When it comes to your wedding day, it is important to have a schedule or timeline to follow. This way, all of your vendors, bridal party, Dj, coordinator, etc. all know when to do what! It sounds obvious, but trust me not everybody does this. Also, once you form your timeline it can be hard to stick to it! Your running late on hair and makeup, dinner runs long, you get stuck talking to your moms childhood friend? Expect the unexpected! Create a time line with a 30 minute cushion to account for drama! LOL

Make sure to be mindful of your guests when planning the timeline.

Things to avoid:

•Having a super late dinner

•Having a really long cocktail hour.. I mean it’s called cocktail HOUR for a reason… 1.5 hours is okay, but any longer and guests might get cranky!

•Not serving appetizers at your cocktail hour

•Lagging on the good stuff- bouquet toss, cake cutting, dancing!!! Get the party started, that way your guests don’t leave!

Tips for your Timeline:

•Meet with your DJ before hand. Make sure they know times to play entry songs, first dance, cake cutting, etc. If you don’t make an announcement, many guests end up missing it!

•Designate somebody to announce tables to eat.. this often goes wrong and really prolongs dinner.

•Start the toasts while people are finishing up with dinner. That way you don’t waste any time!

•Find a way to get people out on the dance floor-wether it’s watching the first dance or taking a group photo on the dance floor- transition into a fun dancing song! That way people don’t waste time getting up from their tables after dinner to dance… they’re already on the dance floor!

•Start your hair/makeup extra early.. it always takes longer than expected.

•Arrange transportation beforehand. Even if it’s just deciding who will ride in what cars, it makes for a smoother transition to the wedding venue.

Here is a list of all the things I included on my timeline. You’ll have to add in your own time frames based on the start time of your wedding.

Arrival time for bridal party

-Bridesmaids & Groomsmen

Vendors to arrive/Decor set up

Pictures before ceremony

Ceremony start time

Order of family entering

Order of wedding party entering

Songs for wedding party down the aisle

Song for bride

Song to exit ceremony

Photos – Dj to announce who to stay for photos and where to go

Cocktail hour

Dj announce guests to be seated for dinner

Grand entrance- which song to be played

Dinner time- Dj to announce tables to eat

Toasts

First dance

Father daughter dance

Mother son dance

Open dancing

Cake cutting

Bouquet toss

Garter toss

Last dance

Clean up

Add all vendors contact info on the bottom of the list, that way if anybody has questions throughout the day they know who to contact.

Print these out/email to everyone! You can not have enough!

Pick one person to keep you accountable for time throughout the wedding, whether it’s the maid of honor or wedding coordinator.

Have fun!

That’s AL you need to know about the Wedding Day Timeline!