Planning Your Wedding Day Timeline
If you listen to NOTHING else, please pay attention to what I'm about to say in this post. Having a clear, concise wedding day timeline that incorporates everyone involved is KEY to a successful, fun wedding day (you'll also need a day-of coordinator, but we've already discussed that).
Before you write your timeline, you need to establish four key questions:
Are we having a first look? Yes or no? (This will influence how your photos are scheduled/timed)
What time is our ceremony?
What time is our cocktail hour?
What time is our reception? What time does the reception end and guests need to leave our venue?
I'll tell you how I answered those four questions, but before that, you need to know that you're responsible for knowing the following information:
How much time will your vendors serve you? What's in the contract? How many hours will your photographer and videographer be there?
How soon before dinner will your caterer / bartender arrive?
What time does your venue open? What time do your guests need to leave the venue? What time do all vendors and everyone need to leave the venue?
Now, let's dive into the timeline planning! Logan and I decided the four following answers to the questions I gave above (and these decisions were the framework for my timeline):
Yes, we wanted a first look. (This allowed us to schedule our photos entirely before the ceremony. If you aren't doing a first look, you will need to do most/all of them during cocktail hour.)
Our ceremony started at 5pm
Our cocktail hour was from like 5:45-6:45pm
Our reception was from 6:45pm-11pm
Your timeline should have a few main sections that outline/dictate your day (and write the actual times next to these categories, I'm gonna give you what my timeline looked like):
Wedding Morning + Getting Ready (8:30am-12:30pm)
First Look + Photos (1:00pm-4:15pm)
Ceremony (5:00-5:45pm)
Cocktail Hour (5:45-6:45pm)
Reception (6:45-11:00pm)
Now, let's write your wedding day timeline! I'm going to give you tons of questions to consider and helpful hints, so this is one to take notes on!
All images in this post are by Tyrie Mehaffey Photography and may not be shared or reproduced without permission.
Wedding Morning + Getting Ready
First things first: what time does your venue / getting ready location open? Some of you may get ready in a hotel, while others are getting ready at your venue. If you are getting ready at your venue, note the time it opens.
Next, how long does your hair + makeup artist need to complete your look? (You need to have a hair + makeup trial before your day, which should give you a good idea of timing).
Think about your bridal party - how long do your bridesmaids and groomsmen need to get ready? I gave ours about 4 hours to get ready, hang out, and eat their lunch. They told me it was the PERFECT amount of time (our photographer recommended 3-4 hours for getting ready, as any less feels really stressed and rushed).
Your flowers should arrive about an hour to an hour and a half before you put your dress on, so pencil that in! What time will you get your dress on? What time will the flowers get there?
Consider your photographer and videographer contracts- What time will your photographer(s) arrive? What time will your videographer arrive?
With that in mind...here's what our wedding morning looked like:
8:00am - Venue opens
8:30am - Leah arrives for final prep/setup
9:00am - Hair + makeup arrives
10:30am - Bridesmaids, groomsmen + Logan arrive
10:45am - Florist + flowers arrive
11:30am - Photographers arrive
12:00pm - Videographer arrives
12:15pm - Dress on, getting ready/detail shots
First Look + Photos
As I said, Logan and I chose to do a first look and have ALL of our photos taken before our ceremony. I can't tell you how many people thanked us for doing this - that way, we weren't wasting our cocktail hour or reception taking photos, and instead could eat, socialize with guests, and have fun.
When you create this portion of your timeline, make sure the following details are in your timeline:
Locations for ALL photos (factor in drive time between locations, and run all ideas by your photographer to make sure it'll work)
When + where your bridal party + family should meet you for photos (after your first look/time together)
End time for photos
PRO TIP: Always give yourself 10-15 minutes more than you think you'll need. You never know who will show up late, what bridesmaid's shoes will break, or what groomsman's tie or jacket will need fixing. Give yourself extra time so your photographer doesn't have a stress migraine and everyone can enjoy the moment.
With that in mind, here's what our first look + photos timeline looked like:
1:00pm - First look, followed by ice cream + beach photos (we gave ourselves 1.5 hours for this)
2:30pm - Bridal party photos (we gave ourselves an hour since we had a huge bridal party, and in case our first look/ice cream/beach photos took longer than imagined)
3:30pm - Family photos
Ceremony
Putting your ceremony in your timeline isn't hard. Make sure the start and end time is clear, and have the 'who's walking down with who' list on a different document for your coordinator.
Cocktail Hour
Like the ceremony, your cocktail hour shouldn't be too hard to pencil in. If you opted to NOT have a first look, you will need to work with your photographer to create a timeline where some of your photos are before the ceremony (ie. bridesmaids and groomsmen separately, bride and groom portraits separately) and some are during the cocktail hour. I will tell you from experience: DO NOT HAVE A LONG COCKTAIL HOUR, and DO NOT keep guests waiting. They will be hungry, annoyed and (possibly) drunk. Keep it timely and to the point. If your ceremony venue is separate from your reception venue, keep the two locations in close distance from each other, and have the cocktail hour ready to go at the reception venue.
Reception
If you've pretty diligently planned the first part of your wedding day (ahem, get the photos DONE!), you'll be set up to get down, party hard, and have a great time at your reception. The only photos Logan and I intentionally left for our reception was our golden hour (which is about an hour before sunset), and we have 0 regrets.
Here's what our reception looked like timing-wise:
6:45pm - Welcome, introductions, opening prayer, dinner served
7:15pm - Toasts (best man, maid of honor, poem)
7:30pm - First dances, followed by open dancing
7:45pm - Cake cutting (or do it right after dinner)
8:00pm - Videographer leaves (contact was 8 hours)
8:30pm - Golden hour photos
10:30/10:45pm - Sparkler send-off
11:00pm - Reception finished
Other than briefly leaving for our golden hour photos, Logan and I got to spend so much quality time hanging out with our guests and celebrating. I'd definitely prefer that over having to do photos for another hour or two! You paid for this party, so enjoy it! The one thing I TOTALLY goofed on was cake cutting. I never thought about when I'd do it, I figured someone would just come tell me (idk, I'm dumb sometimes!). PLEASE write in what time you'll cut your cake - either do it right after dinner (before dances) or right after the dances - that way, guests can partake of it too (and it's not just chillin there on the dessert table tempting them.
I'm sure you were overwhelmed reading this - and trust me, I was overwhelmed when planning it. However, remember that you've hired some incredible vendors who will 150% help you think through your wedding day and timeline. I'd highly recommend doing a first look (possible post on that coming soon!) so you can spend the rest of your day celebrating and enjoying the time with your family, friends and guests. Take it day by day, step by step, and I PROMISE: it will all come together!
Have further questions? Need advice? Drop me a question in the comments or reach out in the contact form - I'm so happy to help!
