The Ultimate Wedding Day Timeline Template

WeddingsTips

Dec 21

Photography by Renee Hollingshead Photography

A wedding day timeline is something that is super useful to everyone involved in a wedding. It is mainly created for your vendors but timelines are also very helpful for your wedding party and close family.

The purpose of a wedding day timeline is to organize the wedding day and make sure everyone involved is on the same page.

As a wedding planner I of course use a timeline! I use it as my go-to informational sheet during a wedding. On my wedding day timeline, I include not only the timeline of events but also general event information like venue addresses, vendor and wedding party contact information as well as layout diagrams. My goal is to have months of preparations and information easily accessible in one document.

Your timeline can be as detailed as you would like. If you choose to have a highly detailed timeline with some of the information I include on my timelines, you can provide different people with timelines that vary in information.

For example, if you do not have a wedding planner, you could give your most detailed timeline to the the main person or people you are trusting to handle operations on your wedding day, this could be a maid of honor, a parent or family member, and/or a personal attendant and of course all of the vendors involved.

You could then hand a paired down version of the timeline document to the wedding party and close family who are involved with information only they need to know about.

The template that I provide in this post is a general wedding day timeline template. After years of wedding planning this is a template I begin every wedding with and customize it for each wedding.

I created my wedding day timeline template based on a framework that is the most logical for event flow. You can use my wedding day timeline template as a starting point for your wedding and make any adjustments as needed.

Pro Tip!
Having a timeline is amazing, but try to be as flexible as you can if things don't go exactly according to plan. You should be enjoying your day and not focusing too much on the timeline.

If you are worried about the coordination of events on your big day, you can always hire a wedding coordinator. A wedding coordinator focuses on the timeline creation and execution while you, your partner, family and friends can focus on celebrating the day!
If you’re interested in hiring coordination assistance for the day of your wedding feel free to reach out to me here!

Would a monthly timeline checklist be helpful as well? Grab a copy of my monthly timeline checklist here!
My checklist goes over each month in the wedding planning process in detail so you can be sure you won’t miss anything!

When to Create a Wedding Day Timeline

12-8 MONTHS

Wedding day timeline planning should begin eight weeks before the wedding date. It may even be helpful to have a rough timeline created at the very beginning of your planning (once your venue is booked) so that you know how many hours you need to book all your other vendors.

For example, if your first look is at 2:00pm, your ceremony starts at 5:00pm and reception ends at 11:00pm, you will need to factor all of this into how many hours you need your photographer. In this scenario you would want to book your photographer for about 8 hours.

4 WEEKS

I suggest having a finalized draft of your timeline done four weeks prior to your wedding date. At this point you should have all information to create a final timeline. The month of your wedding is a hectic time between communicating with vendors, your friends, family and partner. So I suggest that you aim to have a finalized timeline complete before entering your final month of engagement.

2 WEEKS

Two weeks before your wedding date is typically when your vendors – mainly your venue and caterer will require a final timeline and guest count. This is when I suggest sending your timeline only (not including additional details like contact information, diagrams, etc.) to these vendors. Make sure to ask for a written approval of your timeline from your venue and catering at this time.

1 WEEK

Send your final approved timeline to all of your vendors one week before your wedding date. This is the timeline that you can include all the contact, layout diagrams and any other details you want your vendors to have access to. This is the time to also send a paired down version of your final timeline to your wedding party, family and anyone involved in your wedding.

How to Create a Wedding Day Timeline

I suggest using a platform you can easily share online and print. Google Docs and Microsoft Word are common platforms that work well.

If you are going really detailed with your timeline and including information like venue addresses, contact information and layout design, be sure to include all of this information on the timeline document itself and not on separate files. It will be a lot easier for everyone to have 1-2 sheets of information in their back pocket than a folder of information on the big day!

My Wedding Day Timeline Template

A rule of thumb when creating your timeline is to start with the main events and then add in details. All of the typical main events are listed in my template. I’ve included bulleted points of what to include and/or what to think about under each event as well.

GETTING READY

Bridal Party
Start Time:
Getting Ready Location:
Estimated Duration: For 6-9 people getting their hair and makeup done it will take roughly 5-6 hours. I suggest factoring in about 45 minutes for each person for both hair and makeup. Be sure to include the bride and any mothers or grandmothers in this as well!

Transportation Time to Ceremony/First Look Location:
Groomsmen
Start Time:
Getting Ready Location:
Estimated Duration: 60 minutes
Transportation Time to Ceremony/First Look Location:

FIRST LOOK

Start Time:
First Look Location:
Estimated Duration: 15 minutes
Transportation Time to Ceremony Venue:

WEDDING PHOTOS

Start Time:
Wedding Photo Location:
Estimated Duration: 90 minutes. I recommend including a shot list here and even assigning times for each, so nothing gets missed.

CEREMONY

Start Time:
Ceremony Location:
Estimated Duration: 30-60 minutes. Be sure to include a rough outline of your ceremony here including songs, readings, etc.
Transportation Time to Reception Venue:

COCKTAIL HOUR

Photography by Pat Fuery

Start Time:
Cocktail Hour Location:
Estimated Duration: 60 minutes

RECEPTION

Start Time:
Reception Location:
End Time:
Estimated Duration: 4 Hours
For planning the reception you will need to figure out:

How long dinner service needs to be?

How many speeches there will be?
What time do you want to cut the cake?
When do you want specialty dance to start?
Will there be a grand exit?

Pro Tip!
If you are having a plated dinner where orders need to be taken, make sure to factor in at least 30 minutes for guests to sit and orders be taken.

What Vendors to Include in Your Wedding Day Timeline

Be sure to make note of the arrival times of each of your vendors. Main vendors include:

Photography by Renee Hollingshead Photography

Photographer
Videographer
Hair and Makeup
Rentals and Set up
Florist
Catering and/or Bartenders
Officiant
Music (Ceremony and/or Reception Band/DJ)

If you would like to include contact information for those involved in your wedding I suggest including a full name, their title, and phone number for the following people:

Bride
Groom
Mother and Father of the Bride
Mother and Father of the Groom
Maid of Honor
Best Man
Venue Contact
Hair and/or Makeup Artist
Photographer
Videographer
Rental Company Contact
Florist
Transportation Contact
Catering Contact
Bar Contact
Officiant
Music/Sound Contact

The more information the better for your wedding day timeline. If you are changing into a afterparty dress, add that into the timeline! You have 4 people giving speeches? Give 2-3 minutes max for each toast. Is your mom dropping off bathroom baskets? Put in when she’s doing that. You want to ensure everyone knows what is going on and suppose to be happening on your wedding day.

If you need a monthly timeline checklist that goes over each month in the wedding planning process in detail so you can be sure you won’t miss anything, you can grab a copy of my monthly timeline checklist here!

Just remember wedding timelines are here to help! If the thought of creating a timeline sounds overwhelming, reach out to me and I can get all of the pieces, big and small, figured out for you.

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