Married Ladies-Timelines please :)

NMac2010

For all you married ladies out there, how did your "day of" timelines work out?

I'm not much of a "Ok, at 9:30 we'll do this, and 10, we'll do this"..I'm more of a "Ok, lets just see how the day goes" type person.

We are having a 7pm ceremony, we are arriving at the venue at 4pm to do hair and makeup, setup, and do pictures. I would like to go with my girls at some point earlier in the afternoon to get our nails done, but we haven't nailed down any time for that strictly.

Other than that, I have no specific timelines.  I also have no idea how to plan out the timeline for the reception, or if it even needs to be planned out!

Any suggestions, or advice? I don't really want a strict schedule, I guess my question is, did any of y'all have a timeline planned out down to the hour and actually follow it, or did you kind of just go with the flow of the day?

I'm not that type A...but if I need to be, I guess I can try to be for one day....

shortgirltx

I don't have my timeline on me but I pretty much followed it by hour.  I thought what's the big deal but when you look at everything you need to do, include travel time, how long it takes to do your hair and makeup it adds up quick.  I did run a little late somewhere in there because I kept talking 

As for the reception, your DJ should have that covered.  I never saw our timeline as the DJ never gave it to me so maybe someone else has their's to share.

fallbride1109

Here are my timelines.  We followed them to the T. (I AM a "let's do this at this time person!") We got off schedule for the reveal and pictures -- but Lynn had padded so much tme, we made it up and arrived at the ceremony and reception exactly on time.  If I had to do it over, I would have started hair and makeup at 12 instead of 1.  My hair and makeup was done onsite.  We did our nails the day before, before the RD.  Start from the time you need to be ready for pictures and work backward.  My DJ and event planner helped me with the reception.

Day of:
9:00 am                           Rise and shine!
10:00 am-                       Showers/breakfast/relax

12:30 pm    
12:00 pm                         Lunch arrives in Bridal Suite
12:30 pm                         MUA arrives
12:45 pm                         Girls ready for makeup and hair
1:00-2:00 pm                  BM 1 makeup/hair
2:00-4:00 pm                  Bride hair and makeup
3:30 pm                           Boys are dressed with flowers pinned
4:00 pm                           Photographers arrive
4:00 pm                           Bride gets dressed
4:00-5:00 pm                  BM 2 Hair/makeup
4:30 pm                           Bride and Groom reveal
5:00 pm                           Bridal party to terrace for pictures


Reception:

7:00            Ceremony
7:30            Cocktails
8:10            B&G Introduction
8:15            First Dance
8:20            Welcome by MIL
8:30            Dinner
9:30            Toasts
9:35            Cake Cutting
10:40         Bouquet Toss
10:45         Garter Toss
11:15         Last Dance for guests
11:25         B&G Private Last Dance
11:30         Exit

shortgirltx

I lied.  Here's the timeline:

12:30 pm- hair

2:00 pm- make up

3:30 pm- get dressed and go to reveal site

4:00 pm- reveal and bride and groom photos

5:00-6:00 pm- group pics at ceremony location

7 pm- Ceremony

NMac2010

Ok, so it looks like y'all got your hair and makeup done a lot earlier than I'm planning on it. Do you think for a 7pm ceremony, I should plan on getting my hair/makeup done earlier than 4pm?

I don't plan on seeing FI before the ceremony. I only plan on taking a few pictures with my bridal party before, the rest will be afterwards.

fallbride1109

Again, you need to set the time you have to be ready, then work backward.  You will want to do BP and family pictures--all the pics you can do without your FI.  I would ask your photographer when they suggest starting, and keep working back from there.  I'm thinking more like 3:00.  You want to err on the side of having too much time than not enough.

BanannaP

You hairstylist and makeup artist should be able to help you with figuring out how much time they'll need to get everyone done.

NMac2010

I agree that I would rather have more time, than not enough.

The problem is, we don't have a central location to meet in order for the hair stylist to do my BM's and my hair if it's not at the venue. Her studio is about an hour away from the venue, and all my BM's live in pretty opposite directions. So it would be a pain for them to have to drive all the way out to her studio, then all the way out to the venue. That's why I was hoping to have all hair, and my makeup done at the venue.

The BM's are doing their own makeup, which they can do before they get to the venue if they like, on their own time. I don't really care when they do that.

My makeup artist is a different person from the woman who's doing my hair. Also, my venue won't allow us to get there any earlier than 4pm, because they have an afternoon wedding. This is why I'm kind of in a little bit of a pickle.

shortgirltx

How far away do you live from the Venue?  Would one of the BM's be up for hosting her house for you to get your hair done and then you could head to the venue and do your make up at 4?

fallbride1109

Well I agree it's best to do it all at the venue.  But you need to allow at least an hour and a half for yourself. How many girls do you have?  With one artist, I would allow 30 minutes for each to be safe.  So you see where this is going with you starting at 4:00.   

NMac2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_married-ladies-timelines-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:733795ac-f5bf-4099-831a-158ef4cbab78Post:ab611e23-24ee-446b-9735-1977eff7bf83">Re: Married Ladies-Timelines please :)</a>:
[QUOTE]How far away do you live from the Venue?  Would one of the BM's be up for hosting her house for you to get your hair done and then you could head to the venue and do your make up at 4?
Posted by shortgirltx[/QUOTE]

FI and I live about 45 minutes from the venue.

Unfortunately, I only have 3 BM's. One of them will be in from out of town and staying with a relative. The other one has 3 kids, and 3 cats (I'm highly allergic), so her house is out, and the other is FI's sister, who lives at home with FI's mom, who also doesn't live close to the venue.

So, I'm afraid the venue is the only option we have.

NMac2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_married-ladies-timelines-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:733795ac-f5bf-4099-831a-158ef4cbab78Post:9eb8f6d3-3611-4889-9dad-29b5c9837c77">Re: Married Ladies-Timelines please :)</a>:
[QUOTE]Well I agree it's best to do it all at the venue.  But you need to allow at least an hour and a half for yourself. How many girls do you have?  With one artist, I would allow 30 minutes for each to be safe.  So you see where this is going with you starting at 4:00.   
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's probably true. Plus my hair stylist is doing my flower girl's hair as well. So, ok. Gotta think of a plan B. Maybe I could have the closest two girls to her studio get their hair done before arriving, and that way my stylist only has to do my hair, one BM, and the flower girl...?

I'm doing a trial with her for my hair next Tuesday, so we will be able to judge how long it's going to take her, and we can discuss possible options for logistics.

fallbride1109

Absolutely she can help you with that.  And I hate to be a downer--I just know I allowed 2 hours just for myself and I barely made it.  Like I said, if I had to do it over, I would have scheduled even more time.  Being rushed as I was getting ready was something I look back on and regret.

NMac2010

That's really helpful to know, Stephanie. Thank you!! I appreciate you ladies and your input, it helps a lot!

bsn1752

I dont know if it's in your budget, but maybe you could opt for a hotel room close to the venue?  That's what I'm going to do... rent one for the night of the wedding, check in around noon, and let everyone get  ready there.  Then my sister is staying there that night and taking all of my "get ready" stuff home with her, while we leave on the HM.  It's just a thought!

fallbride1109

Brianna, that's a great idea.  My venue was a hotel.  And you could even stay there the night before after the RD too which is what we did.  We did our nails, etc. Friday, got ready for the RD and then stayed there that night (but our room for the next day was free).

NMac2010

That's a good idea, I may look into that!

Thanks ladies!