How important is a wedding itinerary??

It was so important that I didn't do it.

Hahaha.. I'm sure it's great to have -- especially if you DO have a lot of people that aren't organized. We were fine though.

Very important especially for a reference the day of for other people (vendors, bridal party, family....etc) - everyone can be on the same page and when you write it out, you'll take the guesswork out of it.

I was VERY important to me. But I had an armature DOC, so I wanted her to have minute by minute details and instructions. I'm an event coordinator at a university, so I am OCD when it comes to itineraries.

Start with a general one. Then go back and fill in the details as you get them. You can google "wedding timelines" or even search this site.

I just did mine last night. But that is because we did not hire a coordinator, and I'm a control freak and want to make sure everyone and everything is in order. And hopefully no one will have to bother me with details the day of!

Do you mean a timeline? I'm totally OCD so I have a timeline for the rehearsal & dinner, and the whole wedding day. It probably depends on how simple or complicated your wedding is.

It was extremely important on my wedding day! I had a list and itinerary for everything throughout my wedding planning and up until the last song of the night. Without it I'm sure things would have gotten out of control.

I think they are pretty important up until a certain of the day to help keep EVERYONE (you, FH, bridal party, parents, vendors) all on the same page. Especially at the reception, you want things to have a pretty smooth and quick flow and that happens by giving the itinerary (and your vendors, if they are professionals, will also end up speaking among themselves).

EX. ONLY 1pm Ceremony

12:30-groom/groomsmen arrive at the church

12:45-bride/bridsmaid arrive at church

1:00 CEREMONY BEGINS

1:50 CEREMONY CONCLUDES

(2:00-4:30pm Guests released to Open House (or to wherever)

2:00-2:30 Family portraits

2:45-3:00 Bridal party travels to alternate photo location

3:00-4:30 Bridal party photos

(5:00-6:00 COCKTAIL HOUR FOR GUESTS)

4:45-5:30 BRIDAL PARTY ARRIVES AT RECEPTION VENUE FOR PHOTOS

5:45 Bridal Party announced

6:00 Speeches

6:15 Dinner Blessing/Food served

7:00 First Dance

7:05 Father/Daughter Dance

7:10 Cake Cutting

7:30 Dance Floor opens

For me, crucial! There are so many things going on at once for different people. If one of us is late for a hair appt, it would make us late to the church and prevent us from having time to take pictures before the ceremony, which has to start promptly at 1:30 because we have to be done at a specific time. Also, I don't want to worry that the guys are running late and don't know where they need to be. The way I see it, spending the time to figure everything out beforehand means you don't have to figure anything out and get flustered the day of. You can just say, it's 11:30, and this is where I should be right now.

Thanks ladies as I'm a last minute gal!!! Lol, but hearing from you ladies makes me see the importance of it all!!

Mine is even more detailed then the one listed above as I provided one for our photographer (so she knew where she would want to be to catch shots) and one for our videographer (there limited time and want them to catch key elements) and one for the DJ (again their for a limited time and want to make sure they know the plan for the evening)...and one for my Brides/groomsmen with where they needed to be and when...and one for my guests about all the events happening that weekend LOL. So I have many of them but I totally understand that flux will happen and that we all need to prepared that it won't likely happen exactly as I planned (though I will hope it goes somewhat like it).

It's import to have to hand out to vendors so things run smoothly and everyone knows when stuff supposed to happen. I'm super organized and already have one done, lol. I found this website that has great templates to go off of:

http://apracticalwedding.com/spreadsheets/