Wedding Order of the Day: The Best Timeline for a Smooth Running Day
Creating an order of the day and keeping to a schedule for your wedding is so important in order for your day to run smoothly! You don’t want to forget any special details!
The key to a wedding day running smoothly is planning ahead. Organizing all of your wedding day into a timeline is the best way to keep everything on track! The more detail you put into your plan, the more efficient it will be on the day. From how long it will take you to get ready, to ensuring enough time for speeches, there are so many aspects of your big day to consider. You don’t need a minute-by-minute schedule, that will only make things more stressful! But a basic structure to follow will make you feel more in control and relaxed.
Researching the traditional running order of a wedding day is a great place to start when working out your timings. This isn’t a structure that you have to follow, as every wedding day will be completely unique based on your plans and preferences! But it’s great to use as a guide when working out your own wedding schedule.
Creating an order-of-the-day wedding signage and/or booklet for your guests to follow is a really helpful way to keep them in the loop about your plans for the day, and also keep everyone organized as they know what is happening at what time.
How to Plan the Timeline of your day
The wedding order of the day is a generalized schedule based on typical wedding days over a 10 hour day. Your day might be shorter or longer than that, and might include or not include various things mentioned, so you can adjust the plan according to your requirements. The timeline will also vary on what time you’re having your ceremony! It could be as early as 11am or later into the evening at 6pm! It’s completely up to you, but typical wedding ceremonies usually take place between 12pm-4pm.
If you're working with a wedding planner, consult with them while making your plan. There are also tons of online sources like bridal blogs that can guide you with creating the perfect timeline for your big day. I would definitely recommend using a spreadsheet or word doc when planning for easy organization and editing.
No two weddings are the same, but there are some general formalities that most weddings tend to include. In order to help couples plan their wedding day order of events, here is a general guideline for you to follow when creating your wedding order of the day…
Wedding Order of the Day
Wake up, showers have breakfast
Bridesmaids and bridal party join the Bride to get ready
Hair and makeup begins on the Bridesmaids
Bridal hair and makeup
Bouquets delivered
Bride gets dressed
Suppliers arrive at the venue to set up
Photographer arrives. Bridal party photos
Groom and groomsmen at venue to greet guests
Guests begin to arrive
Bride and bridal party depart to the venue
Ceremony
End of ceremony, confetti
Reception drinks and canapes
Photos - The couple usually go off for some couple photos, and then return for group photos
Seated for a meal
Meal is served, followed by dessert and coffee
Speeches (Groom, Father of the Bride and Best Man) and toasts
Evening guests arrive
Cake cutting
First dance
Dancing time!
Evening buffet served
Carriages!
How to display your wedding order of the day
Order of the day signs or flyers are the perfect way to welcome your guests, whilst also being a very useful addition to the organization of your special day. There are some fantastic ideas on how you can display the order of your day, and you can easily tie it in with the rest of your wedding theme.
Whether you are looking to highlight the running order of the day or simply provide some useful information for your guests, I would love to work with you to create elegant wedding signage to perfectly match your theme. You can get in touch with me here.
I hope you've found this helpful and that you enjoy creating your own timeline for your day!