We see it everywhere - free timelines on Pinterest, free timelines from vendors trying to get you to book with them, here's what you need to know. Not one wedding we've ever done has had the same timeline. Not even close. Why? Every wedding is unique (as they should be!) and each one has different variables. We'll cover some of those below - but here is your takeaway - hire a professional to run your wedding day. You are spending thousands of dollars and you should be able to enjoy your day. Simple as that. You'll want to read to the bottom for our extra tip!
Okay, what should be in your timeline and what variables impact the timing?
Getting Ready
This will most often be the very first part of your day, some things to keep in mind are how many people are getting ready? Did you hire a hair and makeup artist? If so, how many team members are they bringing. Just those few details can make a difference of a couple of hours in your timeline.
Photos
Photos have a huge impact on your timeline. Some things to consider include; how long did you book your photographer, how small/large is your family, are you doing a first look... All of these things factor into how long you need to plan for in your timeline. Some other things to consider when looking at your timeline and photos are the travel time if you're planning to take photos somewhere beyond the venue. Photography is a large portion of your timeline, you want to be sure to capture those moments and your timeline helps define that.
Ceremony
How often does a group of 200 people arrive on time? Almost never, keep this in mind when determining your invitations. Your invite start time and your ceremony start time are not the same. Unless you want your cousin walking down the aisle with your wedding party, your processional will start 10-20 minutes after the invite start time.
There are so many details like this that go into your timeline, that's why hiring a professional is so important. Only a few are mentioned here and there are really so many pieces. We know each and every part of the day and how long it could take, we take all that experience and curate your perfect day.
Now, if you're budget simply will not allow for a planner, you can book a consult with us to go over your day and we include building the outline of your timeline. Yes, you can find free or cheap ones on Pinterest, Etsy, or from a non-planner vendor but your day is as unique as you are and no timeline is one size fits all.
A 90 minute deep dive with us is $250 and includes a timeline along with some of our most useful planning documents. Click here to contact us about one of our packages or a deep dive.
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