Timeline Rules: What Every Couple MUST Know
Congratulations!
You’ve accomplished steps 1, 2 and 3 of building your wedding foundation. As a recap those steps are…
Step #1 - Set your plan/vision for your wedding day!
Step #2 - Set your budget!
Step #3 - Build your village (AKA - start booking your vendors)!
NOW…
Step #4 - CREATE A TIMELINE.
Your wedding day village is assembled, now let’s start “telling them what to do” - ha! But seriously, all your vendors are waiting to hear from you on what the wedding day will look like. The place I like to start when building my timelines is with your ceremony. What time will your ceremony start? Depending on when the ceremony starts will depict the rest of the timeline.
Side note: If you’re doing a catholic ceremony, usually you don’t have much control over when your ceremony will take place. If you do have control, then my recommendation is finding out what time you need to be out of your reception venue. Your end time will help you decide when it’s appropriate for your ceremony and reception to begin. Also take into consideration, the time of year you’re getting married. Depending on the season, the sun sets at different times, which in turn might control when your ceremony starts. I know for me personally, my winter weddings start much earlier in the day than my summer weddings do because the sun goes down significantly earlier in the winter than in the summer.
Pro Tip: I usually recommend receptions to last around 4 - 4.5 hours. Trust me, you guys are going to be EXHAUSTED and after about 4 hours of your reception, you’re going to be tired and spent.
Once you decide on your ceremony start time, work with your photographer to put together your “pre-ceremony” photography timeline. You will also want to coordinate with hair and make-up to decide what time you will need to start hair and make-up.
Other factors that you will want to decide, which will influence your timeline, is whether or not you are doing a first look. I will discuss the pros and cons to a first look in another post, but for now, decide what is best for you and your fiance.
Side Note: I recommend you have all the pictures wrapped up 30 minutes prior to the ceremony start time. There’s always a few guests that show up early and if you’re “hiding” then this will help you avoid seeing guests before the start of the ceremony.
After the ceremony, you will then sign your marriage license, take any pictures remaining and get ready to start your reception.
After the reception starts and you’ve done your grand entrance, I recommend moving straight into dinner.
Side Note: There are a couple of factors that will determine how long dinner will last; guest count, plated or buffet and whether or not the buffet is single-sided or double-sided.
After dinner, work with your DJ to coordinate and fine-tune the agenda. I know some DJ’s are very particular about the order of which the reception will flow. Typically my reception timelines will go something like this…
Toasts >> Cake >> Dances >> Open Dance Floor >> Garter/Bouquet toss >> Final Dance of The Night >> Exit
As a timeline recap, I usually structure my pre-ceremony timelines starting with…
Hair & Make-Up >> Getting Dressed >> First Look >> Wedding Party Pictures >> Family Pictures >> Hiding 30 minutes prior to Ceremony >> CEREMONY.
Then follow the recommendations of your DJ and the above tips.
Hopefully, this was helpful and you can apply these tips to your special day!
