wedding day sequence of events

roblee08 · February 2014

what is the typical wedding day sequence of events? I cannot imagine getting ready is really going to take hours, but I don't want to be unprepared. Thanks

antoto · February 2014

This is a complicated question, so I'm not sure how to answer it?

I can tell you mine, though

10am meet for hair and makeup (I have 7 BM and they are all getting both hair and makeup done, as well as me, my mother, and grandmother. It's going to take a long ass time.)

3pm first look photos, bridal party photos, chill out and drink champagne and eat carbs

6pm ceremony begins

6:30 cocktail hour begins

7:30 dinner begins

then your basic first dance, dinner served, father daughter dance, cake cutting, booty dancing ensues.

12 am reception concludes

But there's a different answer for everyone depending on... well... everything?

Inkdancer · February 2014

Getting ready really can take hours... and even if you don't think it will, prep for it.

This is the day you will want your hair and makeup to be perfect. You'll want to spend extra time making sure everything is exactly in place.

Then, plan for something to be forgotten. My bestie arrived to the ceremony and realized her dress sash was left behind. The wedding started late because she hadn't padded in extra time to retrieve things. If your stockings run, a heel breaks, your bra pops a clip, or you just can't seem to settle down for more than 30 seconds at a time, you'll want extra time to make sure everything is where it needs to be.

My current timeline looks like this:

6:00 am - wake up and shower
6:30 am - hair
7:30 am - makeup
8:15 am - leave for venue
8:30 am - coordinate last-minute details with venue/ caterer/ florist
9:00 am - put on dress
9:15-10:30 am - pictures with bridesmaids, mom, detail pictures. (somewhere in there a last check over the venue)
10:30 am - hide in bridal suite as people begin to arrive
11 am - first look with FI outside the chapel, then we walk in together and the wedding begins.

emmyg65 · February 2014

I modified the day-of timeline provided by A Practical Wedding (link). This is pretty much what my timeline looked like:

11:00 am - FH and families head to venue to set up; I go get my hair done

12:00 pm - Lunch with my bestie, then back to the hotel to do my makeup and get dressed

3:00 pm - Due at venue for first look and couples' photos

4:00 pm - Formal family portraits

5:00 pm - Ceremony begins

6:00 pm - Reception begins with dinner

7:30 pm - Thank you speech and cake cutting

8:00 pm - First dance

10:30 pm - Last dance

You want to build in plenty of extra time in case something happens and so you don't have to rush. For example, it takes about 15 minutes to travel between the hotel we stayed at and our venue, but I left 30 minutes for travel on the wedding day.

melbenso · February 2014

My tentative day of schedule thus far:
8ish - wake up, shower, have breakfast, try not to go too stir crazy
10:00 - hair and makeup at salon with mom and bridesmaids (start time recommended by salon based on the time I wanted to leave to get to wedding location), lunch and champagne at salon with bridesmaids and mom
12:45(ish) - leave for ceremony location
2:00- work out any last minute details at location, make sure cake and flowers have arrived, etc.
2:30 - get dressed and take some getting ready photos with bridesmaids, separate getting ready photos with groom & groomsman
4:00 - ceremony begins
4:45(ish) - receiving line
5:00 - cocktail hour for guests / family photos (5:00), full bridal party photos (5:20), bride and groom photos (5:40)
6:00(ish) - bride and groom arrive for tail end of cocktails
6:30 - dinner and toasts
7:30 (assuming everyone is served promptly) - first dance, father/daughter dance, mother/son dance
8:00(ish) - cake cutting, and then dance the night away
12:00 a.m. - reception ends, go to hotel bar for casual drink with hangers on if still able to stand up

Maggie0829 · February 2014

Here was mine...

8:30am - BM, MOG, hair stylist and MUA arrived at my house.

