means we won’t need as much time for photos during the morning, and couples often tend to feel more relaxed after the ceremony. Either way, they’re both great decisions!
Ceremony
Have a spare 30-minute window before your ceremony to freshen up or do anything else you need to without rushing or feeling stressed. Usually, the optimal time for ceremonies is anything from 3 pm to 4:30 pm, especially on a spring wedding timeline. Together the ceremony will take up to 1.5 hours.
Family Photos
After the ceremony, your officiant could make an announcement for the family to stick around for group photos (the best spot for family photos is near the ceremony location) — this usually takes 30-60 minutes. Make sure to designate someone from each side to organize members for the photos!
Having a detailed shot list for us with people's names on it ensures that we get the exact pictures you want without missing anyone out. For example: photos with parents, with parents and siblings, with siblings only, with grandparents, with the entire family, etc.
Wedding Party Photos
This is the time to take some pictures with your wedding party which takes around 30 minutes. Don’t be afraid to have fun with it — add different props to make it exciting and a bit different! Example shot lists include: photos of the full wedding party, the groom and groomsmen, the bride and bridesmaids, the bride with each bridesmaid, bride with groomsmen, and groom with bridesmaids.
Cocktail Hour
During cocktail hour, we’ll be taking photos of you and your party, but we highly recommend that each couple join their guests to mingle and enjoy the food and drinks. This is your wedding after all and you should enjoy every single minute of it! Cocktail hour can last 1-2 hours.
Reception
We normally photograph the first 3-5 hours of your reception and we’ve learned a lot from photographing so many weddings! Here are a few things we recommend you do:
Have your first dance after the entrance or before the cake-cutting — both options are great.
Serve your vendors first, when the bride and groom are also eating. This way, they’re ready to go when things start to happen!
Have your speeches near the end of your course (no one wants to hear the noise of cutlery clanging). Plus, there aren’t as many opportunities to have candid photos when people are chewing their food!
Set aside some time in your wedding itinerary to take sunset photos — it only takes about 15 minutes and it’s absolutely worth it.
Get people on the dance floor by taking a group picture there! Then, ask the DJ to kick things off — this way, the party gets going pretty fast. We’ll need about 30 minutes to capture those epic moves on the dance floor!