Wedding Day Timeline Tips

Weddings can be SO stressful, but it’s my job as your wedding coordinator or planner to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as it can so that you can just enjoy your day! After all, it’s kind of the biggest day of your life and you should be 100% PRESENT! That’s why today, I’m talking about why having a Day of Wedding Timeline is SO important! I’ll also include a Day of Wedding Timeline Template + Tips for creating your Day of Wedding Timeline!

What is a Day of Wedding Timeline and why do you need one?

Okay, so if you’re not a wedding professional, you might not even know what a Day of Wedding Timeline is, and that’s totally understandable!

Basically, it’s just a schedule of events for your wedding day. Simple as that!

But coming up with your timeline is definitely not simple! 🤪 There are lots of moving parts and SO many things to consider when creating your Day of Wedding Timeline. Which is why I wrote this blog post! Whether your Day of Wedding Timeline is something that you and your wedding 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 and if you are the one that planned your wedding, having a Day of Wedding Timeline will alleviate SO much stress for you ON your wedding day! Having a clear, concise Wedding Day Timeline will allow you to be more present on your wedding day since all the events will already be laid out with what times they are supposed to happen. Especially if you have a Day of Wedding Coordinator or Wedding Planner who can execute this timeline on the day of, you will really be able to enjoy your wedding day instead of worrying about all the little details. It will also help your wedding day to be organized and efficient in regards to vendor set up and communication!

Sample Timeline for a Traditional Wedding

A sample Wedding Day Timeline typically looks a little like this:

Morning: Getting Ready

Mid-day: Photos

Afternoon: Ceremony

Evening: Cocktail Hour, Dinner, Reception

Customizing your Timeline to fit your vision!

This is where the real work of creating your Wedding Day Timeline begins! I would suggest sitting down with your fiancé and/or wedding planner to 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 or even just a cocktail hour! And then there are all the events that typically take place during the reception like cake cutting, first dances, toasts, etc. So, decide what is most important to you and your love and then assign time blocks to each event! Choosing your ceremony or dinner time first is a great place to start! Then you can assign each event before or after.

Pro Tip: Ask your wedding vendors how LONG they will need for each event. For example, ask your caterer how long dinner service will take for the amount of guests you’ll have at your wedding. Ask you photographer how long they will need to capture the posed photos on your shot list, etc.!

Vendor Coordination Timeline Tips for a seamless Wedding Day

Knowing how long each of your vendors will need for set-up, service and take-down will be SO helpful in creating your Day of Wedding Timeline! Each of your vendors are there for YOU and they also want your wedding day to run as smoothly as possible! So, allocating the right amount of time to each event in your timeline will help so much! Each of your vendors will also be able to give you approximate times to help you in finalizing your timeline! As a rule of thumb, here is a list of events and how long they typically last:

Getting Ready: 2-6 hours (depending on how many bridesmaids will also have hair and makeup done)

Posed Photos: 1-3 hours

Ceremony Line-up: 15-30 minutes

Ceremony: 10-30 minutes

Cocktail Hour: 1 hour

Reception: 1-5 hours (depending on how much of a party you want to have!)

Dinner: 1-2 hours

Toasts: 10 minutes – 1 hour (depending on how many toasts you have and if there’s an open mic)

First Dance: Length of the song (or shorter) – This applies to Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances as well

Cake Cutting: 3-5 minutes

Once your Day of Wedding Timeline is finalized, making sure that ALL your vendors and VIP’s (family that will be in photos and your wedding party) have a copy of your timeline will help SO much! That way, everyone knows where they need to be and when they need to be there! For added organization, you can also post part of your Wedding Day Timeline in your reception venue for guests to see! That way, they know when all the important events are happening so they don’t miss anything!

Keep on reading to get your free Day of Wedding Timeline Template!

Pro Tips for staying on schedule on your Wedding Day!

The biggest piece of advice I can give you to help your wedding day run smoothly is to hire a wedding coordinator (or planner) or assign someone to this role!!!!!

I know that not everyone wants to or can hire a wedding planner or wedding coordinator, but having someone act as your wedding coordinator or point person does WONDERS for your wedding day! I cannot stress this enough! And I know from experience! I planned my whole wedding from start to finish and even though I KNEW I needed help and assigned people to different tasks, I was STILL the one answering everyone’s questions on the wedding day and I was the one making finishing touches on the centerpieces and the cake at my reception! 😳 I honestly don’t even remember eating on my wedding day because I was SO busy! So, take it from someone that has lived through it and hire a coordinator or assign a friend/family member to take on that role for your wedding day! Trust me, you do not want to answer vendor questions while you are trying to get ready, take photos or eat dinner!

*If you are leaning towards the route of asking a friend/family member to be your point person for your wedding day, check out my Wedding Planning Guide for Planning your own Wedding!

Common Mistakes to avoid in creating your Timeline

Overloading the schedule is something that can create loads of problems on your wedding day. Yes, the day will be busy and there are lots of little events happening but you don’t want to have too many things on your schedule so it becomes overwhelming. Wedding days are filled with LOTS of emotions and adding too many things will only make you stressed and nervous. And chances are, you will probably already be feeling those things to some extent just because you are getting married!

Another thing that people tend to forget is transition and travel times. For instance, most brides don’t want guests to see them before the wedding. But if you are taking photos right before your wedding ceremony, guests will probably see you before the wedding. You’ll want to build in at least a 30 minute buffer time so you can get into place before you walk down the aisle. And in the case that your timeline is followed exactly, then you will welcome that 30 minutes of extra time to touch up your hair and makeup, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water and SIT DOWN! haha! You’ll also need to factor in travel time between locations if you are getting ready somewhere other than your ceremony venue and if the reception venue is in a different location than the ceremony.

Your Wedding Day Timeline is your best friend for wedding day!

I really hope these pro tips have helped you to feel confident in creating the best Day of Wedding Timeline for your Wedding Day! The whole purpose of this is to help your wedding day run smoothly so you can just be 100% present and enjoy your day with friends and family! Another great perk to having a well laid out Wedding Day Timeline is that your wedding guests will enjoy the day SO much more as well! 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 Day of Wedding Timeline, all of these events will be planned out and your guests won’t get bored!

And if you are looking for a Wedding Coordinator or Wedding Planner, I would LOVE to chat!! Reach out here!

Free Day of Wedding Timeline Template!

Now! To help you get started in creating the best Day of Wedding Timeline for your wedding, here is a free Day of Wedding Timeline Template! This is something I typically don’t offer unless you have hired me to be your Wedding Coordinator or Wedding Planner OR if you have purchased my Wedding Planning Guide! But I think this is such an important resource that I really wanted to include it for you today!

Customizable Day of Wedding Timeline Template