Weddings order of events is a sequence of all the activities and events associated with your big day. Weddings order of events will help you to have your well-structured wedding day without delays and stress.
As soon as you have booked your perfect reception venue and have chosen the right vendors for your wedding, you can think about the wedding reception timeline and wedding order of events.
Each wedding reception is unique, and even the most well-planned wedding event may have some delays and deviate from the time which has been set at the beginning. If we take a standard weddings order of events, which includes a cocktail hour after the ceremony and the reception, which usually lasts 4 hours, we can speak of the following wedding order of events.
Let?s consider a wedding, when the invite time for the ceremony starts in the early afternoon, at 1 pm: the wedding ceremony ends at 2 pm. This is the time when the just married couple is busy with their photo sets and the guests move to the cocktail hour. This is the case when the ceremony and the reception take place at the same location. If not, there is usually a time gap of approximately 2 hours, when the guests move from location to another. The cocktail hour usually lasts 1 hour. The guests have their drinks and entertainment and wait for the bride and groom to start the wedding reception.
The weddings order of events suggests, that at 4pm the coordinator makes sure all the guests are seated, and the couple makes the grand entrance to the reception venue. They are greeted as a husband and wife; they start dancing their first dance. However, there are cases when the couple prefers dancing their dance after the meals are served, and the guests feel relaxed at their reception seats.
In any case, after 20 minutes after the couple?s arrival, the first toasts and cheers begin. The couple often prefers saying their first words welcoming and thanking the guests for taking part in their big day. The next words usually belong to the parents of the bride and groom, and other family members of the newlyweds. The toasts of the maid of honour and the best man usually happen between the meal courses.
After the first toasts, at about 3:30 pm the guests have their meals accompanied by the background music played by a DJ. After an hour and a half, the party begins! At about 5 pm, the guests are dancing and having fun. The main idea here is to make everybody dance ? usually, it?s the couple who takes the lead and invite everybody to the dance floor. The music stops for the typical wedding events such as bouquet toss or garter toss. In cases of a large-scale wedding, this is a time for entertainment acts ? magic, aerial performers, various shows, etc.
At about 6:30 pm, after half an hour dancing, there is a beautiful event of cake cutting. This usually happens about one hour before the end of the reception.? The tables are prepared for the desserts, the coffee and tea are served. After that, there is dancing again, but it usually doesn?t last long.
At 7:15 the last dance is announced. This can be a full of energy and action dance to festive music, where the couple gathers all the guests on the dancefloor. After the dance, the couple may say a couple of words to the attendees again and leave. Sometimes the guests light sparkles or toss flower petals to cheer the future of the couple. After the newlyweds have left, the guests also begin to say goodbye and depart.
The wedding order of event puts emphasis on the timeline of the ceremony.
Speaking about the weddings order of events, the wedding ceremony is often one of the most touching and romantic parts of the wedding.? It typically lasts from 30 to 60 minutes and consists of 4 main stages:
- Prelude: this is the time when the guests arrive at ceremony venue and take their places. The groom and the officiant are usually already there or enter and walk to front). As soon as the grandparents, the parents of the bride and groom, and the other guests are seated, the candles are lighting, and the ceremony may begin.
- Processional: the bridesmaids and groomsman walk down the aisle, followed by the maid of honour and the best man. Ring bearer and flower girls enter the ceremony venue. The bride and her father (or an escort) walk down the aisle.
- Ceremony: the ceremony starts with opening words by the wedding officiant. There may be a reading by a family member or a friend, followed by the prelude and exchange of wedding vows. Then comes the exchange of wedding rings, and the unity ceremony. Again, after that, there may be a second reading by a family member or friend, followed by final words of the officiant. After that, there is the first kiss of the bride and groom and the introduction of the married couple.
- Recessional: the newlywed exit the ceremony location, followed by the flower girl(s) and the ring bearer. After them, the maid of honour and the best man leave the ceremony location, followed by the bridesmaid and groomsman. The parents of the bride exit the location, then the parents of the groom, and finally, all the guests leave and move to the cocktail hour and wedding reception.
The wedding order of event differs from wedding to wedding and is based on client?s unique preferences and expectations.
You can find an example of order of events wedding for your big day: click here to download. eazyplan simplifies your wedding planning and provides useful documents. The wedding order of event is a document which you will need for your wedding day planning for sure.
Weddings order of events download
We will only use the email to send you the template.
We hate spam and never share your address with anybody else.
