Many couples don’t know where to begin when trying to plan their timeline for their wedding day. Here are some of our suggestions for having a good flow to your day…

Bridal Prep – Allow more time than you think you’re going to need. Brides are rarely ready to go on time. The men generally only need about 30-45 minutes to get ready & have their pictures taken, so we suggest having their prep begin later that the women’s.

First Look – Most first looks take about 10 minutes, but don’t forget to build in time to get to the location where you’re going to have your first look.

Bride/Groom Session – This typically takes at least 30 minutes, depending on whether you will have another bride & groom session at sunset.

Wedding Party Session – Plan on about 15 minutes, but there tends to be at least one member who is always running late, so make it very clear what time you expect them to be ready and where they should meet up.

Family Photo Session – It’s best to have a list of combinations of people you want photos with beforehand and have at least one person available to round them up for photos.

Pre-Ceremony – We suggest that you leave a 30 minute buffer before your ceremony just in case things are running late. If everything is on time, then just enjoy the last moments of calm you’ll have for the rest of the day! At this point, we will head to your ceremony site to get some shots of your decor before guests arrive & to set up our cameras and audio recorders.

Ceremony – Other than Catholic mass, most ceremonies in Central Oregon tend to last about 20 minutes. If you are having a friend or family member officiate your wedding, please ask us for our list of tips for people who haven’t officiated many (or any) weddings before.

Post Ceremony – PLEASE take 5 minutes from all guests, vendors, etc. to just soak in that you’re now married. Once you’re done walking down the aisle, continue right on to a private location so you won’t get caught up with well-wishers. They’ll have the rest of the day for that. If you didn’t do a first look, you’ll want to take your family & wedding party photos afterwards, so have someone begin rounding up family & friends that you will want your photographers to take pictures of with you while the two of you have your private moment together. We generally don’t film the family photo session since video of people standing in place & smiling just isn’t all that captivating…that’s more of a photo moment. We’ll use this time to film your guests at your cocktail hour and get shots of your reception site. Also, don’t forget to let your witnesses know when you’ll be signing your marriage license so you don’t have to try to track them down later. If you didn’t do a first look, most couples do that after family photos while their guests mingle at the cocktail hour.

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TRANSCRIPTION: This is Stephanie from Ace of Hearts Films, and I’m here with Insider tips on how to have great toasts at your reception. We’ve all been to one of those weddings where the toasts go on and on as guests pass the microphone around. Having an open mic session for your toasts can not only be lengthy but also risky, because you never know who’s going to grab the mic. Toast are more meaningful when limited to 4 or 5 friends or family members and last no more than 15 minutes total. Be sure to let them know before your wedding day, so they can think about what they want to say ahead of time. And ask them to limit their speech to “X” number of minutes, especially if they tend to ramble. If anyone is likely to bring up stories that you’d rather not have Grandma hear, it’s perfectly reasonable to set boundaries. A great way to end the toasts is for the two of you to thank your guests for all attending. With a little pre-planning your toasts are sure to run smoothly with these Bridal Insider tips.

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Here’s the part 2 of the Bridal Insider video that we made about how to protect yourself when signing wedding contracts.

TRANSCRIPTION:
So, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to sign a contract without reading the fine print. We learned this the hard way when 2 weeks before our wedding our photographer told us he was going to send his assistant instead of shooting it himself. It was completely legal for him to do that because the small print (that we obviously didn’t read) allowed him to send another photographer in his place. Your contract should also list the vendor’s cancellation policy & if any money will be returned if your wedding gets cancelled. Whoever signs the contract is liable, so if someone else is paying for it, They should be the one to sign the contract. Also, be sure that it lists overtime rates in case your wedding runs late. You don’t want to be surprised with a huge bill afterwards. There’s more you need to know about vendor contracts, so be sure to watch my other videos for more bridal insider tips.

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

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Hey everyone, this is Stephanie from Ace of Hearts Films, and I’m here with an insider tip on how to protect yourself when signing wedding contracts. First off, you need to get everything in writing on your contract. It should spell out exactly what will be provided & the more specific, the better. So for a photography contract, you want the contract to not only say how many hours they’ll be at your wedding, but specifics like how many pages will be in your photo album. You’ll want to send the contract & deposit to your vendors promptly. Even if you’ve told them everything about your wedding & which package you’d like, your date isn’t officially reserved until they get your contract & deposit. Be sure to ask your vendors to confirm when they receive them just to be safe. You’d hate to assume that your DJ got your contract, only to find out months later that he never got it, so then you’re left scrambling to find another DJ at the last minute. You just don’t need that kind of stress. Well, there’s a lot more to tell you about vendor contracts, so be sure to watch my other videos for more bridal insider tips.

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