After months or even a year or so of planning your wedding, and as the day approaches, you will have to start thinking about the timeline/running order for the day. This is important as all your suppliers need to know what they should be doing when and so should your team. If you have got a wedding planner booked this will all be taken care of by them. If not it will be up to you to produce a schedule for the day. It is important to liaise with your suppliers so you can detail when they will arrive/set up. Don’t forget to give your schedule to your best man, ushers, bridesmaids and important family members. I set out below a timeline for a 2 pm wedding with service/ceremony:
The Morning
- 9.30 am – Hair and make-up artist arrives at bride’s house
- 10.30 am – Photographer and videographer arrive at bride’s house
- 12.00 pm – Bridesmaids to be dressed
- 12.30 pm – Bride to be dressed
- 1.00 pm – Bridesmaids and Mother of the Bride leave for church/ceremony
- 1.00 pm – Photographer and videographer leave for church/ceremony
- 1.20 pm – Guests start arriving at church/ceremony to be greeted by ushers
- 1.20 pm – Bride leaves home with father
- 1.30 pm – Bridesmaids and Mother of the bride arrive at church/ceremony
- 1.40 pm – Photographs of Groom and the Best Man outside church/ceremony
- 1.45 pm – All guests to be seated in the church/ceremony room
- 1.50 pm – Bride and father arrive at the church/ceremony room
- 2.00 pm – Church service/ceremony begins (as a rough guide allow 40 minutes for a church service and between 20 and 30 minutes for a ceremony. This is all dependent on content of the service or ceremony.
- 2.45 pm – Photographs of bride and groom and immediate family – allow approximately 15 minutes
- 3.00 pm – Bride and groom leave for reception (if the reception is in the same place as the ceremony, they will just then move straight to the venue for the drinks’ reception)
The Reception
- 3.30 pm – Bride and groom arrive at the reception venue
- 3.40 pm – Guests start to arrive
- 4.00 pm – Bride and groom are welcomed to the reception by their guests following photographs of the couple. Allow 90 minutes for a drinks reception. During this time the bride and groom and members of family and the bridal team will have photographs taken.
- 5.30 pm – Call to sit down – allow 30 minutes for guests to be seated. This will either be organised by the Wedding Planner or Catering Manager.
- 8.00 pm – the Wedding Breakfast finishes (allow two hours for a three course meal)
- 8 – 8.30 pm – Speeches
- 8.30 pm – 8.45 pm – Cake cutting
- 9.00 pm – First dance
- 12 am – Carriages
Timings will vary with distance between church and reception, or if you are having a ceremony and reception in the same venue. I hope this helps and remember if you need some help a wedding planner offers various services alongside full planning such as Partial Planning or Wedding Day Management.
Joanna
Photography:
Flowers: Bramble and Belle
Stationery: Lynda Loves