Organizing day-of timing

khubbert1022

Hi everyone!  My wedding is at 2pm, and the salon where I (and some of my bridesmaids) are getting our hair/makup done asked what time we need to be out of the salon by.  Any suggestions on how much time I should leave between leaving the salon and arriving at the church?  The salon is about 5 min from the house, and the church is about 5-7 min from the house.  I'm just making sure we all have enough time to get dressed, relax, take photos, and leave for the church.  Thank you so much!

floridabride44

Does your church have a wedding coordinator that you're working with? I had a church wedding and there was a woman there who helped coordinate everything... she told us how early to be at the church. I think it was about an hour and a half before the ceremony started?  We got dressed at the church though, and then took some photos in our little getting-ready room (my BMs and I... not with FI) before the ceremony started.  Our ceremony was at 3:30, and hair and makeup started very early that morning at the hotel. 

Check with your contact person at the church and see how early they recommend you arrive, then work backwards from there. And always build in extra time. You definitely don't want to start your ceremony late and make your guests wait! 

MobKaz

khubbert1022 said:

Hi everyone!  My wedding is at 2pm, and the salon where I (and some of my bridesmaids) are getting our hair/makup done asked what time we need to be out of the salon by.  Any suggestions on how much time I should leave between leaving the salon and arriving at the church?  The salon is about 5 min from the house, and the church is about 5-7 min from the house.  I'm just making sure we all have enough time to get dressed, relax, take photos, and leave for the church.  Thank you so much!

My daughter's wedding was at 3:00 PM.  The distance between the house and church was about 10 minutes.  The photographer asked that all girls be at the house by 1:00 completely dressed and made up to allow enough time for photographs.  My daughter had to be ready a bit earlier, as she needed to take family photographs before the wedding party arrived.  They started getting ready to leave for the church by 2:30.  It's a bit of a slower process trying to get into a car in a full gown!

Ghostie625

First, figure out what time you need to be at the church. For my friend's wedding the priest wanted the bridal party there half hour before the ceremony.
Then talk to your photographer and figure out how long they think you need for pictures. 
Factor in a few extra minutes for transportation (because you never know!).
Figure out how much time you want to spend at your house getting ready- an hour is probably enough time for you to get dressed without feeling rushed, but you can always pad in some extra time if you want.
Once you know how much time you want for these things you just count backwards, basically.

Ex:
You need to be at the church for 1:30,
leave your house by 1:15,
90 minutes for pics so photographer is there by 11:45, (earlier if they're taking pics of your dress/accessories before you get dressed)
you want an hour to get ready so you need to be back at your house by 10:45,
so you should leave the salon by 10:30.

Adjust accordingly.

nerdwife

khubbert1022 said:

Hi everyone!  My wedding is at 2pm, and the salon where I (and some of my bridesmaids) are getting our hair/makup done asked what time we need to be out of the salon by.  Any suggestions on how much time I should leave between leaving the salon and arriving at the church?  The salon is about 5 min from the house, and the church is about 5-7 min from the house.  I'm just making sure we all have enough time to get dressed, relax, take photos, and leave for the church.  Thank you so much!

I would ask your photographer. I just had a long chat with mine about start times and such and he went into a detailed description of who needed to be ready and at the venue when.

khubbert1022

Didn't even think to ask the church.  Asking the photographer is also a great idea, and I appreciate the timeline examples-they help to put things in perspective. Thank you so much everybody!

khubbert1022

  

[Deleted User]

Give yourself 1 1/2 - 2 hours at church. You also want to plan some buffer time at the salon in case someone goes longer then planned. When you get to the church, has a small sandwich tray or something to eat & some drinks, doesn't even have to be alcohol. Remember that you & BM will probably eat before going to salon and if you don't eat when you get to the church, it's a really long time between breakfast & your reception to eat. And hungry people can turn into angry people. So if you leave yourself 30-45 minutes or so to relax and get yourself organized, you'll still have plenty of time to get into dresses & to get a few photos in before hand.

cowgirl8238

We started with our venue, got their time.  Told the photographer that time and she told us her start time.  Went to the salon with that time, and they told us their start time...

It seems like a lot at first, but it all goes smoother if you take a little time to plan.  We used a salon with three hair specialist and a MUA and were there from 7AM to 9:30AM...snacks were a god-send once we got to the venue where we all got dressed and did the pre-ceremony photos!