Your Wedding Timeline

Creating a wedding timeline that works

How to Build Your Wedding Day Timeline (And Why It Matters for Your Photos)

Morning time: give yourself more time than you think you need

Creating a timeline that allows for a comfortable and stress free day is very important, and one I’m here to help on so if you have any questions after reading this blog then fire them my way. This is all just my advice and not something you have to live by, someone might say to get ready earlier or later, so see what suits you best. This is just from my experience.

 I’m going to use a sample ceremony time of 1:30pm, but you may have to factor in different timings depending on things like distance to the ceremony location but it should give you a good sense of timings of the day. I’ll start backwards from the ceremony time and give a proper timeline at the bottom.

For a relaxing morning, I always recommend for hair and make-up to be done around 1- 1.5 hours before you tend to leave for the ceremony. This allows for some lovely photos with your hair and make-up done in your pyjamas before ye all get into your dresses. This is often a nice time to pop a bottle of champagne and have a toast with you and your bridesmaids and relax for a short while. So if you have a ten minute drive to your ceremony that starts at 1:30pm, then your hair and make-up should be done around 11:50am.

Your bridesmaids can change into their dresses before you change into yours. If they have seen the dress beforehand, they can give you a helping hand with the final touches (makes for lovely photos, naturally)

 Your hair and make-up artist will determine what time they start at depending on how many people they are working on. Many of them will what time you want to be ready at (if they don’t ask, you can suggest a time), so I’d suggest saying you’d like to be ready 1.5 hours before you want to leave the house.

 You may want an extra 30 minutes in bed that morning, and that’s fair, but I think it’s nicer to have some extra time in those moments just before and after putting on your wedding dress and to not be rushing for time in those important moments.

 The best getting-ready shots aren't rushed ones. They're in the quiet moments, a mum doing up a zip, the bridesmaids laughing over a glass of prosecco, the groomsmen having a laugh and helping get the suits on. Those moments need a little breathing room to happen naturally.

The Ceremony

 This part may seem self-explanatory but it’s actually an important one. We all know that if the ceremony starts at 1:30pm, there’s always a few guests walking in at 1:32pm so we plan to arrive ten minutes late at 1:40pm ourselves just to be sure, but hear me out.

Firstly, for the groom and groomsmen, please try to arrive at least 45 minutes before the ceremony starts. I’ve seen grooms and groomsmen rock up to a wedding ten minutes before the ceremony was due to start and it leads for a rushed energy that you want to avoid on the day (I was in fact one of these groomsmen, it was me, sorry. The groom was stressing me how late he was leaving things lol)

If your ceremony location is a ten minute drive from your morning prep location, people will say to leave at 1:25pm and arrive at 1:35pm but I would advise against this, here’s why. If people say “we’re leaving at 1:25pm” then often they only start packing their things or getting ready to leave the room for that time. That’s the time you actually want to be in the car and in motion to the ceremony. So I always advise to try and leave on time (in this case, 1:20pm) because something will always pop up last second or it will take you a few extra minutes to get to the car safely in your dress. Those extra ten minutes would be much better spent at your drinks reception with a glass of champagne in hand.

Greeting lines (shaking everyone’s hand after the ceremony) is something I’m always asked about. It’s a personal decision in my opinion but I’ll leave some notes below and you can see if it’s something you want to do or not. Pro’s of doing this include getting to see everyone and making sure you’ve thanked them and they have congratulated you. You may not have time to meet EVERYONE at the drinks reception, so this way you have it covered and you’ve said hello. Con’s include the time it takes. I’ve seen greeting lines take over 30 mins sometimes but most are at least 20-25 minutes and on your wedding day that is valuable time. You get this time back at your drinks reception where you can go around and have that little bit extra space to enjoy the day and evening. If you really want one but also want extra time during the rest of your day, why not move your ceremony to 1pm? Something to consider.

Couple & Bridal Group Photos

I work to keep this part of the day as time efficient as possible. We’ll get beautiful photos and have you back to your drinks reception in no time. Where the photos happen is usually what can dictate how long we’re away from the drinks reception. Once we get to a location, I’m usually 10-20 minutes with the whole crew and we’re on our way again. If the location is on route, perfect. We’re not delaying or adding much time at all. But if you want to travel 15 minutes away from the reception and back again, that’s 30 minutes spent in the car when you could be enjoying time at your drinks reception. You may know where you want to go for your photos and that’s perfect, but if you’re unsure on anything, ask your photographer and they can help advise. I always tell my couples I’ll go where ever they want, I’ll just advise how long that option might take and you can see what you’d prefer to do.

Drinks reception

 I think almost everyone wants to maximise their time at the drinks reception and I do too. That’s why all these little periods of 5-15 mins all add up throughout the day and ultimately dictate how much time you get at your reception before they ring the dinner bell. So plan accordingly, save time where you can and it will all work in your favour for a memorable day (and an extra espresso martini)

Speeches

 Speeches can effect more than you think. If they all go on time and are done before the meal/main course, perfect. The hotel and vendors dreams. If things go delayed or speeches are after desserts, this can have a knock on effect on the band kicking off. You’ve paid lots of money for the band and they’d be expected to play roughly from 9:30pm until midnight let’s say, but if speeches are after dessert and they don’t finish until 9:00pm, the band can’t set up in many venues until the speeches are done and tables are cleared. They need time to set up and do sound checks which could be 6-75 mins from when they first bring gear in the door. If you want to get the most out of your band (and money), I usually advise speeches be done before the meal so everything from then on can flow smoothly.

So that’s it, I’ll leave a sample timeline below but again, these are just my recommendations and your day will vary so please consider any different factors. The below presumes the couple are getting ready within 5-10 mins of each other. Shout if you have any questions.

10:00am – Photographer arrives to the girls

11:00am – Photographer goes to the lads, snaps of the lads getting ready and then back to the girls ASAP.

11:50am - Hair and make-up finished

12:00pm – Pop a bottle of champagne, chill out and enjoy

12:10pm – Bridesmaids change into dresses

12:20pm – Bride changes into dress

1:20pm – Leave for ceremony

1:30pm - Ceremony start time

1:40pm – Ceremony starts

2:40pm – Ceremony finishes and potentially greeting line starts

3:00pm – Greeting line finishes and ceremony is fully done

3:05pm – Leave to location for bridal and couple photos

3:15pm – Bridal party photos, bridal party can then leave to go to the venue

3:25pm – Couple photos

3:35pm – Leave for the venue

3:45pm – Arrive to the drinks reception/venue, enjoy a drink

5:30pm – Dinner bell rings

6:00pm – Speeches start

6:30pm – Speeches finished, food is served

8:30pm – Dinner service is finished, band start to set up

8:45pm – Sunset photos (heavily depends on time of the year and if you’d like it)

9:30pm – First dance starts, then dancing the night away

10:00pm – Photographer finishes and ye party on.

Family photos also have to be added into this timeline. Depends if you want them at the church or at the reception venue. They only take approx. 5 mins once we have all immediate family there.