Building a Wedding Day Timeline
Congrats on your upcoming wedding!! So, you've reached the point of creating a day-of schedule, and you might already feel overwhelmed just by thinking about it. My goal here is to break it down in a way that makes it feel less scary. I want to give you just the "boost" you need to bite the bullet, get started, realize that it's not nearly as overwhelming as you thought it would be, and feel that surge of satisfaction by conquering something that you've been dreading!
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When you're starting to build a schedule, there are 4 questions you should be thinking about, in the following order:
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1) When is your ceremony start time?
Put this on your schedule first, because everything else revolves around it. For the sample below, we will use 5:00 PM.
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2) Do you want to do a first look?
We strongly recommend that you do as many posed photos of the families and bridal parties before the ceremony to avoid extra stress after the ceremony when you should be enjoying and absorbing the fact that you were just married!
If you do have a first look, you can schedule ALL posed group photos beforehand (make sure all of the important people arrive early enough for this). If you don't have a first look, we recommend three separate photoshoots: one for the bride, one for the groom (both before the ceremony), and one after the ceremony during cocktail hour.
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3) What activities do you want to happen?
Before entering any times, be sure to enter any additional activities or events that you plan to do. For example, if you plan to play the shoe game during the reception, write that down. This is more of a brainstorming session, and it's important to take plenty of time on this before scheduling everything. Trust me, it's a lot less daunting to add something you forgot about at this stage!
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4) What is the longest time (_) could take?
It's time to start assigning durations to each event! You should always give yourself more time than you think you will need, and also think about how much time it might take to transition from one activity to the next. If you're trying to decide whether some event will take 20 or 30 minutes, choose 45 minutes. For EVERY SINGLE WEDDING we have attended, the schedule inevitably falls behind. It's not a question of "if;" it's "how much," and whether or not you've given yourself enough cushion to compensate without panicking. The only thing that (almost) always sticks to the plan is the starting time of the ceremony itself.
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For the pre-ceremony activities, you'll need to go backwards from the ceremony and count out all of the numbers in reverse. For example, the event right before the ceremony is the 45-minute break. Counting that backwards from the ceremony start time puts it at 4:15. If the next event before that is a first look with the dad, and if we assume that will take 10 minutes, we count backwards again and put that at 4:05. Rinse and repeat until you get all the way to the beginning of the day.
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With that in mind, below is the template that we use to build our wedding timelines! You'll find two different templates, one with a first look and one without. Feel free to copy and paste whichever one is the best starting point for you, into your own document. As always, feel free to reach out if there is any way we can help!
___: Girls Arrive, Start Hair & Makeup (At least 4 hours before putting the dress on.)
___: Groomsmen Arrive & Get Ready (1-2 hours before groom & co photoshoot)
___: Photographers Scheduled Arrival (Can be at the same time as the groom’s arrival. Girls’ prep photos usually only start to get good towards the end of their prep. But that’s just our two cents. We are happy to arrive whenever you would like us to!)
___: Bride Puts On Dress (15 minutes)
___: Photo Shoot: Groom & Co (15 minutes; this can overlap with the bride putting on her dress.)
___: Photo Shoot: Bride & Co (30 minutes)
___: First Look for Dad & Anyone Other Than the Groom (10 minutes each)
4:15 PM: Buffer for Catch-up (45 minutes - please have this on the schedule!)
5:00 PM: Ceremony Begins (often 30 minutes)
___: Sunset (Look this up and put it on the schedule.)
5:30 PM: Ceremony Ends
5:30 PM: Cocktail Hour
___: Bride & Groom Portraits (10-20 minutes)
___: Family & Bridal Party Photos, All Together (15-30 minutes)
___: Grand Entrance (5 minutes)
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___: Reception Begins / Food Line / “Photo Booth” Line (20-40 minutes)
___: Speeches/Toasts / Bride & Groom Eat (15 minutes)
___: First Dance / Special Dances (15-30 minutes)
___: Cake Cutting (10 minutes)
___: Fake Send Off (10 minutes)
(Just a suggestion. This is a good idea that allows you to get the “photo moment” before people start leaving.)
___: Dance Floor (maybe 2 hours, or as much time as is desired and/or permitted)
___: Photographer Departs (Maybe 1 hour after dance floor opens; the best photos are at the beginning, and that leaves plenty of time for ample coverage.)
___: End of Day (keep in mind any policies from the venue)
​​​Once you have filled in your own time slots, the next step would be to confer with your photographer (us!) and wedding planner to make sure everyone is in agreement on the durations and sequence of the events. ​​​After that, someone (either you or the wedding planner) needs to reach out to vendors such as the DJ, caterer, etc., and allow figure out when they would like to arrive in your proposed schedule. When you get their feedback, add their arrival and departure times as well.
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We hope this is helpful! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like our help. We are here to serve you!