With numerous people to involve and steps to occur, a wedding timeline is essential to a flawless ceremony and reception. Even the weeks and months leading up to your wedding should be mapped out to account for all the things that result in making your wedding day happen. We’ll talk through tips from our experience as wedding planners to ensure smooth sailing on your wedding day.
Start Planning as Soon as Possible
The sooner you begin planning, the sooner you know exactly what needs to be done. Begin creating a wedding planning timeline the moment you can; it’s okay if there has to be some rework down the road. If you have a specific wedding date already chosen, start there and work backward. Knowing that date, you can determine when each step leading up to it must happen. Early timelines help to coordinate planning with the venue and the vendors, as well as your bridal party, family, and friends.
List Out Everything, Then Put It on the Timeline
We mean EVERYTHING – from buying the dress to ordering invitations to how long it takes to get to the venue. Each component of your wedding has preparation time and execution time that has to be accounted for. By listing out any aspect you can think of, you can estimate the timeline more thoroughly. If your dress takes six months to order and a month to tailor, you know you need to order it at least seven months before the wedding – and likely sooner. The smallest things should be included on your wedding schedule, because they could be steps that hold up larger elements. It’s better to account for each detail rather than leave something out.
Focus on Necessities First, and Build Around Those
Start with the things most important to you, and let everything else fall into place around it. If your only requirements are a specific date or venue, and you’re flexible on the rest, use the must-haves to establish the skeleton of the timeline. Always keep the priorities locked in, then make adjustments to other parts of the timeline as needed so your necessities stay on target.
Build In Extra Time to Buffer
Limit how close you cut things on the timeline. Sure, you may forecast around seven months from order to completion of your dress, but what if there’s a delay? It’s better to build in leeway – just in case. Sometimes, even an extra day or two of wiggle room makes all the difference. Having a buffer also decreases your stress, since you’ll feel more confident there’s time for everything to happen as planned. This includes the wedding day timeline itself. Give longer windows than you think you’ll need for things like hair, makeup, and photos. It creates a cushion in case of emergency, and in the best case scenario you get extra time to relax.
Plan It Down to the Minute
When it comes to the days leading up to the wedding and the day of, make your timeline detailed. Account for every minute the day of the wedding. Use the ceremony time as an anchor point, and work backward when creating a wedding itinerary. Whatever step comes exactly before that, figure out what time it would need to occur by using how long it would take and subtracting from the ceremony time. Let’s say it’s a 5pm ceremony – you’d want to arrive by 4:45pm. If it takes you 15 minutes to drive there from where you got ready, you’d have to leave by 4:30, and maybe sooner depending on traffic. Keep working backward for each and every step, until you reach your wake up time for the morning – and then use that to determine your bedtime the night before! This is what will keep your actual wedding day running like a smooth machine, since everyone will know exactly where to be and when.
Work With a Wedding Planner
Honestly, wedding timelines are STRESSFUL to make. On top of every other aspect of planning, you’re having to account for each detail and spend time worrying about whether you missed something. If you’re not a professional wedding planner, odds are you will miss something, simply because it’s not what you do every day! Especially for the wedding reception timeline where the steps to set up the space and then ensure the celebration runs smoothly. For wedding planners like us at White Wave Events, it’s literally what we do for a living. We’ll ensure every step and moment is accounted for, and that nothing goes missed. It gives you breathing room and lets you focus on the fun parts of wedding planning you’ve actually looked forward to. We have timelines down to a science, so there’s no need for you to recreate the wheel.
Creating a timeline isn’t just for Type A people – anyone getting married should have one. It’s the best way to ensure your beautiful day goes smoothly without any hiccups. A well crafted timeline will keep planning on track, give you deadlines for ordering and arranging portions of the wedding, and will make the wedding day the dream event you’ve waited for. Looking for someone to help you create your own timeline or for wedding timeline examples? We are here to help! Whether you want us to take care of all your planning or just help here and there, White Wave Events will lend an expert hand in getting you to the altar. Submit a form or send us an email to secure our services – we limit our weddings per season so we can give abundant attention to our clients, so don’t wait!
