Wedding Timeline Mistakes to Avoid

The Wedding Day Timeline is one of the most important parts of your planning process. It’s essential to keeping your day on track, and ensuring you get everything you’ve dreamed of out of the day. Having an official list of who-what-where-when is so important! There are definitely some misjudgments around the timeline that I’ve noticed in my time in the business though. Today I’m talking about these wedding timeline mistakes to avoid.

Wedding Timeline Mistakes to Avoid

Not having enough time for hair and makeup. This is honestly where I see 90% of wedding day timelines get off track. It is so important to work with a professional who knows how to stay on time and has experience with what workflow works best! Make sure you do a test run with your artist ahead of time, not just to make sure your look is perfect, but to get an idea with them of how long you and your girls will take the day of. When in doubt, plan a little extra window of time just in case.

Not considering a first look. Doing a first look truly saves so much time in your timeline, not to mention how much stress it takes out of the day! By having a moment one-on-one where you each see one another the first time and can really connect together, there’s no stress about walking down the aisle or wondering if your photographer will be able to capture your reactions with all your guests around. Aside from all those benefits, seeing each other first allows us to get all your wedding party photos done before the ceremony, and often even the family photos! Instead of spreading them out over 3-5 hours depending on the timeline, the photos of your first look, wedding party, and family formals are all done often in just 2 hours! Plus your hair and makeup is still fresh and fabulous.

Having a receiving line. Receiving lines – where the wedding party or couple stand at the back of the ceremony and greet each guest individually – are becoming less and less commonplace, and it’s easy to see why. Not only are they a huge timesuck on the timeline, they’re often awkward and boring for you and your guests. Do you really want to meet your new hubby’s second aunt in a quick, weird greeting-assembly-line? Save the mingling and introductions for your reception and add that extra time you’ll save onto the party!

Not scheduling your reception. It’s easy to leave cake cutting, first dances, and more unscheduled on your timeline. Many couples assume their DJ will perfectly time these events throughout the night; and while many professional and experienced DJ’s are able to do that, I’ve found most successful timelines have these details written into the official timeline. I’ve seen weddings where there was no formal plan and an hour before the evening was wrapped they crammed all the events into one. No one was having fun with them, it was like going through the motions in a rush! Account for your reception events in the timeline and ensure you have the best celebration all night long.