What a Wedding Day Looks Like with Soul Focus Media | Pennsylvania Wedding Photographer | Pennsylvania Wedding Videographer
We know that not every wedding is the same, which is why we offer a variety of wedding photography & videography collections. Our most popular collection that couples book is a combination of photo & video services called The Joyful Collection. In this collection we include full day coverage by us (Tracey & Brandon), a second photographer, and a second videographer (a team of 4). Full day coverage can be anywhere from 10 to 12 hours.
We help our each of our couples customize their wedding day timeline so that it’s easier for their entire vendor team to stay on track the day of. Take a look at the outline below to see how a wedding day with us looks.
1. We like to start our coverage at the tail-end of the bride’s hair and make-up getting done. This can be anywhere from 8-10:00 in the morning; it all depends on what time your ceremony starts. We use this time as the base and work backwards when creating the day-of schedule. We’ll spend about a half hour capturing this.
2. After we capture the bride getting her hair and make-up done, we photograph/film the details. This is all three of your rings & accessories, your dress, your flowers, your invitation suite, your shoes, your perfume, etc.). We’ll spend about a half hour to 45 minutes capturing the details.
3. Next, we’ll go back to capturing the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready. Hair & make-up should finish around this time, and we’ll have the mother of the bride and the bridesmaids get dressed 15 minutes before the bride gets dressed. We’ll spend about an hour capturing this.
4. Finally, the bride gets dressed! We’ll capture the mother of the bride zipping/buttoning up the bride’s dress and bridal portraits. We’ll spend about a half hour capturing this.
While we are working with the bride and her bridesmaids in the morning, our second shooters are working with the groom and his groomsmen while they get ready. Typically we’ll have our second shooters follow the same timeline above.
5. If a couple decides to share a first look (where they will see each other before their ceremony; check out our previous blog post on first looks here), this will be the next moment to capture. We’ll spend about 45 minutes capturing the first look as well as bride & groom portraits.
6. The next set of portraits will be the entire wedding party (bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers, etc.) all together and then the bride & bridesmaids and groom & groomsmen separately. We’ll spend about an hour capturing this.
7. Next up will be for us to capture the immediate family portraits. If all of your family members are present, we will spend about a half hour capturing this before the ceremony.
8. Now you can relax for a half hour! Most of your guests will have arrived by this time, so we’ll make sure the bride & groom are tucked away until it’s time to say I do! During this time we will be capturing the ceremony details and guests as they arrive.
9. It’s time for the ceremony! This can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour long.
10. Since we completed all of your portraits before the ceremony, you are now free to join your guests during Cocktail Hour. During this time we will be capturing candids, setting up lighting in the reception area and capturing your reception details.
If your ceremony takes place at a location that is different from where your reception will take place, then we will need to add travel time in the timeline.
11. After Cocktail Hour is over, it’s time for your grand entrance! We’ll spend about 10 minutes capturing this.
12. Following your entrance will be your first dance as husband & wife. We’ll spend about 5-10 minutes capturing this. (Sometimes our couples do a choreographed dance, so it may take a little bit longer.)
13. You can either continue with your parent dances or head into the welcome toasts (usually given by the father of the bride and/or groom) and toasts by the Maid/Matron of Honor and the Best Man. We’ll spend about 15-30 minutes capturing this.
14. It’s dinnertime! During this hour, we will eat along with you and your guests and will not be taking any photos or doing any filming at this time.
15. If you haven’t yet done your parent dances, directly after dinner is another option for doing them. We’ll spend about 10 minutes capturing this.
16. Let the party start! Now we’ll spend the rest of the night capturing fun candid shots. We’ll spend about an hour to 2.5 hours capturing this.
17. If your reception runs through the time of the sun setting, we’ll bring the bride & groom outside for about 5 minutes during the lovely golden hour.
18. After we come back inside, we’ll capture the cake cutting. We’ll spend less than 5 minutes capturing this.
19. Along with your reception ending, so does our coverage! However, if you are planning on a special send-off (sparkler exit, fireworks, etc.), then we’ll spend about 10-15 minutes capturing this.
We like to add in what we refer to as “cushion time” when creating the wedding day timeline. If we allot an hour of time for getting ready, but we only use a half an hour and hair & make-up ends up running behind, then we have an extra half hour of cushion time to keep us on track.
We are now booking weddings for 2022, so if you’re planning to get married any time next year, we’d love to see if we’d be a great fit for you! Getting to know our couples personally is something we’re extremely passionate about. We’d love for you to browse our website, email us at hello@soulfocusmedia.com, or give us a call at 717-422-6857. We can’t wait to chat with you!
