Why are you late??!

I was five minutes early!! I had told all of the guest half an hour early as we had a civil ceremony in the hotel. They have to start dead in time. Most of our guests had only ever been to a catholic wedding which here are always late, 45mins is pretty normal. As a result guests will arrive either dead in time or late, there is no such thing as early! Then thrown into the mix my relatives would be late for thier own funerals is the expression that we use. So yes I told people 1.30 for a2pm ceremony, some guests still ran in the door a head of me when I was standing outside the room at 1.55!! The photos and traffic often delay people according to most that I had talked to.

I've never been to a wedding that has started more than 10 minutes late!!

Create a detailed and realistic timeline, make sure to schedule enough time for hair and makeup, enough time for pictures, and triple-confirm your transportation vendors and their arrival times, and you should be good!!

I have never been to a wedding that started on time EVER. They are never more than 30 mins late but NEVER on time. EVER.

I've been to a wedding in May that started late because the bride was missing her jewelry. It was misplaced. I would advice to have great communication with whoever is taking care of your things or whoever is responsible for something. Like personal items,

Yeah, as many PPs have said, hair and makeup is often the culprit. make sure your HMUA has experience and knows how much time they need, and even then build in a buffer. i told our HMUA we needed to be ready half an hour earlier than we actually did. a DOC is a great call, though i didn't have one, but in hindsight kind of wished i had. i've only been to a couple of late weddings (and even then we're just talking 15-20 mins) and it was usually because people tried to fit in too much before the ceremony (photos, prep, etc) or the shuttles were completely borked.

What? Omg. My wedding started on time because it's extremely rude to be that late!

Create a realistic timeline. Talk to your stylist and build in extra time in case. Remember you'll need some time to pack up and/or drive if you're getting ready at a place different from your venue. 10-15 minutes late us fine, anymore and it's rude.

Do you typically run late. Are your guests the type of people to typically be late?

I just had my first wedding dream/nightscare. The guests were waiting for an hour because my bridal party didn't show up on time. My hair and make-up wasn't done at all, and I was scrambling for the 'something old, something new...", literally asking to wear other peoples earrings before walking down the aisle. I was SO upset I was late and everyone was saying, "it's no big deal to make your guests wait." I was saying - "NO! It's not okay to make my guests wait an hour!"

@Celia, love your practicality! I HATE being late and when others are late, I have almost 0 tolerance for it. FH is a little slower than me so sometimes I have to wait on him... grrr. Our wedding is a morning wedding, 11am, and we will be starting sharply on time, with or without people! We are kinda doing things traditional, so no first look or photos other then ones getting ready and me with my BMs and mom. I have breakfast planned for my BMs while we get ready and a day of coordinator as well as a good time line with plenty of room for things to go "wrong"/long. Don't be late!

My FSIL tried to tell us that every bride runs late, so therefore every wedding starts late. I've been to dozens of weddings and they've never been more than a few minutes late. I told her that we're starting on time, regardless of who is there.

I asked my HMUA to be finished an hour before I absolutely had to have them be done to ensure we're not behind schedule.

Thanks for all your comments, super helpful. Most of the weddings that were late were due to late bridal party members, bride getting ready super far from the venue, and another church event before the ceremony.

The last wedding I went to started 2 hours late. The groom forgot his suit at home and the venue was an hour away. He had picked up all the suits the day before but took his inside to try it on again and left it hanging in the closet

We were right on time, but yes I recommend building in 15-min. time buffers. It takes longer than you think to move groups of people!