Day of Timeline

Edit*** ceremony cannot start earlier than 5 but the reception door opening time can change

I’m a Project Manager as my career so this may be way too much:


Honestly I just made a spreadsheet with each row being a half hour. So starting at 8am, next line 8:30am, next is 9am, on and on. And I filled in the blanks. So you would put Reception Start at 6pm and Reception End at 11pm. And fill in the rest.
Pretend like you’re a wedding planner. Identify WHAT needs to happen and WHEN, and WHOM is doing it. Ask yourself questions and work backwards. Plot it out on physical paper/excel. For me this took time and multiple conversations with some vendors so I could understand what is happening/when.

Questions that can help you to get started:
When can you start decorating the venue? Whom will be doing it? If a vendor: what time are they contracted to start? If there is no start time on the contract: call and ask them. They are the subject matter experts.
How long will your hair and make up take? Which means it’ll have to start at X time? (Work backwards from the ceremony start time)
When does your cocktail hour start and end? This might tie to: How much time for family photos/posed photos will be needed? If you don’t know call and ask your photographer.
Will you walk into reception and go straight to first dance? Then father/daughter dance will happen?The mother/son?When will DJ announce that dinner is served?When will DJ announce the cake?Plot this out on paper and make sure DJ sees no issues with it, OR ask the dj for a sample schedule. They are your hired subject matter expert after all.
Gather all the details and refine. My suggestion is to get this set up in a month or two then revisit w your vendors closer to wedding time. In fact you may be able to provide a copy of this timeline to helpers and/or vendors by then too!

Wow sorry. When I typed that out there were spaces/new lines separating some of those questions. What posted looks a bit maniac. 😐 oops!

Here's a rough draft of my wedding day timeline. I will probably change the times around a little bit once I have my hair trial and see how long it will actually take to get my hair done the day of.

6:30am – Wake up

7:00am – Breakfast w/ bridesmaids, grandma &
Mama B.

8:00am – Venue for Set-up

10:30am – Leave Venue & Head to Salon for
Hair (bridesmaids back to hotel)

12:30pm – Back to Hotel – finish getting ready
with bridesmaids

2:15pm – Leave hotel for wedding venue

2:50 pm - Bridal Party Photos & First Look –

3:45pm – Guests arrive

4:05pm – Ceremony Starts

4:20pm – Photos with Family Members & Reception
Hall Opens for Guests (Bar opens when guests are finding seats in ballroom - assigned seating)

4:45pm – Entrances & First Dance (Bar closes
during this time)

5:15pm – Dinner Buffet Opens (Bar reopens)

6:15pm – Cake Cutting

6:25pm – Dance Floor Opens

8:45pm – Last Call for Bar