Planning the Day-Of

Knottie45364762 · September 2015

Any ladies have advice for creating a timeline for the day-of the wedding? It seems overwhelming with how much will need to be done in such a small amount of time.

jessc2010 · September 2015

Well I would imagine everyone's is really different. Do you have to do any type of set up, or is there a coordinator taking care of everything for you?

Our venue had a coordinator who sets everything up, I am delivering everything the week of the wedding and going over it all with her and how I want it then. This is a huge relief because I would have been going nutty trying to do it the day of!

This is my day of time line and it is based off of when my coordinator wants us back to the venue for the ceremony as well as recommendations from our photographer for time they need.

12pm bridesmaids arrive. Start hair and makeup
130pm Jillian (make up artist) arrives doing bride, MOH, and MLB
230 photographers and videographers arrive
Getting ready shots bride and groom exchange letters/gifts
300 bridesmaids in dresses
315 bride in dress
330 groom and daughter first look and leave for photo site
340 rest of wedding party and parents leave for photo site; groom arrives and gets into spot
350 bride arrives; first look and portraits
415 wedding party photos
440 family photos
500 bride and groom alone time and candid shots
Leave for venue
515/520 back at venue....wait any forgotten shots?
540 guests start to be seated
6pm mothers seated ceremony begins
630 ceremony ends
630-715 cocktail hour a few family shots with family members not present earlier.
720 grand entrance, dance
730 dinner is served, speeches, dances, cakes
Reception
1120 sparklers
1130 to the lounge for late night snacks and drinks. Photo and video done.

I hope that is helpful! I would really talk to your photographer and see what they think. Ours was a great resource!

ryanandjoe4 · September 2015

There is a previous thread that I posted sites that helped me make my timeline, and my timeline..

here it is:

http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/1057563/itinerary#latest

peachy13 · September 2015

I think whatever you do, make sure you get a good night's sleep the night before. Chances are you'll need to wake up early the morning of. Morning of, my two main focuses are to start the day off refreshed with a good shower, and make sure I eat a good breakfast. Then let the craziness happen.

ryanandjoe4 · September 2015

YES, this is all included in my timeline (except the shower) even a note to have a big lunch dinner is late!

peachy13 said:

I think whatever you do, make sure you get a good night's sleep the night before. Chances are you'll need to wake up early the morning of. Morning of, my two main focuses are to start the day off refreshed with a good shower, and make sure I eat a good breakfast. Then let the craziness happen.

frenchiekin · September 2015

Knottie45364762 said:

Any ladies have advice for creating a timeline for the day-of the wedding? It seems overwhelming with how much will need to be done in such a small amount of time.

Definitely talk to your photographer. Timelines can really vary depending on travel between the different places you need to be, whether you are doing a first look, if you have hair/makeup happening, etc. Your photographer should at least be able to tell you when you need to be 100% dressed and ready for photos to start with enough time before the ceremony. You can work backwards from there to schedule your hair/makeup, getting dressed, etc. If you are looking for the timeline for the ceremony and reception, that depends on even more factors. A Practical Wedding (www.apracticalwedding.com) has some awesome templates to make your timelines with if you need a foundation to work from.

ryanandjoe4 · September 2015

YES, this is all included in my timeline (except the shower) even a note to have a big lunch dinner is late!

peachy13 said:

I think whatever you do, make sure you get a good night's sleep the night before. Chances are you'll need to wake up early the morning of. Morning of, my two main focuses are to start the day off refreshed with a good shower, and make sure I eat a good breakfast. Then let the craziness happen.

inconceivable14 · September 2015

Do you have a catering manager, or coordinator at your venue? Ours was awesome at creating a rough timeline, which really helped for the reception area of knowing how long dinner service would take, and what is involved in that.

If you don't, talk to your photographer. Start at the ceremony time, work back from there. Pad in some extra time in case things run late (for instance, I made our conclusion time for hair/makeup to be an hour before it really has to be done, just in case). If you don't run late, great, you have some extra time to relax and calm those nerves!

For the reception (after you've timed out everything up to the ceremony), start backwards from the time of the "all clear" for your venue. That will give you an idea of when things have to end. Also, pad in some time for dinner service.

Planning the Day-Of

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