Wedding Hive Podcast

Dream Wedding Timeline

• Wedding Hive

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We're talking all about creating the perfect wedding day timeline that allows your dream day to run on autopilot. Building around two key factors – sunset time and whether you're doing a first look – helps establish the foundation for an ideal schedule that keeps everyone on track.

• Start with your ceremony time as the anchor point and work backwards
• Plan to be hidden 30 minutes before ceremony start as guests typically arrive early
• Keep cocktail hour between 60-75 minutes to maintain guest energy
• Consider whether to place special moments (first dance, parent dances) before or after dinner
• Allow your DJ to determine timing for bouquet/garter toss based on reception energy
• Include buffer time between events as safeguards against inevitable delays
• Consider adding a private last dance before your grand exit for an intimate final moment

Remember that your wedding day timeline should include plenty of buffer time – it's your best friend when creating a schedule that flows smoothly without stress or rushing.


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Speaker 1:

Hey, Queens Kelsey here back with some more Daily Buzz. So today we're gonna be talking about building your timeline. Creating a timeline is creating your dream day to run on autopilot, so this is extremely important. There are two things that I always look at when preparing couples' timelines. The first one is their sunset time. The second one is if they are wanting to do a first look. Those are two good building blocks to be able to build out an ideal timeline.

Speaker 1:

So when we start doing timelines, we want to start with the ceremony time. Everything revolves around this time and kind of jumping back. You want to know what your spacing timing looks like, meaning what time does your venue allow you to be there and what time are you ending. So those are your bookends for the day. In the middle is going to be where sunset is going to fall, followed by if you are doing a first look or if all of your photos are taking place after the ceremony. So, going back, we're going to start with your ceremony time. Like I said, everything revolves around it. You want to put your ceremony time. Like I said, everything revolves around it. You want to put your ceremony time in first because that sets the tone for the rest of your day. From there you want to move backwards. You're going to put in any photos followed underneath your ceremony, Then you're going to put in your hair and makeup. If you are doing that first look, all of those pieces are coming before ceremony. So ideally, starting from the beginning of your day, you're going to do hair and makeup, Then you're going to arrive at your first spot, wherever that might be. If you're doing hair and makeup on site, then you're staying at that place. Otherwise, you want to account for travel time from your hair and makeup location to your venue. You also want to then plan on any detailed photos. What time is your photographer arriving, All of those getting ready shots, getting into your dress, if you're doing a special first look with your father or your bridal party and then some individual portraits to then go into ceremony. If you're doing a first look, everything that I just said will stay as is. We will just pop in that first look time into your timeline prior to ceremony.

Speaker 1:

You want to plan on being tucked away, hidden wherever you are on the property about 30 minutes prior to ceremony, because that's when your guests are going to be arriving for the ceremony, Even if you plan on having late guests. Your guests do usually arrive a little early, so you want to make sure that you prepare for that and you're not in the space where you're going to be seen and revealed prior to the ceremony. After the ceremony is done, it's a great time to sign your marriage license. It's great to get that out of the way before you continue the evening. Do any family photos and cocktail hour. Honestly, for cocktail hour, you don't want it to last more than about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Overly long cocktail hours with nothing to do really will bring a damper on the day because guests start to get pretty fidgety. So having your cocktail hour anywhere between an hour to an hour and 15 minutes is ideal.

Speaker 1:

In regards to your reception after cocktail hour time, your reception things that you want to think about if you're going to do at the beginning of your reception or after dinner is done, are things like a welcome toast, maybe by you and your groom, the first dance. Are you doing any parent dances, parent speeches, dinner blessings those things you want to account for after your guests enter into the reception space, if you're doing it before dinner or if you're going to hold off and wait until after dinner is complete, Once dinner is served, is where you're doing it before dinner, or if you're going to hold off and wait until after dinner is complete. Once dinner is served is where you're going to decide if you're doing any of those pieces that I just mentioned, or if you did all those on the front end, then you go into open dancing. Different things like the cake cutting, garter toss, bouquet toss I've honestly outside of the cake, bouquet toss and garter toss I have always left up to the DJ. That is because the DJ is the one that is feeling the vibe of the room. They're the ones that know the music playlist. They're able to watch the crowd and that is a great chance for them to pop that in, knowing that it's necessary. So on timelines I always put TBD when it comes to garter and bouquet toss For your grand entrance, for your grand exit. I apologize. Make sure you have whatever you're planning. If it might be sparkler exit, if you're doing a bubble exit, maybe your friends are just cheering whatever it might be make sure you have somebody assigned to prepare those pieces and so it's ready for you at that time.

Speaker 1:

One of my favorite things on wedding nights are private last dance. That is so fun because your guests are able to get prepared for whatever your grand exit is and you and your significant other get to enjoy one last dance together before exiting for the night. So that is a very, very quick run through of building your timeline. A few things to note is buffer time is your best friend, so adding buffers between events might seem long, but they are always there as safeguards. So, for example, anytime that I put in a first dance in a timeline, I schedule a five minute first dance. Dances typically only last about two minutes and 30 seconds, so that gives me an additional two minutes and 30 seconds to have as buffer time if anything ran early or is running behind those ad buffer times. I think that is everything for now when it comes to timeline. Thanks for hanging out today and enjoying your daily buzz.