Wedding Day Timeline Tips

 

My guess is you’ve probably never planned a wedding before! Yeah, you know you need to have the ceremony at some point in the arvo, leave some time for portraits and then get into the reception. But what you probably aren’t aware of is all the in-between stuff and how long things take! I talk to all of my couples in detail about the timeline for their day. I want to make sure they leave enough time for everything so that they’re relaxed and not rushed.

So, here’s my tips for crafting your wedding day timeline.

 
 

Disclaimer: You may want to get married at midnight in a bowling alley. That’s awesome - you do you! But 95% of my couples follow the more traditional wedding timeline, so that’s what the below speaks to. Feel free to take it, customise it and hit me with any questions.

2 x VARIABLES:

Time of Year: One of the biggest variables to your wedding day timeline is the time of year and specifically if we are in daylight savings time. If you’re getting married in November - forget about a 2pm ceremony at the Yamba Lighthouse. That sh!t will be brutal on a hot day.

Location: Another variable is the locations. If you’re having the ceremony and reception at the same venue, then you can be a bit more flexible with the time - as everyone is there and there’s no where else to go. However if people have to drive from ceremony to reception, then that’s another moving part that needs factoring in.

WEDDING DAY TIMELINE - NON DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

For the below timeline, we will use the 14th of September 2024. (Quick hack: Google your wedding location, “sunset” and your wedding date. E.g: Yamba sunset 14th September 2024 and you will see that sunset is 5.39pm. This means that by 6pm you will want the reception underway as it’s dark outside, so there isnt’t much that can be done!

Most of my couples book me for 8 hour or 9 hours which is around 12pm - 9pm. This depends in the distance between all of the locations I’m travelling too. As part of the booking process we will chat through all of this.

  • 12pm - Guys getting ready

  • 1pm - Girls getting ready

  • 3pm - Ceremony begins

  • 3.40pm - Celebrations!

  • 4pm - Family photos & group Photo (see notes below)

  • 4.45pm - Bridal party photos

  • 5.39pm - Sunset

  • 6pm - Reception starts, bridal party welcomed

  • 6.10pm - 8pm - Speeches and meals

  • 8pm - Cake Cutting and First Dance

  • 8.10pm - Dance floor open

If you want an awesome party with the dance floor going banana’s then I always recommend having a professional DJ or band rather than running a Spotify playlist. A professional knows how to get the party started and keep the dance floor packed.

If the dance floor is full from right after your first dance (which it usually is with a DJ/band) then I only need 30 minutes and I will capture some absolute bangers which make it look like I was there well into the night.

Group Photo - Do you really want this? Ask your married friends how often they look at this photo. It’s usually a buzz kill plus I will get photos of pretty much everyone during the reception. But if you do want one, awesome! Just allow 10-15 minutes for it and it’s best done straight after Celebrations when everyone is still in the same spot.

Family Photos - I use to think these were corny but as I get older I realise how important it is to get some nice photos of you and your nearest all looking sharp. I send a questionnaire out to you a few weeks before the wedding to capture all of the important information that I need for the day. One of the questions asks you to list out all of the family photo combo’s. If you keep this to around 10 combo’s, then it will take around 20-30 minutes.

Buffer Time

You’ll see in the timeline above that I’ve left a little buffer time, particularly after the Celebrations and around the family and group photo time. In my experience these are the areas that can sometimes run a little longer than planned. It’s good to have that buffer time added in.