Time Frames for Your Wedding Day
Knowing how and when to have things happen on your wedding day can make it easier to break down into plannable pieces. That said though, you can do whatever works for you and use the following info as a very moveable guide. In my experience, weddings don’t run perfectly on time because there are so many people involved so it’s best to just go with it, there’s no way it can start without you.
Here’s an example of how your run sheet may look:
10.00am - 1.30pm ~ Getting ready (this changes depending on how many people are getting their hair and make up done, your make up artist/hairdresser/barber can give you an estimate on how long this will take). We usually don’t start taking photos of you until you’re almost ready, maybe an hour and a half before the ceremony, but we grab all the details (rings, bouquets, bridal party gifts, etc prior to this). We can arrive at any point during this time frame, so let us know what you would prefer.
2.00pm - 2.30pm ~ Leave for the ceremony (this depends on how long it takes to get from the prep location to the ceremony location, most brides arrive 5-10mins after the allocated ceremony start time to allow late guests to get to their seats).
3.00pm ~ Ceremony.
3.30pm ~ Family, friends + group photos.
4.00pm ~ Bridal party + newlywed portraits wherever you like. (We usually ask you to allow an hour to an hour + a half for this, it sounds like a lot, but it goes pretty quick. There’s often a spare half an hour of padding in here just for peace of mind. It also pays to have some food available for yourselves during this time, picnics are pretty photogenic, but it’s really up to you what you would like). You can choose what you would like your guests to do at this point.
6.00pm ~ Reception starts.
6.30pm - 7.30 pm ~ Dinner / speeches.
8.00pm ~ Cake cutting.
8.30pm ~ Dessert/speeches.
9.00pm ~ First dance.
Alternatively, you and your partner can share a first look and your couple photos prior to the ceremony and push the ceremony back to 4.00-4.30pm. This is great in summer as it’ll be a little cooler by this time and means that after the ceremony and family/group photos, you don’t have to leave your guests for a number of hours while they drink your bar tab. Again, do it your way, whatever that looks like.
