Wedding day timeline example with an early ceremony
An early wedding ceremony creates a long gap before the reception and forces hair and makeup to start extremely early in the morning. Couples struggle to map out pre-ceremony pictures and a first look while keeping the rest of the day flowing smoothly.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Having guests go to a bar or take downtime between the early ceremony and the later reception happy hourDid this help you?
- 2Renting a party bus to take the wedding party to a bar after the ceremonyDid this help you?
- 3giving guests an ample amount of time in advance to request time off workDid this help you?
- 4Secretly hiring another planning team on a consultation basisDid this help you?
- 5Going outside the planner's vendor recommendations to get preferred choicesDid this help you?
- 6Trusting the photographer's schedule over the planner's preferencesDid this help you?
- 7Moving family and wedding party photos to before the ceremonyDid this help you?
- 8Doing speeches while people are eating dinnerDid this help you?
- 9Cutting the shoe game to extend dancing timeDid this help you?
- 10Doing the cake cutting during open dancingDid this help you?
- 11Leaving luggage at the front desk and formally checking in after the receptionDid this help you?
- 12Booking the hotel room for the night before so it is ready on the day of the weddingDid this help you?
- 13Creating a gap in the timeline to allow guests to go check into their hotelsDid this help you?
- 14Contacting the hair and makeup artists first to determine service duration, then sharing the estimated finish time with the photographer.Did this help you?
- 15Having arrival drinks with light snacks as a cushion for guests arriving late rather than a formal cocktail hour.Did this help you?
- 16Getting dressed last so you don't get makeup or hair product on your clothesDid this help you?
- 17Wearing a shirt that buttons or zips up so you don't mess up hair or makeupDid this help you?
- 18Pulling zip-up clothes or corsets over your hips instead of over your headDid this help you?
- 19assigning bridesmaids to handle the day of timelineDid this help you?
- 20hiring a day of coordinatorDid this help you?
- 21budgeting in extra time for restroom breaks and adding buffer time for delaysDid this help you?
- 22Asking online communities to critique the scheduleDid this help you?
- 23Planning everything independentlyDid this help you?
- 24reaching out to vendors directly to see what their availability and advice areDid this help you?
- 25looking at free wedding planning timelines onlineDid this help you?
- 26booking the venue and major vendors ASAP and handling other details laterDid this help you?
- 27Asking online communities or experienced peers for sample timelinesDid this help you?
- 28Planning a multi-hour gap between the ceremony and receptionDid this help you?
- 29Moving up reception venues or adjusting ceremony start timesDid this help you?
- 30Decreasing buffer or hangout time to allocate more time for dinnerDid this help you?
- 31Shortening the dancing or entertainment portion of the eveningDid this help you?
- 32Waiting until everyone is through the buffet line before starting speechesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My planner is giving me a hard time, saying “4:00 is sooooo earrrrly” for a Saturday night wedding. Like, she won’t stop saying it.”source ↗
“Does anyone have an example of a day of timeline they’ve had with an earlier ceremony time?”source ↗
“What time did you start hair and makeup in the morning? And what time did you do your first look/other pre-ceremony pictures?”source ↗
“We have a shorter reception (3.5 hours to include everything and the ceremony) and I have no idea what to expect. This is my assumed outline but I could be totally wrong on how long it takes to do things.”source ↗
“I’m left wondering, do I get dressed in my outfit before doing my make up?”source ↗
“Also, how do I protect my hair and make sure it keeps the spiky look for the wedding later that day?”source ↗
“My wedding is just under a month away and I am at the point where I need to send out my wedding day timeline to everyone.”source ↗
“I’m planning everything by myself, and have been to very few weddings in my life (none of which were very traditional) so I have really appreciated this community!”source ↗
“I go back and forth daily on if I am behind or not. I do not understand what the planning timeline really is”source ↗
“We have had maybe 2-3 people out of 155 not RSVP / cancel due to it being a Friday”source ↗
“When she calls me, I feel anxiety and dread. I know it’s not good.”source ↗
“We are restricted by the venue limitations which leads to the compacted schedule. 8:30 is the latest option for the bride and groom to exit.”source ↗
“5 hours is quite a short window for a wedding, and you’re trying to fit in allllll the bells and whistles.”source ↗
“A lot of NYC people aren’t going to have cars which means they are ubering or taking the train out. If they can’t go to the hotel first that means They’ll bring their luggage to the church (and then wedding if there’s no gap? ) and that’s a logistical issue”source ↗
“Who should start making the timeline here, my photographer or my MUA/hair? I feel like they both work off of eachother so I have no clue who to reach out to first.”source ↗
“My wedding venue doesn’t allow you to start the event before 7 PM (or else you would have to pay to buy out the venue for the day). With that being said should we do a seven to 7:30 PM cocktail hour and then dinner at 7:30 or would it be OK to skip the cocktail hour completely?”source ↗
“I'm the type of person who will be completely distracted about making sure things happen on time/as they're supposed to, and I really don't want to waste my whole wedding day doing that.”source ↗
“I live in a HCOL city and if you want your first picks of everything, it’s smart to start early. I would have hated to fall in love with a venue, florist or photographer who is already booked up because I waited too long.”source ↗
“We’re struggling to figure out what would make the most sense timing wise, and I could really use some perspective because I’m feeling incredibly overwhelmed.”source ↗
“Given that timeline, what time would you realistically start the ceremony?”source ↗
“We’re also trying to decide whether to do a first look and private vows before the ceremony so we can get some bride/groom portraits done beforehand, or skip the first look...”source ↗
“what are people’s thoughts on Friday weddings ?”source ↗
“I understand some may not be able to make it due to work, but I think with given an ample amount of time in advance people would be able to request off , etc.”source ↗
“Most hotels I’m looking at have a 3:00 PM check-in, which obviously does not work when guests need to be sitting in church by 2:15.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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