INTRODUCTION

Creating the timeline for your wedding day is an important part of the planning process: you’ve crafted and pulled together so many amazing details and now it’s time to bring it all together for a seamless day, logistically!

Don’t forget - keep things streamlined and simple! The easier you make it, the less stress there will be. And, remember, this is a guideline. Things happen on the wedding day that could cause things to run ahead or behind, but having a good plan and timeline helps to ease these changes!

Before you start drafting your timeline, there are a few important considerations to think about:

Check your start and end time for hair & makeup that you’ve agreed upon with your artists
Check how many hours are within your photography and/or videography package to ensure they are there for all of thea key moments you want to be captured. You’ll want to note their start and end time on your timeline.
Review your ceremony and dinner times, so that they can act as key moments to build around - check with your venue and contract for more information!
Check with your venue about their protocol around speeches - how many they do between courses, before and after, or are there specific times they do not want them to happen, etc?
Add buffer time! There is no harm in adding 10-15 minutes to travel time, family photos, etc. Things can always end early which means you get a bit more time to enjoy the moment!

Where to start

Since it’s a fixed start time, let’s begin at your ceremony and work our way up through the day:

Account for travel time to get to the ceremony (if needed) after your first look and any portraits and wedding party photos. If you’re getting married in a church, check with them to see if there is a specific time they would like you both to arrive.
Account for ~45 minutes of wedding party photos. *
Account for ~45 minutes to an hour for a first look and couple portraits. *

*For both of these, make sure you also review with your photographer for any suggestions of more or less time depending on group sizes.

Pro Tip: A first look frees up so much of the photographer’s time after the ceremony which usually allows them to capture the reception while it is perfectly set, especially when the cocktail hour is in the same space as dinner.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
3p - ceremony
2:30p - travel to the ceremony
1:45p - wedding party photos
1p - first look

This now gives you the plan to be dressed, and ready for your first look.

MORNING ITINERARY/PRE-CEREMONY

As said above, check what time you’ve arranged with hair and make-up, how long each service is, and account for that within your timeline.
Consider who you’d like to be ready when you’re getting into your dress
If your first look is at 1pm, you’ll want to account for travel time in addition to time needed to get into your dress. Getting into your dress should have ~45 minutes allocated.

If you want all of your party and any parents dressed before you get into your dress, make sure to add that into your timeline in relation to when they end their hair and make up times
If you are doing a reveal with parents, friends, etc., make sure to budget that time in!

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
7a - hair & makeup starts with two artists each
10.45a bride’s hair and makeup complete
11a - all girls done
11 - 11.30a girls and MoB getting dressed
11.30a - bride gets into dress
12.15p - reveal with parents and friends
12.45p - begin making way to first look location

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that if you don’t need everyone dressed and complete with hair and makeup while you are putting your dress on, this allows for more time for them to get ready.

You now have your pre-ceremony timeline complete!

COCKTAIL & Reception timeline

Start at the end of your ceremony and begin working your way through the evening
Depending on the length of your family photo list, plan for ~45 minutes to capture these. Check with your photographer if they think they’ll need more time, based on the combinations you have! Some photographers say you want 1-3 minutes per photo depending on the group size.

Any additional time may be used to do additional couple portraits, too!

Add in your cocktail hour time, per your contract with the venue and/or caterer

Be sure to account for any travel time for your guests from the ceremony location to the cocktail and reception space

Add in your start time for dinner service, and add in ~30 minutes for guests to make their way to their seats
Add in your emcee welcome, opening toast and any grand entrances. We usually account for 15 minutes here.

This is also a good place to add in your first dance!

For meal service, here are some typical timelines to account for:

45 minutes for the first course served and cleared
1hr for mains served and cleared
40 minutes for dessert served and cleared

After consulting with your venue, add in speeches between courses, and any special dances between or after courses
Sunset photos? Your photographer will know when this time is and will work with you and the venue/catering staff to pull you away for ~15 minutes to capture these!

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
3:30p - ceremony ends & cocktail hour begins
3:30-4:15p - family photographs
5p - cocktail hour ends & guests begin to take their seats
5:30p - guests seated, grand entrance & welcome from emcee
5:45p - first dance
5:50p - dinner service begins
5:50p - 6:35p - first course
*It is recommended to not put any speeches between the first two courses, as to ensure there is no compromise to the quality of food and to expedite food service!
*6:35p - 7:35p - main course
Max 2 speeches here.
7:35p-8:15p - dessert course
Max 2 speeches here.
Key-moment dances (ie. first dance, father-daughter, mother-son)
~8:15p - Dance floor opens!

After your reception timeline is complete, you can add in any arrival times for anything happening after dinner such as photobooths, band sets, and account for the departure time of any vendors that leave after dinner is complete (ie. photographer, videographer). We usually schedule the photographer/videographers to depart about 30 later than we expect the last thing to happen so that if there is a delay, we aren’t up against too many deadlines.

Final Thoughts

As a reminder, make sure to send your draft timeline to your photographer, videographer, DJ, and venue/caterer to ensure they’ve seen it and that it works for them, too!

Remember, this is a guideline! Things happen, but having a solid plan works wonders and your vendors will appreciate that you’ve considered these important details.

Imagery is graciously provided by Leydon Photography.