From the Experts: How to Create a Wedding Day Timeline
As you approach your upcoming wedding day, you’ve probably already had the chance to finalize the big decisions of your "I do": you know where the ceremony is going to take place, you have your floral arrangements created, and you’ve indulged in some cake tasting, too! All of the time you’ve spent dreaming about your perfect soiree is about to become a reality and the journey of your and your groom’s life together is about to begin - how exciting!
The only way to ensure your nuptials live up to your standards (in other words, that they go off without a hitch) is to create a wedding day timeline. A timeline is essential to your wedding day because it keeps the craziness that is often Asheville weddings to a minimum. No one will be wondering where they need to be and when things will be happening because it will be clearly laid out in the timeline that you of course hand off to everyone of importance to your day: including family members, wedding party guys and gals, and your vendors. So how should you go about creating your day-of wedding timeline? We asked a few of our expert wedding planners from around the country to answer just that. Read on for their their best tips to craft a thorough day-of timeline.
Why Bother To Have A Timeline?
“The timeline is the foundation to a successful wedding celebration. Without a good plan, your vendors will be out of sync and you may find yourself feeling rushed to fit everything in as the evening comes to a close. Your timeline will also orchestrate the highlights of the evening from the introduction of the wedding party, first dance, father-daughter dance, food service, toasts, cake cutting, bouquet toss to your exit. A well-designed timeline is what creates a wedding with good energy from start to finish.”
Vanessa of Aspen's V Adam Event Planning brings home the point that if a bride and groom aren’t stressed about when their bouquets and boutonnieres are arriving, they can relax and enjoy their special day together:
“Wedding day timelines ensure a seamless flow of events for the day… It's one of the most exciting days of your life and it goes by so quickly, so having a timeline is crucial in making sure all the little details don't go unnoticed and allowing brides (and groom/family) to enjoy the day while cherishing every moment. Having a wedding day timeline allows for the bride and groom to purely make the day about themselves and celebrate their love.”
Alexis of Newport's Unique Weddings by Alexis makes a good point in saying that the timeline is actually a wonderful tool for your team of Asheville wedding vendors to have to make sure your day stays on track:
“This schedule is what will help insure that all of the very important items you want to include in your wedding celebration are not overlooked on this very busy occasion. It will also notify your team as to where to be and when for those special moments like your reception introductions, first dance, toasts, cake cutting, parent dances, and more.”
Where Should You Start?
When creating your wedding day timeline, there are a few different jumping off points you can start from but all of our expert event planners agree that you should work with what you know first: your ceremony start time, how long you have your photographer booked, etc., and then fill in the blanks from there.
Here’s what Julie Bunkley of Birmingham's Invision Events had to say:
“I always start with two points in mind: what time the ceremony starts and how many hours you have with your photographer. Once you think about what you need to fit into the time span you have booked with your photographer, you have a clear path as to what needs to happen before the ceremony and what happens after.”
On the flip side, CiBi Events prefers to work backwards in order to figure out the best time for the wedding ceremony:
”Start from the end time and work backwards from there. Most venues have a required end time and you have most likely booked a certain number of hours. I recommend five hours to include your ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. So let's say your end time is 10:30pm; that would make your ceremony start time 5:30 if you are having a 5-hour event.”
Fill In The Blanks
So now that you’ve gotten the obvious time slots filled in with your hair/makeup appointments for your girls, your walk down the aisle, and your portraits with your new hubby after the ceremony, it’s time to fill in all those smaller activities and events that will take place on your big day!
Our experts share their best tips for ensuring you make time for everything your heart desires:
Unique Weddings by Alexis shares the must-haves for your timeline: “[Be sure to add in]: Time to get your gown, shoes, accessories on and ready to head out. Build in time if you are giving or receiving a gift from your fiancé - which will be captured by your photographer/videographer. Also transportation: your wedding party will need to get to the ceremony, to the reception, and to formal photos of course."
When we asked Ashley Douglass, a planner in the Hamptons, Hudson Valley, and Greenwich & owner of Ashley Douglass Events, what should be on a bride’s timeline, she stressed that every last detail should be included on your timeline down to the most minuscule of tasks:
“EVERYTHING you can think of. 'Take my casual shoes with me when I go to the church, leave them in the car during ceremony, take the other car from church to reception with my husband, have this bridesmaid takes my casual shoes into the reception from the first car of the day,' etc.”
When scheduling the details of your timeline, Vanessa at V Adam Event Planning is quick to remind us that a bride and groom should allow for some relaxation in the morning before the festivities kick off:
”Every bride and groom should think about how they want to start their special day. Whether it's a walk or yoga class with bridesmaids or a golf game for the guys, it's important to have some 'me' time and just relax to enjoy the day ahead.”
Get Some Insight From Your Vendors
You took the time to hire fabulous wedding vendors in Asheville to make your Asheville weddings a success, but they’re also an incredible resource to utilize when mapping out your wedding day timeline. Their years of experience in the wedding business with be of great value to you as determine when your caterer, florist, and DJ will be arriving & how much time they will need to set up and also tear down at the end of the night. Also, don’t forget to enlist the help of wedding planners in Asheville to keep it all straight; that’s what they’re there for!
Invision Events drives this point home:
“The photography timeline is crucial before the ceremony. The catering timeline is crucial at the reception. If you can keep those two vendors in mind when creating the timeline, you will have vendors who can manage your day for you and therefore a happy bride and groom and happy guests! As with everything, once you have made a timeline, turn it over to one point person who can manage it for you that day. You or your mom don't need to be the person that the caterer or the photographer go to for questions. Let an experienced planner direct the timeline as a whole. They can also help you create that timeline so that it works for all involved.”
More Expert Advice
Now that you have a sense of what should be included on your day-of wedding timeline, we asked our experts to share their foolproof advice to ensure your wedding day flows without hiccups:“Overestimate almost everything. Make a timeline down to the 5-minute mark; you may not stay completely on schedule, but your team will have the proper order of operations which will ensure no one will miss anything important,” says Alexis at Unique Weddings by Alexis.
Julie at Invision Events stressed the importance of penciling in some time for you and the groom:"Down time. I love building in time for the bride and groom to have a small meal or simply time to catch their breath together before entering their reception. If not, they could go all night without having any time to appreciate each other without a group around them. And a first look doesn't count. I'm talking about time where they are by themselves, no one asking them questions or telling them to be somewhere or even any lenses around if possible. Even 15-20 minutes does a world of good.”
Ashley Douglass Events says that if you choose to go without a wedding planner to handle all this hassle for you, it’s super important to confirm with your vendors in the coming days before the "I do": “If you don't have a planner, always do confirmation calls about 5 and 1/2 days before your wedding. Some vendors won't be able to talk the day before because they may have another event or wedding, but at least follow up with another voicemail. Write all contact info into the timeline even though you have another separate contact sheet. Have everything in the timeline.”
Are you ready to start mapping out your wedding day timeline? You know what to do - get in touch with local wedding planners in Asheville!
FEATURED IN THIS POST
Our Asheville weddings blog has a lot of great ideas at:
Our Asheville weddings Pinterest page has a lot of great ideas at:
Here is our "Top 10" list:
10 Questions to Ask a Wedding DJ
James Herrick has been a mobile DJ for over 32 years and brings his 10 years radio and TV experience as a professional announcer and host. He is a certified ADJ Professional and has worked at such stations as: 98.7 KISS-FM, 94.5 WWWI Country, WKLM, WGLD Oldies, AM 950 WPET, WLXI TV-61 The Triads Video Music Channel, The Music 106 WUAG, and 90.9 WQFS.
