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Bridgette
Dedicated October 2021

Wedding Timeline

Bridgette, on June 27, 2019 at 6:00 PM Posted in Planning 0 7
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Hello!

I booked our wedding venue and caterer. We're in the process of booking our photographer and DJ. However, we encountered an issue. Both vendors are asking about our timeline and I didn't even think about that yet! In order to complete our contracts with them they need to know when our start and end time for everything.

Here's the problem: I didn't realize when we booked our venue but we are only allotted four and a half hours for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. Now, in my mind, I imagined everything taking longer than that. Is this a normal amount of time? Should I try to negotiate more time? I'm worried that everything is going to feel rushed and we won't have enough time to take portraits.

7 Comments

Latest activity by Candice, on June 27, 2019 at 8:32 PM
  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
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    4.5 for ceremony, Cocktail hour and reception?! Is that including set up time? Because 4.5 for all three is really little. Typically people let you have 4.5 for the reception alone o.o
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  • Heather
    Expert October 2019
    Heather ·
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    That’s what my venue is allotting us. They are also setting up for us and cleaning up for us afterwards tho. Our photo time is scheduled during cocktail hour, and they will be bringing some out to us while we do our photos.
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  • Sherrie
    Expert August 2019
    Sherrie ·
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    That seems pretty right. We're doing 9:30am ceremony start time to 3:00pm guests leave after reception. I'd ask your venue for their timeline breakdown and see how they do it.
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  • Bridgette
    Dedicated October 2021
    Bridgette ·
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    It's not including setting up and breaking down. They allow an hour before and after.

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  • Bridgette
    Dedicated October 2021
    Bridgette ·
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    Now, my fiance and I are thinking about doing first look photographs and a large portion of our portraits before the ceremony to save time. We wanted to actually participate in cocktail hour (we're having outdoor games and apps).

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  • Hillary
    Expert October 2021
    Hillary ·
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    That seems pretty short to me. When we toured venues, they all said we would have 6 hours ceremony to end of reception.
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  • Candice
    Devoted July 2020
    Candice ·
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    Oh see I have 5 hours with the reception space so five hours for reception and cocktail hour if I was having one. We were also allotted 3 hours of ceremony time but we don't plan on using most of it and using the space for pictures before the reception also. I would see if you can get more time as that is kind of cramped.

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