Wedding Planning Guide | Proven Wedding Day TimeLine for You
Many of the wedding planning questions I get from couples are around wedding day timings. As planning progresses, you’ll be building up a memory of the day (pun planned!) and it will be actually handy to understand the typical periods of various parts of the Wedding Planning day to assist you to prepare things.
I include a planning 1-1 proven strategy session with every couple where we’ll go through timings and I can share recommendations, but if you remain in the early stages of preparation, this guide must give you an approximation.
However before we go to discuss Wedding Planning Day, you must consider something very important.
There are individuals you truly desire at your wedding ceremony. If the wedding ceremony will include travel and an overnight stay for visitors, it’s crucial to let them understand that as quickly as possible.
Wedding planning timeline will help you to create a sound schedule for your wedding preparations. Every couple will have their own timeline since every wedding Ceremony is unique. However, it’s really important to have a detailed Wedding occasion timeline in which you can refer to at every point of your wedding planning.
First of all, your wedding ceremony timeline should be broken down into segments, for example, 6 months before the wedding, 3 months before, 1 month before, 1 week and 1 day prior to the wedding event. The most involved aspects should be scheduled to be done many months in advance, while other aspects can wait.
What exactly are the aspects that need to be scheduled way in advance? It’s different for every couple, and each couple should try to brainstorm it on their own. For instance, if you are planning on ordering a custom-made wedding dress and tuxedo, you should start dealing with this matter months before your wedding Ceremony, since you will need to select the materials, visit the tailor several times for the fittings, and then allow the time for the tailor to make the adjustments.
Same is true for custom-made wedding rings. If you are going to order custom made rings, you will need to allow at least a few months for their creation by the jeweller.
How far in advance should you book your wedding location?
Generally, you need to reserve your wedding location as soon as you can, especially if you are planning to have your wedding occasion during the so-called wedding season – April through August. Some locations actually can only be booked 12 months in advance during the “wedding season”. However, if you are planning an event to have a home wedding, you do not need to worry about this aspect at all.
When Should You Start Planning Your Wedding Invitations?
Wedding invitations are generally sent around eight weeks prior to the wedding day. However, you should remember that you will also need time to choose the invitations, as well as sign them and address them to your guests.
Wedding shoes also need to be dealt with some time in advance. If the bride has a long wedding dress, the looks of the shoes might not be of the utmost importance. The most important thing is that both, the bride and the groom feel comfortable in their shoes. Tight- or loose-fitting shoes can make anyone feel miserable, especially when you have to wear them for many hours. Thus, you may want to not only purchase the shoes in advance but also wear them for a few weeks around your home.
Wedding Ceremony timeline is crucial for any wedding. The farther in advance you start compiling your wedding planning timeline, the greater is the chance that everything will go as it should on your wedding day.
When it comes to photos, it’s finest to speak with your photographer as there are various techniques. I specialise in mainly informal, natural documentary photography, combined with traditional style group photos. The image timings revealed listed below will show that mix.
I have actually included a sample schedule listed below to help you with your planning.
First up, Bridal Preparations Wedding Planning
It’s constantly best to consult your picked make-up artist/hairstylist, however as a rough guide, allow 45 minutes for makeup and 45 minutes for hair per person. Typically, the bride-to-be has her cosmetics done last but keep in mind to permit time to get your dress on. Bridesmaids normally aid with the gown so it’s best that bridesmaids and your Mum all have their gowns on prior to they help you in to your dress.
If your dress has a zip with buttons, have a crotchet hook useful as it’s easier to do up. If your gown is a lace-up design, ensure the individual who’s helping with that on the day has actually attended your gown fitting.
The Wedding Planning
The kind of ceremony you’re having will affect the duration.
Here are the primary types:
– Register office ceremony– Typically around 20-30 minutes. Having a number of readings throughout the ceremony implies it will be around 30 minutes.
– Civil ceremony at a hotel or wedding event venue– At 30-40minutes, these are generally somewhat longer than in a registered office, often with the opportunity to include extra personalised vows and up to 3 readings. This can vary in different areas of the country, however, so it’s finest to talk to your regional register office.
– Church events tend to be around 45 minutes.
– Catholic church ceremony– Catholic events are generally a minimum of 1 hour, however, if you’re planning a mass at the end, permit 1 hour and thirty minutes.
Photography during the church ceremony
Wedding Photography Churches do not have one basic rule for photography. Whether photography is allowed or not is down to the church representative who will be officiating your wedding event. If ceremony photos are essential to you, it’s best to examine authorization before you reserve the church.
Tip: The standards churches offer can mention photography is permitted. In some cases, this refers to the signing of the register that takes place after the ceremony instead of the ceremony itself.
Concerns to ask your vicar/priest:
– Will photography be permitted during the ceremony, including the exchange of rings?
– Will the professional photographer be permitted at the front of the church or will they be shooting from the back?
– If photography throughout the exchange of rings is not permitted, would this rule be relaxed if the professional
Photographer’s camera was totally silent?
