How you plan and structure your wedding day timeline is so important. It really can make the difference between a relaxed, and fun wedding day, and a stressed-out day full of rushing and panic.
The good news is, I’ve been to A LOT of weddings, and I know what works, and what doesn’t. And I’m going to show you how you can plan your wedding day to make sure you have the best experience (and the best photos) possible.
Five wedding day timeline tips to get you started
1. Plan a relaxed day, not a jam-packed day!
The most important part of wedding day timeline planning is making sure you’ve given yourselves time to actually enjoy yourselves!
If every single minute of your day is accounted for in the timeline, you’ll spend the whole day rushing from task to task instead of actually having fun.
So please just be kind to yourselves and plan in some downtime. It really will be a busy day, and you’ll be grateful for a chance to just sit down and have a chat with each other for a few minutes.
2. Give yourself a time buffer for everything
You’d be amazed how quickly a tight timeline can unravel. And in my experience of weddings, things never go exactly to plan, so you want to give yourself at least an extra 5-10 minutes for everything.
If you happen to find yourself with time to spare? Then it’s no biggie, just means you get to spend more time with the ones you love. Relaxing beats rushing any day!
3. Allow more time than you expect for morning prep
There’s a handy guide on morning prep in this series, so I won’t go into too much detail here.
But I will just say, wedding morning prep is the culprit for almost every timeline disaster! If it overruns, it messes up the timings for the entire day.
It’s also a part of the day that shouldn’t be rushed. Just start your day an hour earlier and give yourself time to enjoy it.
4. Plan your wedding day around things you actually want
It’s so easy to think you have to tick every box on the ‘wedding tradition’ checklist. But traditions take time, and you’ve only got a day. So if neither of you want to do something, just don’t do it.
If you don’t want to ‘cut the cake’ then don’t. If you aren’t ever going to look at or frame a group shot, don’t waste time having it taken.
Make a list of the group shots you want, not the ones you think you should have. Remember that there’s lots of opportunity to take natural shots of your family and friends during the drinks reception, wedding breakfast and on the dance floor.
It’s your day, so plan it around the things that’ll make you happy and forget about everything else, and the weight of other people’s judgement and opinions.
5. Think about the weather
If you’re getting married at the height of English summer, or you’re having a destination wedding, an outdoor ceremony in the middle of the day might be too hot, especially for elderly guests. A solution would be to have your ceremony later in the afternoon, or to seek out an option with some shade.
On the flip side, if you’re having a lovely festive wedding, a late ceremony will leave you with very little daylight to play with for your photos.
If you’d like golden hour shots, check what time sunset is and make sure you plan it into your timeline so we can sneak away from the crowds and get some gorgeous couples photos.
If you need wedding day timeline advice
Please don’t hesitate to ask – I’m always happy to offer my expertise and opinions.