8:30-1pm - hair and makeup were done

1-1:45pm - travel to venue

1:45-3:30pm - looked at decor and relaxed in bridal suite

3:30-3:45pm - everyone got dressed and groom/groomsmen arrived at venue

3:45-4:15pm - pre-wedding photos

4:15-4:30pm - try not to go crazy waiting for ceremony to start

4:30-4:45 - ceremony

4:45-5:45pm (ish) - cocktail hour/pictures

6-6:45pm (ish) - entrance, first dance, father/daughter dance and mother/son dance

6:45-7:45pm (ish) - dinner and table visits

7:45- till end - party time!

Inkdancer · February 2014

@Maggie0829 Why did hair and makeup take 4 hours? (I ask because I am now afraid that I am not planning to get up early enough...)

AprilH81 · February 2014

We had a winter morning ceremony. I had 3 other women getting hair and make-up done (MIL, Mom and Sister) so four people total and we had THREE stylists. Here is our schedule.

6:30 am hair and make-up begins (we were 20 minutes late due to a snow storm)

8:30 MIL, Mom and sister were supposed to get dressed (we were still in hair and make-up)

9:00 I was supposed to get dressed (still in hair and make-up)

9:30 First look (still in hair and make-up)

10:00 I finally got dressed

10:15 First look

10:30 Guest arrival

11:00 ceremony

11:30 family pictures/start of cocktail hour

12:30 reception begins

Fortunately we had the time allocated for our first look so we had a buffer, but we lost an hour of pictures because hair and make-up took WAY longer, even after I had two hair trials. Things will take longer than you expect so plan several time blocks that can be moved around if you are running late.

Maggie0829 · February 2014

Inkdancer said:

@Maggie0829 Why did hair and makeup take 4 hours? (I ask because I am now afraid that I am not planning to get up early enough...)

@Inkdancer - Because we only had one hair and makeup person and the makeup person was a little on the slow side (knew that going in so we planned accordingly). She also fell behind because my MIL was beyond picky with her makeup...I think the MUA spent an hour on her face!

Also I have a lions mane for hair so it took my hair person an hour just for me.

The other hair updos took about 45 minutes each. We really weren't in a huge rush (there were 4 of us getting gussied up) so I think both worked a bit slower then they normally would have. Also, my one BM works with both of them so this was an 'on the side' type of thing so we weren't getting charged normal salon prices.

Inkdancer · February 2014

@Maggie0829 Ah, four updos and a picky MIL would do it. I am only getting my hair and makeup done so hopefully an hour and a half will be enough time for 2 stylists to make me look nice!

AprilH81 · February 2014

Inkdancer said:

@Maggie0829 Ah, four updos and a picky MIL would do it. I am only getting my hair and makeup done so hopefully an hour and a half will be enough time for 2 stylists to make me look nice!

I would schedule two hours to be on the safe side, but since it is only you that is much easier to estimate! The more people and more stylists you have the harder it is to stay on schedule.

Maggie0829 · February 2014

Inkdancer said:

@Maggie0829 Ah, four updos and a picky MIL would do it. I am only getting my hair and makeup done so hopefully an hour and a half will be enough time for 2 stylists to make me look nice!

Yeah you definitely do not need a lot of time if it is only you. I would ask your stylists to see how much time they suggest. An hour and a half seems like plenty of time but I agree with April that I would schedule more time then you think just in case. Better to be done early then stressing because you are running late.

Inkdancer · February 2014

Maggie0829 said:

Inkdancer said:

@Maggie0829 Ah, four updos and a picky MIL would do it. I am only getting my hair and makeup done so hopefully an hour and a half will be enough time for 2 stylists to make me look nice!

Yeah you definitely do not need a lot of time if it is only you. I would ask your stylists to see how much time they suggest. An hour and a half seems like plenty of time but I agree with April that I would schedule more time then you think just in case. Better to be done early then stressing because you are running late.

I already have... I'm not getting an updo, so I think an hour should be more than I need.

I'm also padding out the whole day. I'm an event planner by day, so I definitely know the value of "if you think it will take 10 minutes, plan for 30."

wedding day sequence of events

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