How to Plan a Relaxed Wedding Timeline in Sioux Falls
You probably don’t want to spend your wedding day checking the time. You want to finish a conversation, hug someone you haven’t seen in years, and sit down long enough to eat the food you picked out.
A thoughtful timeline helps make room for all of that. As wedding photographers based in Sioux Falls, we care about how your day feels while we’re photographing it. Here’s how we’d approach a wedding timeline with room to enjoy being there.
Start with the parts you care about most
Before filling in every hour, talk about what you’re most excited to experience. Maybe it’s a quiet morning together, seeing each other at the ceremony, or spending as much of cocktail hour with your guests as possible.
Write down your top 3 priorities. Then put your fixed commitments, like the ceremony and dinner, on the schedule and build around them. Share those priorities with your photographer so the plan reflects what matters to you.
Decide when you want to see each other
A first look can give you time together before the ceremony and make room for some portraits earlier in the day. If joining your guests right after the ceremony matters to you, it’s worth considering.
If you want to see each other for the first time at the aisle, plan your couple portraits and any group photos that need both of you afterward. Make sure your caterer and reception team know when you expect to join everyone.
Either choice can work. The important part is giving your choice enough time.
Give family photos a clear plan
Make a list of the groupings you want, using people’s names. Send it to your photographer beforehand, along with any relationships or accessibility needs they should be aware of.
Tell everyone on the list exactly where and when they’re needed. It also helps to choose someone who knows the family and can gather the next group while your photographer works.
Ask your photographer how much time your actual list needs. A handful of immediate family combinations takes a different amount of time than photos with several extended families.
Count the whole trip between locations
For a Sioux Falls wedding with separate getting ready, ceremony, and reception locations, travel deserves its own space in the schedule.
A 15 minute drive also means gathering your things, getting everyone into vehicles, parking, and walking inside. If you’re adding a portrait stop, count that trip too.
As a starting point, consider an extra 10 to 15 minutes around major transitions, then adjust with your vendors. That breathing room gives you space for a bathroom break, a missing bouquet, or one more hug before leaving.
Make portraits part of the day
Talk with your photographer about a portrait plan that fits your priorities. That might mean a longer stretch together before the ceremony or a shorter session followed by a few evening photos.
If you want sunset portraits, have your photographer check the light for your wedding date and location before you set the time. Trees, buildings, and the season all affect the plan.
At Paige + David’s wedding, the ceremony at Tuthill Formal Gardens was followed by portraits at David’s family’s community clubhouse, including time in a canoe. Their celebration continued with swimming and pizza. Their plans gave them room to enjoy something personal to them, and that belongs in a wedding timeline just as much as any tradition.
Leave a little time unassigned
You don’t have to give every minute a job. Protect a pocket of time to eat together, join your guests, or take a breath after the ceremony.
Before you finalize the schedule, read it through and ask: When do we get to enjoy the things we’re planning? If the answer is hard to find, give yourselves more room.
We’re Corbyn + Morgan, a husband and wife wedding photography team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We photograph the people, feelings, and unexpected moments that make a wedding yours. If that sounds like what you’re looking for, explore our wedding photography experience and tell us what you’re planning.