– Will the bride-to-be & groom be asked to kiss at the end of the wedding ceremony? (Sometimes this is not consisted of, so best to ask beforehand).
The reason photography is forbidden in churches is typically down to the priest or vicar not desiring there to be any interruptions throughout your wedding, but with advancements in innovation, the digital video cameras professional photographers now utilize frequently have a ‘quiet’ shutter setting or no sound at all.
I usually participate in church wedding rehearsals with my couples to speak to vicars/priests about this directly, so if your church has rigorous photography guidelines, but you’d truly like a few photos for your wedding event album, it might be an idea for your professional photographer to get in touch with the church straight, or attend your wedding practice session.
I was allowed to use Photography Flash during this wedding of Simon and Catherine when I was taking this picture
Flash Photography. This was already been informed to me when they were doing their wedding planning.
What Happens After The Ceremony?
In the lead as much as your wedding, many individuals will provide suggestions and words of wisdom and one thing you’ll hear over and over is that your day will zip. For this reason, I tend to suggest couples hang around with guests and each other after the ceremony.
This is a great time for not just getting the champagne and talking to family and friends, but for your professional photographer to shoot some natural, unposed documentary-style photos after the ceremony.
If your big day is at the same venue all the time, enable at least 90 minutes between the end of the ceremony and the start of the wedding meal as it allows lots of time for you both to relax with visitors.
Pointer: Getting wed in a church? Allow 10-15 minutes to talk to guests afterwards. It can take a great 10 minutes or so for 100 guests to leave the church.
Group photos –
You should indeed consider having group photos and it must happen all during your wedding planning session with your close one.
Whether you’d like some classic group photos and how many is totally down to you. I discover the greatest concern couples have around group photos is to do with how long they will take. They do not have to take that long at all!
Planning your group photos ahead of time and scheduling a photographer that’s really proficient at arranging individuals will imply your group photos can be finished quickly and effectively.
Here’s a number of pointers to guarantee this part of the day does not require to long and you can get back to mingling with visitors!
Idea: Planning the photos you want in advance and providing the group photo list to your professional photographer indicates they can exercise the most effective order of things in advance, leaving you both with more time to delight in the drinks reception.
Share Big day Timeline info with guests consisting of a start time for photos on the order of service or a chalkboard means visitors will know when they’re needed and are a bit less most likely to not be offered at the correct time.
If you begin with a big group picture of everybody first, your guests are all in the best place for the smaller mixes. The huge group image constantly takes the longest time to establish, however doing this first will significantly decrease the overall time for group photos.
The Wedding Meal
A 3-course meal generally takes 90 minutes. If you’re having 4 courses, permit 2 hours. Constantly contact your venue though, as some do differ a bit in service length.
Should you consider having a Band during your wedding planning session?
The answer is Offcourse YES!
Most bands will do two 45 minute sets. If you’re having an evening buffet then it works actually well to prepare the food to take location between sets.
Wedding Timeline for a 2 pm Ceremony
Wedding Planning for a 2 pm Ceremony
Photography Wedding
Here’s a rough outline of what the layout of your day might appear like:
– 14:00– Ceremony
– 14:30– Drinks reception– Pointer: Leave sufficient time to relax and chat with friends and family
– 15:00– Group photos
– 15:30– Couple portraits for 10-15 minutes
– 16:00– Wedding meal
– 17:30– Speeches
– 18:15– Speeches finish. (most locations need a minimum of 1 hour to alter the room for the evening).
– 19:30– Evening starts.
– 20:30– Very first dance.
– 20:45– Band first set (typically around 45minutes per set).
– 21:30– Evening buffet.
– 22:00– Band second set.
Wedding Planning Timeline for a 1 pm Ceremony
Are you having a Church ceremony with hotel reception?
If so, a slightly earlier start time helps avoid things feeling hurried later on in the day.
Here’s how that might look:.
13:00– Ceremony (Generally 45min for CofE, 60-90 minutes for a catholic ceremony).
13:45– Couple exit church followed by joining guests.
13:55– Quick couple picture in church followed by confetti.
14:00– Everyone journeys to the reception venue.
14:30– Beverages reception at the reception venue.
Suggestion: Enable a little additional time for visitors to arrive if they are travelling in their own automobiles. There’s always that one individual that gets lost! Use the what.3. words. app to help prevent guests from getting lost!
15:00– Group photos.
15:30– Couple portraits for 10-15 minutes.
16:00– Wedding event meal.
17:30– Speeches.
18:15– Speeches surface (most places need a minimum of 1 hour to alter the room for the evening & for the DJ to ready up.).
19:30– Evening starts.
20:30– Very first dance.
20:45– Band 1st set.
21:30– Evening buffet.
22:00– Band second set.
If you’re having a 12 midday wedding event planning or 1 pm ceremony, and the wedding event is all at the one venue, this will enable time in the afternoon for yard games.
I hope that assists provide you with some concepts around timings for your wedding event.