Help on the wedding day Timeline

Ok first I wanted to share our 1:00 ceremony timeline with you, in case maybe it will help you!!

Wedding Day Timeline

GIRLS

7-8AM - Breakfast

08:30 - Start getting ready

be done by 10:30/11

10:00 - Men/Parents/Kids arrive at hotel

10:45 - Dress ON time Get ready between 10-11:30

11/11:30 - Cushion/extra time

11:30/45 - Bride/Bridal Party/Parents leave for Taughannock

1200 - Groom/Best Man Leave Hotel for Taughannock

12:30 - Entire Bridal Party be at Taughannock by 12:30

12:30-1:00 - Bride/women INSIDE pavilion, doors closed. Groom and men wait under tent, First Guests arrive, Ushers direct them to the lake side of the pavilion where the ceremony will be

1:00 - Wedding invite time

1:10 - Ceremony START time

1:30 - Ceremony END (goal)

1:30-3:00 pm - Cocktail Hour, photos,

~20 mins for family photos

~ 20 mins for bridal party photos

~ 20-40 mins for portraits

~ 10 min cushion

~ 90 minutes total allowed for photos, if we end early I would like to do the grand entrance early to enjoy cocktail hour with the guests

3:00 pm - Grand Entrance & Start Meal

3:30 (roughly) - Toasts, During dinner

Toast List :FOB, FOG, BM, MOH, B&G thank everyone for coming

4:00 pm - End dinner, First Dance, Parent Dance, Anniversary Dance

4:15pm - Open Dancing/Party time!

7:30pm - Grand Exit

7:30-9pm - Clean up, Park Closes at 9PM

Ok, so do you have a DJ? Usually the DJ acts as master of ceremonies, and will help you guide your timeline along. After cocktail hour, it's up to you what to do/not do, and the time frame for each thing. For us, it will look something like this:

4:00pm--ceremony

4:30-5:30pm--cocktail hour

5:30pm--DJ will introduce the bridal party and us to the reception

5:45pm--Dinner starts--we are doing a buffet, so this is the point where our DJ will announce a few tables at a time to go up and start serving themselves. He will also play a selection of nice but subdued dinner music for background.

6:30pm--Toasts/speeches (DJ will announce)--I don't think we'll end up with too many of these, maybe just one best man/one matron of honor speech.

6:45pm--dance floor opens

The rest of the night isn't as structured at this point. We'll probably do cake cutting around 8pm, and we are also thinking about a couple of games (B&G shoe game, etc.) that the DJ will run. We just want everyone to dance, drink and be merry until the last dance at 9:30pm.

You can still structure your day similar to this, even if you don't have a DJ. You'll just need to have a little help from family/friends for some of it.

I noticed that you said your ceremony is at 1pm, but cocktail doesn't start until 2pm. Is your ceremony really an hour? If not, then you should start cocktail hour earlier, so guests aren't waiting around, since your reception is at the same place as your ceremony.

For pictures, we are doing the majority of our pictures before the ceremony. FH and I will do a first look at 2pm, followed by ALL of the wedding party photos, and as many family photos as we can squeeze in before the 4pm ceremony. This way, when the ceremony ends around 4:30, we won't need more than about 30 minutes to wrap up the rest of the formal photos, then we can get to the cocktail hour before it ends.

There is no right or wrong way to do this. Do whatever works for you guys!! Think about what you want to happen, then plan it that way. You got this!!

Ok. So. I’ll try to tick these off a little bit and just suggest ideas for you! it sounds like we have very similar set ups. My ceremony is at the same time, we also have the same ceremony/reception space.

Photos - we chose to do them after the ceremony. I am hoping to do as many of the bridal party photos before the ceremony as possible, but it’s not a huge deal, and I don’t want to be awake at 4am to get ready and BE READY by 10. So that’s why we chose to do it that way.

We allowed for an hour an an a half for the cocktail hour/ photos, and our photographer already said she doesn’t think it will take that long. Our ceremony goes from 1-1:30 ish, and we will be introduced around 3pm. Dinner will immediately follow, and we will try to do toasts right around 3:30-4, depending on how people are seated and are eating. Our first dance will be around 4ish, as well as our other dances (parent/anniversary). We are skipping cake cutting and bouquet toss, and just want to have lots of open dancing and partying.

If you aren’t having a coordinator (which I totally understand), and your aunt is willing, have her act as your coordinator and oversee the set up and before ceremony timeline. If she’s still willing, have her keep the cocktail hour on track as well! Your photographer should also be able to keep your timeline moving, ours is! The DJ also keeps the reception moving, as long as you have hired an experienced DJ.

I personally love to eat directly after the bride and groom are announced, both as a guest and for our own wedding. That was our DJs suggestion as well. He then suggested toasts at the end of the meal, then go straight into the first dance. So that doesn’t quite show on our timeline just yet but that’s the plan. We allowed an hour to eat for about 100 people. If you have a larger group, allow maybe 1.5 hours, if you’re having a buffet.

If you want to shoot me a message, I am willing to talk it out and help you as much as I can!! Timelines are tough, but they’re usually simple scheduling and organization! (My favorites!!)

This is my timeline for our 3:30 ceremony!

9:00 Arrive at venue to begin setup
11:30 Brief lunch break/begin getting ready
1:45 Pre-wedding photos (bride w/ her family, groom w/ his family, bride & bridesmaid, groom & groomsmen)
2:45 Finish photos to return to bride/groom suite
3:10 Early bird guests start to arrive
3:30 Invite time
3:40 Ceremony Begins (to accommodate late comers if necessary)
4:05 Ceremony Ends/Guests move to reception area
4:10 Cocktail Hour/Post Ceremony Photos
5:00 Introduction of Bride & Groom/First Dance
5:10 Welcome (Father of the Bride)
5:15 Dinner begins (buffet style)
6:00 Toasts
6:15 Father/Daughter & Mother/Son Dances
6:30 Dancing
7:00 Cake cutting
7:15 More dancing
7:35 Bouquet/Garter Toss
7:45 Sunset photos
8:10 Last Dance
8:15 Send Off

Hope this helps!