Writing down your wedding day timeline can be a bit overwhelming… okay, maybe more than a little. In our experience, this is the thing that makes couples think the most. Because, I mean… sure, you’ve been invited before, but maybe you’ve never been the one trying to plan a magical and fun day for you, your boyfriend, and all your favorite humans. Moreover, every marriage is so different. How do you know what to prioritize? While we can’t make your family (ahem, mother-in—law) more predictable and less overwhelming (though we would like), we can help you figure out how to solve this very specific-and still quite important-task.
First, a note on why you need a wedding timeline (and YES, you need a timeline day). When attending a wedding that is going well, things seem to flow magically from one thing to another. People automatically seem to know where to go. You don’t spend a moment thinking about logistics because you’re having so much fun. Well, it’s a trick. The reason things seem so easy is because someone behind the scenes (maybe aedd The document that describes all this information is the wedding day timeline, and is probably the most vital document in all wedding planning… and yes, I include escapes.
Here’s the truth: Even if you’ve been to many weddings, you probably haven’t paid much attention to the length of every single aspect (except for the rare occasions when you find yourself in direct sunlight during an hour-long outdoor ceremony on a 90-degree day, which no one forgets). So when it’s time to start establishing your marriage timeline, it can be difficult to know where to start. So we have put together templates for some different types of weddings to make the process easier for you.
For my fellow type A personalities: keep in mind that your wedding calendar is just a guideline! Your marriage will not fall apart if it runs a little forward or backward. In fact, most marriages move at least fifteen to twenty minutes (if not more) from the timeline at different times of the day or night, and then catch up at that time after. You could extend the aperitif time because people are having fun (or if the kitchen is after). You could skip to the first dance because everyone has finished eating early. Your guests will not notice or care. It is essential to start and end the marriage on time-it is important to place everything in the middle in the correct approximate order, but you usually need to adjust a little to fit the particular set of people present. With all that said, on the day of, you should definitely put someone else in charge of following the wedding timeline. You want to have so much fun at your wedding that you have no idea what time it is.
One last note before going into the examples: These timelines were not written with any particular faith or tradition in mind. Catholic ceremonies with full mass tend to last about an hour, many Jewish weddings include traditions such as a ketubah or firma Be sure to make changes according to the needs and wishes of you and your partner.
VIRTUAL WEDDING TIMELINE (ZOOM) AT HOME
Of course, when it comes to getting married at home and doing curls practically with your loved ones, you have a lot of flexibility. However, you still need a plan. That way, your family knows when they should jump on zoom, and everyone will know how to prepare (whether it’s food, drinks or whatever.) We have much more information on how to organize a virtual wedding here. This example wedding timeline is for a 16-hour wedding, but obviously modify it for the time you plan to be (virtually) hooked.
