Creating a Wedding Day Timeline

Creating a well thought out timeline is essential to having your wedding run smoothly. Not only will your guests feel taken care of, but you will be able to sit back and relax on your big day. Although timelines may seem overwhelming at first, creating a well-planned one will make all the difference. By no means do we expect you to stick to the timeline 100%, but using it as a guideline will help the day run smoothly. Elizabeth Lowe from Lowe House Events says that starting and ending the wedding on time are key, and while hitting everything in the middle in the approximate right order is important, you will usually have to adjust a little to the particular set of people (Source: A Practical Wedding). Below we have provided you with a rough draft of what a timeline might look like for a 4pm ceremony time and 10pm reception end time – one of the most common formats wedding planners work with today.





10:00am – Hair and Makeup

12:00-2:00pm – Vendors arrive for setup

2:00pm – Wedding party and family photos begin

3:30pm – Guests begin to arrive; pre-ceremony music starts

4:00pm – Invite time (according to invitation)

4:15pm – Ceremony begins

4:35pm – Ceremony ends

4:40pm – Cocktail hour begins

5:45pm – Move guests into dinner

6:00pm – Dinner is served

6:30pm – Toasts

7:30pm – First dance

8:30pm – Dessert

9:45pm – Last call

10:00pm – Guests depart

11:00pm – Breakdown, staff departs

This is a basic, popular timeline and can be altered to fit your wants and needs! Weddings that incorporate particular religious ceremonies would naturally extend the timeline. We hope this gives you a better idea of how to plan the schedule for your big day!  

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