Wedding day timeline

Timelines, Wedding planning

Wedding day timeline is the first thing you should think about while planning your perfect event schedule. Even if you have set your wedding date in a year, you probably already have the wedding timeline day of your big day in your mind.

There are several wedding timelines day of, which vary depending on the wedding events which you have planned. For example, the wedding day timeline often depends on the time of the beginning of the wedding ceremony and reception.

Morning wedding timeline

If you have decided to have your wedding ceremony in the morning, here is a morning wedding timeline day of the wedding:

All preparations of the bride and groom start at 7 am. The hair and makeup are done, sometimes the bridesmaids arrive at this time as well. The bridesmaids also have their MUAH activities and the first preparation photos of the preparation process.

The vendors arrive at 8:30 am. They have their setup and preparations. At 9 am the photographer starts working on the first portraits of the couple, at 9:30 am the family photos are taken. This is the time, when the first guests arrive, have a coffee or tea. After the invite time (10 am) the ceremony starts at 10:15 am, lasting about 30 minutes until 10:45 am.

At 10:45 am the cocktail hour begins, the photos of the family and friends are taken, guests chat and have their seats for brunch. The brunch starts at 11:30 am. After the meals, the first toasts begin at 12:15 pm; the just married couple has its first dance at 1 pm. After half an hour the desserts are served, the cake is cut.

At 2:45 pm the couple departs, and 15 minutes later the guests leave as well. The breakdown starts at 3 pm, and an hour after that all vendors depart.

If you wish to start your wedding ceremony and reception in the early afternoon, you can find an example of an afternoon wedding day timeline template below.

Afternoon wedding timeline

Some couples prefer having their wedding in the afternoon. Here is a day of wedding timeline for a ceremony starting at 4 pm and the wedding reception starting at 7 pm:

11:30 am is the time when all the bride?s beauty preparations start. The hair is done, the makeup of the bride (and sometimes of the bridesmaid) is made. At 12:30 pm all the vendors arrive and start their setup ? florists, decorators, sound, light and stage professionals start doing their job.

At 12:30 pm it?s time for the first photo shootings. The pictures of the preparation process, single photos of the wedding dress and accessories are taken. As soon as the bride is ready, the first look and the portraits of the couple are taken. The photo shootings of the couple are followed by the family pictures (1 pm).

The first guests arrive. They meet each other, chat and have fun.

After the invite time, the ceremony starts (4 pm) and ends in 30-45 minutes. After that, there is a time for the cocktail hour and family photos.

At 7 pm is the beginning of the wedding reception dinner, toasts and speeches.

The just married couple dances the first dance (8 pm), and the guests have their wedding entertainment.

The cake cutting time is 10:45 pm, this is the time when the desserts are served.

The couple departs at 11:40 pm, the guests depart soon after that (12 am).

The process of breakdown and cleaning begins, the vendors finish their jobs and depart at midnight.

Sample wedding timeline

Most couples prefer starting their wedding ceremony and reception in the afternoon. If this is your case, you can get a wedding day timeline template for your wedding below.

Let?s imagine your wedding ceremony and reception are at the same venue, and your ceremony starts at 4 pm. Here is an example of a typical wedding time:

At 10 am the bride has appointments with her beauty professionals to get her hair and makeup ready. You can hire a photographer and a videographer for this time to capture all the getting ready preparations of the bride and groom.

At 12:00-2:00 pm the most vendors arrive and start their preparations and setup.

At 2 pm the photography of the wedding party and the family begins.

At 3:30 pm the guests are arriving, the ceremony is about to begin, welcoming guests with drinks and pre-ceremony music. The invite time is 4 pm.

4:15 pm is the time when the ceremony starts. The ceremony ends at 4:35 pm.

At 4:40 pm the cocktail hour starts. After the cocktail hour, after chatting and making dozens of photos, the guests move to reception dinner ? 5:45 pm.

The dinner is served at 6 pm. At 6:20 pm the guests have their meals and make the first toasts. At around 7:30 pm it?s time for the first dance. As soon as it ends (7:35 pm), the dancing music starts and the guests are dancing and having fun.

At some weddings, 8 pm is a time for the pre-sunset portraits. At 8:30 pm the desserts are served, and the cake is cut. The last call is at 9:45 and 10 minutes after that the music turns off. At 10 pm the guests leave, and the breakdown and cleaning activities start, lasting about 1 hour. All staff members depart.

Some websites introduce automatic generators for timelines for weddings, where you can add the start time of your preparations, the planned time for your ceremony and reception, and get your perfect wedding day timeline template.

This tool is useful when you have your standard wedding procedures and processes. But if your wedding consists of unique surprises, tasks and events, you will need to split your wedding timelines day of into additional periods of the wedding planning and organisation.

Looking for a wedding day timeline template? The typical wedding day of timeline is introduced in the documents presented by the digital wedding planner eazyplan. You can click here to download your wedding day of timeline.