Timeline Review

I think having it start ten minutes after your invite says won't be a big deal. It's likely that no one will even notice. I think my friends did this for their wedding last year, and FH (though we were just bf/gf at the time) thought we were going to be late and actually got pulled over for speeding on the way, and when we pulled into the parking lot the groom's parents were only just parking. And the ceremony started probably 10 or so minutes later. I think you'll be fine and no one will notice. It's not like people are going to be standing around looking at their watches and tapping their heels like they have some place else to be!

This looks good to me! I would be a bit flexible with dinner time, as mine took a bit longer then we expected, but it wasn't a big deal. Are you having a DJ? or DOC? Our DJ was basically our DOC and was great at sticking to the timeline but also adjusting based on the room. Our reception ended at 10:30 PM and we had photographer until 9:30 PM, we didn't do a sendoff either. However, I felt that she was there long enough to get plenty of photos, and you can only take so many of people on the dance floor!

I will say most adults know to be there early already, but since it is only a 10 minute difference I don't think it is a big deal. As for the photographer ours stayed the whole time, but our reception was over at 10 and we had the photographers for 10 hours so it worked out well for us. I would say it depends on what photos are important to you as to long late you want your photographer to stay.

I don't think a 10 minute delay is a big deal, that can happen by accident, so I think that's fine. I think the main issue people have is when the invite says 4 PM and the ceremony starts at 4:30 PM. Our photographer stayed until the very end, but we did a send off. How many guests do you have? I'd start ushering guests into the reception 5-10 minutes earlier, sometimes it takes them awhile to sit down if they are mingling or waiting on the bar. And 20 minutes seems super fast for everyone to go through a buffet but again, that depends on guest count.

The only part that's odd to me is giving away the bouquet to the couple who has been married the longest.. Do you have a plan to determine this? Most people do the anniversary dance to determine this. If that's your plan I would do that after Father/daughter & Mother/son dances. I would have your photographer stay 15-30 minutes after open dancing. There are only so many pictures of dancing to be had

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We are not going to do the anniversary dance. We are also not going to limit it to only the folks that have been married as we understand that some people have super long meaningful relationships without being married. Our DJ is going to lead the, "Stand up if you've been together for 5 + years", "Remain standing if....". It's a similar concept to the anniversary dance, we just feel like more people will participate if we incorporate into dinner, especially the folks who have been together the longest.

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Cool! Just wasn't sure what your plan was that sounds like it will work!

Only thing I see is that you are only giving 10 minutes for toasts. How many people are you planning to have stand up to speak?

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Hopefully just three people at the ceremony - My best friend, my FH brother, and my FH will thank everyone for helping us celebrate. All other toasts will be done at the rehearsal dinner. I don't anticipate any toast being longer the 3 minutes.

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I also think the Bouquet giveaway will take less than two minutes, so there is built in time for sure.

I would add more time to dinner. You open the buffet at 7:35 but then open the dance floor not even an hour later at 8:27. I would allow at least an hour, and for buffets, even 1.5 hours. I had a plated dinner and still allotted at least 1.5 hours. This gives people plenty of time to enjoy their meal, relax and socialize, and it gives you and your partner time to go around and do your table visits if you are not doing a receiving line after the ceremony.

My photographer left shortly after we opened the dance floor. She was able to get our cake cutting and first dance pictures and then a few pictures of people dancing.

I think the Timeline looks great. I agree that the 10 minutes on the front end before the actual ceremony doesn't seems to be a big deal.

My timeline is very similar to yours our ceremony is just starting at 630. When are you fitting pictures in? I’m having trouble with that since we aren’t doing a first look.

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We are not doing a first look either. Our photographer is arriving at 3pm to do all of the photos except for photos where me and my FH should be together. Then we are doing couple portraits and the remaining photos needed with both of us together during cocktail hour, but we are hoping we can get them done in 45 minutes or less so that we can mingle during cocktail hour with our guests.

This sounds like an awesome idea, I would like to be as efficient as possible before we see each other!