6pm wedding need a timeline

I had a late-ish wedding also (we started cocktail hour at 6pm, ceremony at 7, reception at 7:30), and so I would STRONGLY recommend you do at least some (if not all) of your portraits before the ceremony, b/c you won't want to risk pushing the start of dinner too late, and if you have any outdoor photos, you'll need to do them earlier before it gets too dark. Here is a rough timeline:

3pm - start portraits

6pm - ceremony

6:30-7:30pm cocktail hour (finish up any portraits if necessary)

7:30 reception entrance

7:45 dinner served

8:30 first dance, followed by any parent dances (father-daughter, mother-son)

dancing

9:15 cake cutting

dancing

about 30 minutes before end of reception (11:30ish?): garter toss and bouquet toss

last dance

We checked with our photographers to create a timeline. Like @Barbara we're doing all pictures beforehand so they were the best to help us decide what time things needed to happen.

Thanks Barbara L. your timeline is awesome just talked to the photographer and he said photos at 3:30pm the only ones we cant do are the bride and groom pics because the fh doesnt want to see me until I walk down the aisle. So we will do those pics after the recessional.

Same advice - even if you aren't seeing each other until the ceremony (like FH and I), do as many pictures as you can beforehand. We are doing all the family photos beforehand (each side), and then doing the few mixed photos during cocktail hour before we do the few posed ones we want.

This is a great question. My ceremony starts at 6pm in the fall. We've looked up the approximate time the sun sets (6:47ish), and we have to do our pictures before the wedding also. Unfortunately my venue does not allow anyone on the premise until 4pm for our wedding. It certainly is a great idea to contact the photographer - I will certainly do the same.

Have you thought about a ‘day of wedding planner’ its great for the DIY bride but needs someone to be there the day of. I suggest this because your venue time allowance is tight from setting up to your wedding time.