Wedding Day Timeline

What time are you planning to have the reception? Think of when you want/need to leave the reception venue and then work backwards. You don't want more than an hour, maybe hour and a half between the ceremony and reception for guests to be waiting around.

I would suggest doing 3:30 just to make sure you’ve given yourself and everyone else enough time to get ready, also pictures I would suggest are you and your bridesmaids, him and his groomsmen, him with his family and you with your family before the ceremony, that way after the ceremony it’s easier and less photos before reception.

Ask your vendors for timelines because that is part of their job. Do not have a gap that is longer than it takes to drive from the ceremony location to the reception if they are at separate sites. Some people say gaps are unavoidable but that is poor planning because many reception venues do allow an earlier start time but they won’t always be the super fancy venues.


Consider getting all photos done before the ceremony so you can go straight to the reception. Dismissing the rows after the ceremony goes very fast and makes sure you get to greet all guests instead of only a portion by doing table visits. Also you get to eat the cocktail hour food you paid for.

I would ask your photographer for a timeline. Then go from there.

I agree with Meghan, and suggest asking your photographer and other vendors. If they've done weddings before, then they'll have the right ideas for a timeline.

Personally, I would have the ceremony at 3:30, that way you have a little more time for pictures before, but it really depends on what time you plan on having your ceremony.

I personally would shoot for 3:30 just so you have an adequate amount of time. Plus your reception still wouldn’t end too late with that time

Ask your photographer for a timeline, consider the sunset time and the number of pictures you would like to take after the ceremony.

First congrats now its always a good idea to ask your venue if there is any event on the day you want it for or any prior events. Because that determines your time for your ceremony. And that is a whole so far I have heard some weddings here are taking place in the evening or afternoon. I'm 1 of the brides that had to move my time from 2pm to 5pm. Because of an event happening the day before we get married. And they have to clean up the space and my ppl can't go to setup until 12noon. So ask them first and from there you can choose your time

I'd say it depends on how long you have the venue.

For example, for us, we need to be done by 10:00 pm. So, our ceremony is going to be from 3:00 - 3:30, then right after we'll have cocktail hour from 3:30 - 4:30 and then reception/dinner/etc, from 4:30 - 10:00 pm. We're going to take pictures during cocktail hour.

The others are correct, it depends what time you have your reception venue from, but also what time the sunset is.

For us, we want 'golden hour' photographs (which is just before sunset) after our ceremony. When we look up the sunset for that date where our ceremony is, it's around 5:50pm ish, so our photos need to be done by then. If we want an hour of photos, then our ceremony has to end no later than 4:50. If we assume roughly 30 minutes to mingle and do group/family photos after ceremony, we're back to 4:20. 30 minute ceremony puts us back at 3:50.

Also - your photographer is going to be instrumental in being able to help you figure this out, depending on what shots you want, so reach out to them first!

Hi! I believe in the half hour goodluck rule so I would recommend the 3:30pm timeslot. If you aren't doing a first look, can your photographer get most of the individual shots done prior to the ceremony (you, your girls) (him, his guys) etc. obviously not you two seeing one another, unless you're okay with that. This will help to divide up the photography time so it wont take so long after the ceremony.