The Bride And Groom Kiss At The Altar Professional Photo

This is a bit misleading.

There is no single best wedding schedule — just the schedule that works best for you and what you want out of the day. So let me share with you a few things to consider as you set up your wedding day plan of attack.

I’ve tucked them into a nice accordion-style interaction below to save you from scrolling. I may appear to be a devil-may-care kind of guy, but I’m a sucker for quality organization.

Your planning process needs to stem from this central truth.

Thanks to the colossal forces of the wedding industry and tradition, we’ve centered around a few broad templates for how we do weddings, and more than likely you’ll want to follow one of those. They include a handful of fun and recognizable traditions.

However, it’s worth noting at least once that technically you can do whatever you want. There will be no Bouquet Toss Police or First Look Enforcement Officers.

Maybe you want a breakfast buffet, a group showing of Love Actually , or a family 5k. (HA!) The only thing you have to do on your wedding day is get married.

Whether or not you do a first look, your schedule gets much more complicated if everything involving your significant other needs to be pushed until after the ceremony. Notice how comfortable the sample schedule below is on account of not needing to squeeze formal portraits and bridal party photos between the ceremony and dinner.

Also, if you like your friends and family (not always the case, I get that), this allows you to be present and hang out with them during the cocktail hour.

(Per my first note, if you do want that traditional moment of seeing each other for the first time as one of you walks down the aisle, more power to you.)

The last thing you want on your wedding day is to be stressed about a schedule. If you pack things too closely together, that impacts my ability to create the best possible photographs — but more importantly, it removes you from your wedding day as you shift your focus from celebration to orchestration.

So build in one or two buffers. These are times when you and the bridal party can pause, catch your breath, grab a coffee, eat lunch, stay hydrated, and collect yourselves. And if hair and makeup take too long or the flowers arrive late, you’ve got some cushion.

Pro tip: build these around times that don’t inconvenience your guests and leave them idling around. A 30-minute window just before the ceremony and/or a slightly extended dinner window won’t hurt.

One last note: this advice does not mean to add 15 minutes to everything “in case it goes long.” Don’t do that. That’s how you end up with everyone sitting around idling their thumbs for an hour while you wait for the schedule to catch up to you. Instead, have those gaps be planned and flexible.

Schedule considerations are all about reducing potential stress points and ensuring that you enjoy your wedding. Being stuck waiting to get hair and makeup done as you have 15 other places you’d like to be is not helpful.

This one is more for me to worry about than you, but when setting up a wedding schedule with couples, I always mark the approximate sunset on my timeline. Why?

Because often this falls in that sweet spot after you’ve finished eating, but guests are still dining or the dance floor is being set up.

It’s great to carve out a small window of time to escape with just your significant other. We’ll capture some amazing golden hour photographs, but equally important, this gives you two a moment to pause, catch your breath, and celebrate your milestone day.

When you do have your schedule set up, be sure that your vendors are all aware of your timeline and expectations. This empowers us to help you keep the day moving smoothly.

The DJ needs to know when to cue the grand entrance, I’ll need to know if you have any special events planned, and of course your caterer will need to know when dinner starts. (You chuckle, but crazier miscommunications have happened.)

This also applies to your guests. Be sure they know when they should be sitting at their tables or wherever else you may want or need them to be.

If you have a larger informal group picture you’d like taken (such as fellow alumni), it doesn’t hurt to print something like “Heads up, former WSU grads, we’re taking a group photo under the awning after the dances are done!”

You might hear this mantra from other experienced vendors. Remember that you are the boss on your wedding day, so there is no penalty for things not happening exactly when you scheduled them to happen (save for, potentially, the ceremony).

If the first dances start 15 minutes later than expected, that is A-OK.

Schedules are great for giving everyone a sense of when things will happen, but trying to hold tight to a minute-by-minute plan while coordinating dozens of people is a recipe for unnecessary stress.

It’s okay to set a few things in stone (ceremony at 3:00 / dinner served at 6:00), but don’t fret if the cake cutting happens at 7:23 and not 7:15.

So, all of that aside, here are a few sample timelines that you can consider. Pick the pieces you want, adjust the durations to match your wedding, and customize as needed.

10:00 — Getting ready photos & detail shots of rings, dress, invites, programs, and other remembrances.

11:30 — Dress on

12:00 — Full bridal party is ready with hair, makeup, & clothes.

12:10 — First look

12:30 — Bride and groom portraits + bridal party fun shots.

1:00 — Buffer. Lunch, hydrate, catch breath.

2:00 — Formal portraits of bridal party, family, and special guests.

3:00 — Ceremony begins (2:30, seating starts)

3:45/4:00 — Ceremony ends.

4:15 — Sign wedding certificate.

4:30 — Drive time if needed / cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres. / A few celebratory photos, then mingle.

6:00 — Grand Entrance to Reception

6:15 — Dinner begins

7:00 — Toasts

7:30 — Sneak out for quick breather & sunset pictures as guests finish dining.

7:45: Cake cutting / desert unveiling

8:00 — First dances, then dancing!

The above schedule is a fine placeholder, and you can find dozens of variations around the internet. But I’d suggest looking at things a different way: identifying the components you’d like to have, then building around expected durations.

Below are common elements of a wedding schedule and, on average, how much time each should require.

Hair & Makeup — 1-3 hours (or 20 minutes, for some groomsmen)

Key prep photos (zipping into wedding dress, pinning boutonnieres, etc) — 20 minutes

First look — 10 minutes

Bridal party photos — 20 minutes

Bride + Groom photos — 10 mintes

Traditional family portraits — 40 minutes

Ceremony — 1 Hour

Receiving line — eternity

Cocktail Hour — 1.5-2 hours

Grand March — 10 minutes

Dinner with speeches — 90 minutes

Cake cutting + desert — 30 minutes

Sunset pictures — 20 minutes

First dances (assuming 3) — 20 minutes

9:00 — First look & breakfast buffet

10:30 — Group movie. Maybe a drink or two. [But not three!]

12:30 — Bridal party photos while doing something fun. Hiking or bocce ball.

1:30 — Formal portraits

2:30 — Ceremony

4:00 — Cocktail hour & board games

5:30 — Dinner, speeches, etc.

7:30 — Sunset! Pictures or not, we’re watching.

8:00 — Dance

Important keys to take away from all this:

  • Set your schedule to be stress-free. Guests will only grumble if the dinner or the ceremony are delayed. Nobody will notice hair and makeup run long or if the first dances are delayed. Build in time for you to eat, hydrate, and catch your breath.

  • Don’t forget that this is your day and the only required element is getting married. There are hundreds of sample timelines out there, some as detailed as 10 minute increments.Use these as guides, then build your own from there.

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