the journal

Weddings can be SO stressful, but it’s my job to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as it can so that you can just enjoy your day! That’s why today, I’m talking about Wedding Timeline Tips and why having a wedding day timeline is SO important! Whether this is something that you and your planner work on together or something you and your fiancé do all on your own, it’s so necessary to have one! And let me tell you why! … There are so many details and things to remember on your wedding day. But I don’t want you to be worried about any of that! After all, it’s kind of the biggest day of your life and you should be 100% present! Getting married is amazing and I just want you and your love to soak each other up, enjoy making promises with each other and celebrating your love! So, my suggestion is to do the work beforehand and make sure you have a clear wedding day timeline for your big day! 

One of my wedding timeline tips is to sit down with your fiancé and/or planner and make a list of all the things you’d like to happen on your wedding day! Some couples have a church ceremony and a traditional ceremony. Some couples have a rehearsal dinner or a luncheon after the wedding. And some couples have a sit down dinner reception or just a dessert reception. And then there are all the events that typically take place at a reception like cake cutting, first dances, toasts, etc. So, decide what is most important to you and your love and then assign times to each event! Obviously the ceremony time should probably be decided on first and then everything else can come before or after that! 

Another one of my wedding timeline tips is to assign tasks to different people throughout the day. If you have a planner, then you won’t necessarily need to worry about this as much. But if you and your love are mostly planning your wedding by yourselves, you’ll need to ask others to help on the day of so you won’t have to worry about anything! You’ll be busy with family and couple photos and ya know, getting married. So, don’t hesitate to ask for help! This is also SO important if you are setting up your wedding/reception space the day of (like I did. haha!)! Assign different family members and friends to different tasks and make sure they know what they need to do beforehand! That way, you’ll be free to enjoy your wedding and still have everything organized and running smoothly! 

My last reason why having a wedding day timeline is SO important (if I didn’t convince you already) is because your guests will enjoy the day SO much more if things run smoothly and if they have things to do! I don’t know about you, but one of my biggest pet peeves is going to a wedding and literally sitting at the same table for 2 hours doing nothing. Not even watching the couple have a first dance or cut the cake, but just sitting there. … Not so fun. But if you have a wedding day timeline, all of these events will be planned out and your guests won’t get bored! And my last piece of advice is to have someone in charge of keeping up with the timeline on your wedding day! Most times this is a planner, photographer, DJ or MC but if you didn’t hire any of those vendors or they’re not willing to adhere to the timeline, have a trusted family member or friend be in charge of making all the little events happen!

And as a bonus for reading my blog, here’s a sneak peak of my sample wedding day timeline!

~10am~ Pack up everything for ceremony/honeymoon so you don’t have to remember to do it later

~11am~ Arrive at wedding venue

~11:30am~ Start getting ready

~12pm~ Eat something for lunch!!!! 😉

~1:30pm~ Getting ready photos

~2pm~ Bride and Groom first look and photos

~3pm~ Family and Bridal Party photos

~3:45pm~ Hair and Makeup final touches, Line up for ceremony

~4pm~ Ceremony begins

~4:30pm~ Cocktail or social hour for guests, group photos (or family, bridal party and bride and groom photos if they weren’t done before the wedding)

~5:30pm~ Grand Entrance and Dinner

~6:15pm~ Toasts

~6:30pm~ Cut the cake

~6:45pm~ Shoe game

~7:05pm~ Bouquet toss

~7:10pm~ Garder toss

~7:15pm~ Father-daughter dance 

~7:20pm~ Bride and groom’s first dance 

~7:25pm~ Dancing!

~8pm~ Exit/off to your honeymoon!

Hope this helps! And if you’d like to know what working with me as your wedding planner is like, head to my Behind the Scenes WEDDING PLANNING INITIAL CONSULTATION blog post!