Wedding Itinerary

This is my tentative schedule for our 3:00 Sunday wedding, may add a little more time at the end of the reception to have it end around 8-8:30. Also didn't put much time for dancing as others might, we're not a huge dancing crowd. Hope this helps!

9:00 Arrive at venue to begin setup
11:00 Brief lunch break/begin getting ready
1:15 Pre-wedding photos (bride w/ her family, groom w/ his family, bride & bridesmaid, groom & groomsmen)
2:15 Finish photos to return to bride/groom suite (snack, relax, shake the nerves lol)
2:40 Early bird guests start to arrive
3:00 Invite time
3:10 Ceremony Begins (to accommodate late comers if necessary)
3:35 Ceremony Ends/Guests move to reception area
3:40 Cocktail Hour/Post Ceremony Photos
4:40 Introduction of Bride & Groom/First Dance
4:50 Welcome (Father of the Bride)
4:55 Prayer from Grandfather of Groom
5:00 Dinner begins (buffet style)
5:30 Toasts
5:45 Father/Daughter & Mother/Son Dances
6:00 Dancing
6:40 Cake cutting
7:05 Bouquet/Garter Toss
7:10 Sunset Photos
7:30 Last Dance
7:45 Send Off

I wouldn't try to really start nailing this down until much closer to the wedding. A good way to start the timeline is by deciding what the end time will be, then working backwards. For instance, if you want your reception to end at 10 pm and you're having a typical four hour reception, that means it needs to begin at 6 pm. That puts cocktail hour at 5 pm to 6 pm. If you're having a 30 minute ceremony, that means the ceremony needs to start around 4:30 pm. That would work great for an outside ceremony in the fall since sunset is so early that time of year.

Hiya Samantha

I always advise couples that the best way to go about building your day of timeline is starting at the end, or with any concrete times, and working your way backwards!

Here are two WeddingWire articles and two previous community discussions I hope you will find helpful in building this timeline -

9 Wedding Day Timeline Rules Every Couple Should Follow - includes sample timeline!

The Ultimate Wedding Photography Timeline

Timeline

Timeline