HOW TO CREATE A WEDDING DAY TIMELINE

Hey babes! I've been asked countless of times over the years to help create wedding day timelines for DIY brides so I decided to post how I create timelines for my clients. I hope it works for you! You can keep your timeline simple or have a detail plan like mine. So, rab you a glass of wine or a bottle of water…your choice and let’s map out your Day-of Timeline! Don’t be scared, I promise it’s not as hard as you think it is. DON’T overthink it, look at samples on Pinterest or use mine to create yours. 😊 Now, to create a timeline you have to know a few details such as, what time will your tribe arrive. If you don’t know, take this time to text them and confirm arrival times. How long will it take your make- up artist and hairstyles to get y’all together. You want to give them more than enough time because sometimes things don’t always go as planned (Life happens). Once you assign a time to those actives move on to the essentials and build from there. When I say essentials, I mean the hard deadlines like what time do you want to start your day, what time do you want guest to arrive, what time do you want your ceremony to start, what time do you want your reception to start and end. As you begin to jot your essential time slots down be sure to leave plenty of space in-between to add more details. If you’ve followed these steps, you are halfway finish with your first draft, Yay!

Moving on to the fun stuff!!🤗 Now that you have officially selected a start time for your ceremony and reception start jotting down what elements you would like to in your ceremony after the processional. Examples: Scripture readings, soloist, pianist, candle lighting, hand fasting, i.e... A standard wedding ceremony only last thirty to forty-five minutes. After the ceremony the bridal party usually run off to take photos and return to the reception venue.

Once the reception starts there’s a string of traditional activities that takes place, you will need to map each out adding a time slot. The grand entrance is up first, after the grand entrance the couple can opt to sit down and eat or immediately cut the cake so it can be taken to the back and sliced as dinner is being served. Personally, I recommend my clients to do their grand entrance first, fist dance second, cake cutting 3rd. Completing these tasks in that order will give my clients a chance to sit down and enjoy their meal without having to rush to catch up to the timeline. Once everyone is served and seated, the couple can use this time for speeches, father- daughter dance, mother-son dance, bridal party dance before the dance floor is open to the guest.

You did it! Everyone is laughing, dancing, and having fun. This is the part of the day where you can relax. The only things left to do: Bouquet toss, garter toss, last dance, and farewell. Once you’ve assigned a time slot to the events listed above you are ready to send your first timeline draft to your photographer and venue coordinator to see if the schedule listed works for them or if it needs to be modified. If they respond with no changes needed, you are in the clear… Save & Print your timeline.

Tip:

Be sure to go over your timeline at least one week before the wedding to make sure nothing has changed.

Allow your photographer an hour to an hour and a half if your ceremony and reception will be held at the same place.