How Do You Get Your Wedding Shoot Schedule

I was wondering how you go about getting the shoot schedule for the wedding day?

1) Do you just ask them for something?
2) Do you email them something to fill in with times etc?
3) Do you have them do it on your website?
4) Do you include a time sheet with the contract to fill in?

etc

Cheers

1) We ask them for adequate time to get the job done.
2) We send brides to a guide on our site that helps form a timeline.
3) We don't have them do anything, but ask them to read over the guide. It takes 5 minutes. It sets expectations.
4) The contract signing is too early for this to happen. I would suggest having a phone call with them a month in advance to help finalize a timeline.

Part of my work at the contract signing meeting is getting the couple to start thinking about the timeline for the day. Generally they'll know when the ceremony starts and when the dinner starts (sometimes that's flexible) but other than that things are fairly open for discussion.

I discuss the day with them, determine what their expectations are and considering the logistics (how many group photos roughly, how much travel we're doing between venues) give them rough estimates of how much time should be scheduled for each portion of the photography for the day. E.g., I might suggest 1 hour for getting ready photos at the house, 30 minutes for formal group photos etc. I also find it important to emphasize that traveling between venues and even between zones at a given venue should be considered and that a little extra buffer time should be included if possible.

About a week out from the wedding, I will ask to see if they have a slightly more firm schedule for the day--half of the time they do. If I feel like we're not quite clear on the schedule, I'll send a mock-up and get their feedback about it.