Day-of timeline

Start with working backward. If that is easier.
Or
Start with literally "Waking up", shower/teeth, get robe on for hair & makeup, eat something, triple check all items are there for the Dress/undies/ jewelry/shoes. Have pix taken of getting ready & your girls/moms there to get ready, pix of you ready in dress & girls ready. ( this should take about 3-4hrs if everyone is getting something done and they have multiple ppl there/not everyone doing the stuff to get you all ready. 4-7hrs if only 1 or 2 ppl....) Hydrate- no alcohol & snack a tiny bit- use a straw to avoid lipstick disasters and keep robe over dress until JUST before you head out.
Also, that lil shower cap- most nicer hotels give- now is the time to bust it out and hold it over your face to prevent makeup from getting on gown and getting smudged. Let others use too after... Old model trick from the professional mode here...
hope that helps somewhat

A timeline gets divided in half with ceremony right in the middle. Then you walk your way backwards from ceremony to morning and then forward from ceremony to end night.
First morning. This depends on how many people are getting ready with you. So if you need 3 or 6 hours to get ready. Go by the timeline the make up and hair gave you. This usually includes bridesmaid and mom. Second is photographer. At what time does your photography coverage starts? You want to make sure you’re ready around this time or 30 minutes before. The photographer can do some mock ups of getting ready if you’re all done or the last minute touches. So guide yourself between make up artist and photographer to great start and end timeline for getting ready. Make sure you add travel time from home to location of getting ready.
So here is my wedding as reference as it was also at 4:30. We started getting ready at 10 am. I was done by 2 when photographer coverage started. I had 4 bridesmaids, 2 moms, grandma and myself and a team of 4 make up and hair stylist. Groomsman arrived at location at 2 pm to get ready. Their photo coverage started at 2:30. Now before ceremony I had detail shots, getting ready pictures, bridal portraits and some family shots on our own.
So second is working after ceremony. Mine was only 30 minutes.
Cocktail is anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. I did an hour and a half because I didn’t have a first look. We took some pictures with family members, then bridal party all together and then us. So by 6:30 we were walking into reception follow by dinner, speeches, cake cutting, first dances and open dance floor. For dinner it depends amount or people you have and if plated or buffet this varies between an hour to 1.5 hrs. For speeches give or take 5 minutes each, cake cutting 5 minutes, first dances 5 minute each.

View Quoted Comment This! This is perfect!

I’ve done a lot of googling and Pinterest-ing to set a feasible timeline. I think this was the most helpful article I found.

https://apracticalwedding.com/calculate-wedding-timeline/

I think I started off with thinking how long do I designate for photos and getting ready with set up and whatever else before the ceremony. I wish I designated more time for photos for mine so think about if you have a large wedding party and want certain photos in then if that's important to you then give a decent amount of time for it

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This. I started "Okay, the ceremony is at __, which means i need to be there by ___ so I leave the hotel by ____ so then my hair needs to be done by/before ___. And just kept that ball rolling.

So like PP I would start from the time everything starts to when it ends or start from when its ends and work backwards. Know exactly what you're laying out and allow for food (you will need it) I haven't done my final timeline yet I am 99 days out but I have started working on one. What I have so far (its just wedding timeline for our event for everyone to see), below is what I have so far (And I will be doing a more detailed one for wedding party that includes meals and what not too):

12pm- venue opens up for people helping with decorations

3:45pm DJ will play mingle music and guests can begin seating

4pm- Parents will be seated

4:05pm processional starts and wedding party starts walking

4:15pm – bride starts walking down the aisle

4:15pm – ceremony begins

4:45pm -cocktail hour / wedding party photos

5:30pm to 7:30 pm – Dinner

7:30pm to 9:45pm – DJ plays and reception begins we all have a good time

9:50pm- Wedding Send off

10pm- DJ ends and reception ends

View Quoted Comment I’m having 3 bridesmaids and as of now, none of them are going to have their hair done by my chosen hair stylist. My mom and flower girl however, are. Photography hrs given are 8 hrs so 2pm would be picture time for the groomsmen for sure. And my party will follow when they’re done. Our reception is going to start at 6pm and the buffet will start at 6:15 as to give guests time to seat themselves. I’m able to go to the bridal suite at the location of my reception anytime after 8am, so I’m relieved with that. I’m just all in a mix with what time I should have the hair stylist show up and get started, what time I should start getting ready, when the reception parts happen, like the toasting, the special dances, or other activities we may have. It’s in a 4 hr time frame which I’m thinking is too long for a reception? The food is a buffet so guests can eat all night long.

Work with your vendors. I had the start time for ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception through the venue contract. Then, I talked to the photographer about when he wanted to start pictures based on that info. Then, using that, I spoke to the HMAU artist about when they wanted to start to be done by the time photographer needed us. If you ask, your vendors will be more than happy to help. Also, don't stress. I am 2 weeks out, and I am only now finalizing my day of timeline.