**What does a typical wedding timeline look like? **

A Simple Wedding Timeline for a 13:00PM Ceremony

Planning a wedding can be an exhilarating yet overwhelming experience, especially when it comes to developing the perfect timeline. Whilst reading wedding planning posts on social media, I’ve noticed people are struggling to plan their wedding day without the knowledge of how long each part takes. So here is an example schedule for a wedding taking place at 13:00PM in a hotel venue where the ceremony, wedding breakfast, and evening reception all take place, it's essential to create a smooth flow of events. Above is a straightforward timeline to guide you through your day and below are some hints and tips from someone who’s planned and delivered hundreds of successful weddings.

Pre-wedding - Hair and MUA

When it comes to choosing your bridal party, less is more. Having six bridesmaids, the bride, and two mums can create an early-morning frenzy, with hair and makeup artists arriving as early as 05:00AM. While the excitement of the day can make it hard to sleep, waking up at such an ungodly hour can lead to exhaustion by the time the evening reception rolls around.

Additionally, with a larger group, there’s potential for squabbles as each bridesmaid tries to prove she’s the closest to the bride, which can add unnecessary drama to an already busy day. Consider a smaller group to ensure a more relaxed morning and let everyone enjoy the celebrations without the stress of an overly long day and I wouldn’t recommend a ceremony start time before 12:00PM.

The Ceremony

Live music during the ceremony and drinks reception make for an electric atmosphere and then there’s the unforgettable goosebumps moment of anticipation when the first note is played. A skilled musician can manipulate the timings; if there's a technical hitch, a shy flower girl or a late arrival, they can easily repeat a verse without anyone noticing. Unlike recorded music, which can’t be manipulated, a live musician provides a level of flexibility that massively enhances the experience for both you and your guests.

Drinks Reception, Canapés, Confetti, Photographs - group shots.

During the drinks reception, having a musician is pretty essential for keeping your guests engaged while you’re busy with photos. Doubling up on drinks ensures they're not tempted to wander off to the nearest bar to watch sport on tv or check into their rooms, you don’t want to waste time looking for them for your family group shots and they will disappear if given the chance. Keeping your guests in one place is crucial, as it can feel like herding cats when trying to gather everyone for the wedding breakfast (it’s called a breakfast, even though it’s usually a three course dinner, because it’s your first married meal, it confuses lots of people!) and you don’t want the food to spoil.

Introductions

As you plan your big day, it’s important to think about how you want to be introduced into the wedding breakfast. Have a candid conversation with your partner early on if you have strong feelings about your last name or title—whether you want to take your partner's name or prefer to keep your own. The night before your wedding is not the ideal time to have a major disagreement; I've seen it lead to unnecessary stress more than once! Likewise, if you’re considering unconventional choices, like the groom taking the bride's last name, be prepared for varied reactions from family members.

The Speeches

Speeches are another critical element of your wedding timeline. Traditionally, they take place after dinner to ensure that food is served whilst it is hot and freshly cooked. However, if you have a particularly nervous speaker, consider doing speeches before the meal, try not to stagger them across the courses, it’s doesn’t work when pouring the glasses of fizz to toast the speakers and it goes flat, unless money is no object and you can fund several glasses per person.

If you opt for speeches first, be sure to set a time limit for all speakers. If each of them runs over by just five minutes, it can throw off the entire dinner service! The typical order includes the father of the bride (or a representative), followed by the groom and best man. But remember, creativity is welcome these days, with everything from rapping bridesmaids to interactive presentations on hotel conferencing screens being fair game.

The Room Turnaround

After the wedding breakfast, there’s a room turnaround period where guests can freshen up, check into their rooms, and probably more photos for you. This is when the venue staff tidy up, remove some dinner tables, set up for the buffet and the evening suppliers eg. DJ or Photo Booth arrive.

This transition time is crucial for ensuring a seamless shift from the formalities of the day to the fun of the evening reception. Your guests will welcome this down time, especially if it’s a nice day. Don’t feel obliged to fill every single moment with an experience, it’s a long day and people welcome the chance to reset, have a coffee, have a shower and put on their dancing shoes.

If you’ve found this useful make sure you follow me on social media @celebrantled and stay tuned, because I’ll be sharing lots more insider info, hints and tips with you.