Some of the questions I get asked most often in wedding coordination and wedding planning is what happens when?! And how long do things take?! And who will be there to meet all those people when I'm having my bridal prep done and getting made more beautiful than I already am in the morning?! And when should I ask the band to start? What time do we eat?
All very good questions.
Timings are key to a fantastic wedding day, but they are certainly something you don't want to have to worry about on your big day. Step in moi! Elisabeth Shell Events is an experienced Event and Wedding Planning management company who specialise in On the Day Coordination so that you can really take in your whole day without worrying about a thing.
However, I know it's incredibly useful to have a little guide, especially when planning what time to book suppliers to arrive, and I wished I had something vaguely like this to work to when I was planning my own wedding. So I hope you find it useful.
Here I have compiled a little infographic of a very basic timeline of a wedding day. It'll help you get your head around what things are supposed to happen at roughly what time... However, I regularly work with couples where we turn this on it's head!!
Speeches can happen any time you fancy - and it's now very popular to have them before your Wedding Breakfast so all speech givers can enjoy their food (this can have a knock on effect onto your perfectly cooked Beef Wellington if they run over though... just saying !!)
You can cut the cake during your reception to eat as dessert, rather than before your first dance; a two course meal will only take an hour and a half (roughly) compared to the two hours I've set aside in this for a three course, you may have a DJ not a band etc etc. So everything is very flexible and when I put together a bespoke Order of the Day for you and coordinate with your suppliers, we'll have an accurate On the Day Coordination sheet for everyone to be on the same page, and know where and when they are expected. Leaving you to enjoy eating cake whenever you decide on your day!
Obviously, you can book your ceremony for later - just bump things up an hour or two; some elopement weddings will only be a couple of hours and we'll squeeze lots of lovely personalised things into a short space of time. A few other things to remember are some venues you may be staying in or some you may have to travel a while to, a Church ceremony has a different timeline to this, and some registry office weddings may start a lot later in the day. Genuinely there is no 'one size fits all' - you're all lovely, unique couples who will have lovely and unique days.
Get in touch with Elisabeth Shell Events today to go through all your wedding plans, make sure you have everything covered in your On the Day Coordination and to create your personalised timeline for your special day.