Getting Ready, First Look, & Ceremony

Cocktail Hour & Reception

I wouldn’t call myself a control freak per se, but my inner Monica Gellar may have reared her ugly head more than once during the wedding planning process. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that perfect strangers were going to come into my wedding, absorb every detail I obsessed over for the past 18 months and execute it all without me even being there. Clearly I haven’t thrown many events because…that’s kind of the point.

Either way having a clearly detailed timeline made me feel more at ease, so I spent a good amount of time looking up other wedding timelines as a baseline. It turns out no two timelines are exactly alike, so I used the timelines I found on Pinterest as a guideline for our own. Each vendor will have their own timing in mind, so it helps to know their expectations early so you can plug it into your master timeline. Because I lost my mind like to be thorough, I also made different timelines for vendors, family members, and the wedding party so everyone knew where they should be (and wouldn’t all text or call me with questions day of).

The timeline above is loosely what Jordan and I followed on the day of our wedding. There were a few decisions that made our timeline unique, like choosing to do a first and time constraints of our venue, but hopefully it’s still a good resource for someone just starting to plan their own! A couple things to keep in mind when crafting your own timeline…

Don’t Forget to Eat! (And Feed Your Bridal Party)

It may seem silly, but just trust me on this one or you’ll regret it. Build meals and snacks into your timeline, or you just may find yourself starving and about to pass out before you even walk down the aisle. The day passes so quickly and it’s easy to forget to eat, so just plan ahead and know exactly what and when everyone will be able to sneak in a bite!

Bride & Groom Grand Entrance

We chose to have our grand entrance roll right into our first dance. We’ve attended weddings where the grand entrance is announced and people go wild and then….then what? Dinner is served? Do we sit? Do we greet people? To avoid that “now what” feeling we walked straight to the dance floor as soon as the DJ announced “Mr. and Mrs. Weiss” for the first time. It gave us a clear plan, and entertainment for our guests (instead of just watching us walk past them and promptly sit down to stuff our faces! Which would have been the alternative in our case haha) So we made sure to include that in our timeline, because it effected when dinner was officially served.

First Look…It’s a Must!

I’m toying with the idea of doing a whole post dedicated to why I’m SO GLAD we did a first look, but in the meantime it’s worth mentioning because it played a huge role in our timeline. We had to stagger our arrival time at the venue to make sure we didn’t accidentally see each other, but otherwise our first look was an easy and essential element to our day running smoothly. Not to mention, a very special moment for the two of us!

When The Bride Has an Outfit Change

You all know by now that I decided to be a little extra, and had two wedding dresses (technically “wedding outfits” because one was separates but you know what I mean.) Deciding when I would change was crucial to our timeline because we worked photos, speeches, and parent dances around this outfit change. My coordinator kept track and gave me the signal when to sneak off to change so I didn’t even have to think about it, which was amazing.

Which Traditions to Ditch

Several things played into our decision to ditch the bouquet and garter tosses, but a big deciding factor was our overall timeline. We had to end our reception so early (10pm) and prioritized cake cutting, parent dances, and one-on-one time with our guests ahead of those traditions. We also have very few single friends and family members so we worried it might be awkward having such a small crowd. We certainly didn’t feel like we missed out on much by leaving them off of our timeline.

That wraps up all my tips and things to consider when piecing together your wedding timeline. I hope this was helpful and that your day goes off without a hitch! 🙂 What wedding content would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments!

Wedding Photographer: Rachel Stelter | Florist: Milieu Florals | Venue: Descanso Gardens | Videographer: Narrative Films | Catering: Patina Group | Dress #1: Watters | Outfit #2, Skirt: Mila Bridal, Bodysuit: Express | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Hair: Marc Mapile | Makeup: Kelly Tran Artistry | Groom’s Suit: Suit Supply | Rentals: Signature Party Rentals | Lawn Game Rental: Joymode | Gold “The Weisses” Sign: One Love Metals |