Day Time Line

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Great ideas! Thank you so much for sharing Tracy!

View quoted message 😂 there will always be something!!! Well that part you can certainly still change! Our wedding was originally NYE hence the later meal. Before covid our ceremony was going to be at 5 still though. All of our pictures were before so regardless, it made the most sense. I mean you could still change the start time too - notify guests by email or website if you have one. We've also had friends start their ceremony 30 minutes later than on their invite on purpose to ensure all guests arrived on time. Just sucked for those that were early already 😅.

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Damn, wish I saw this before I sent out my invites. I like the later meal! and the introduction/first dance combo first.

I’m planning on doing up a pretty detailed timeline because we don’t have a planner/coordinator. We are still a bit far out so it’s just in skeletal form now.

Both our photographer and DJ said they will go over my timeline and help with in when I was in discussions with them to book. They are both super experienced and have done 100s of weddings. So you could ask yours if they could help also, at least ask photographer for ideas on how much time they like set aside for various things like the couple portraits. For the things you mentioned like first dance, bouquet toss etc then you DJ would probably be a good resource.

Generally weddings I have been to have had, after dinner, the speeches, then cake cutting, then first dances and then later in evening the bouquet toss etc.

One wedding I went to didn’t have dancing after dinner so they did their first dance right after the entrance. Im considering this if I decide not to do the father-daughter dances even though we will have dancing later. My fiancé doesn’t want to do a dance with his mother, he is not a dancer do is one dance and done. But we haven’t ironed out all the details yet

View quoted message We skipped the wedding cake as the food package comes with dessert already!

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Thank you so much Carmel! This is very helpful

I'm not sure if you're looking for info for before hand but ours was:
5:30pm ceremony
6-6:15pm outside sparklers (and we could speak to those only attending the ceremony and say bye)6:15-7:15 cocktail hour 7:15-7:30 we were introduced and first dance7:30-9:30 three course meal mixed in with speeches. We wanted to make sure guests had food during speeches. We also made sure there was time to socialize and move a bit (we were allowed some dancing) between speeches and food. 9:30 dance with dad and mom 10 pm cake cutting
That was the plan ish. It worked out perfectly!

I asked my hair and makeup girls how long they would need to get everyone done before ceremony time (2pm), and I planned around that. So my day will start at 8 am, first look around 1:30, ceremony 2 pm, pictures with family and bridal party till 5:30ish (hoping for time for a nap🤣) , dinner and speeches 6:00, first dance(s) around 7:30/8, then cake then kick the grandparents out and let loose!

I would say the only timelines that matter are getting hair and make up done in time for ceremony and dinner start time. Depending on what photographer package you have they will also need a time frame! The rest of it, just enjoy!

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Is your dinner three courses or four? How many people are giving speeches? How many dances (is it just you and FH or are you doing parent dances?)

Is the cake a single tier or multi-tiered? Single tiered cakes can be cut right before dessert is served and if someone from the venue is serving it, they can cut however many extra slices as people request it. If it's a multi-tiered cake, you'll probably want to cut it early so that the kitchen team can take it apart and prep it in time for dessert. And if your cake can't sit out for long, you'll need to cut it early so that the venue staff can take it back inside (assuming you'll be outdoor and potentially in the heat).

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I still haven't decide what I'm doing after dinner. Possibly some games.

As for the cake, it will probably have to be with dinner, but we also have dessert.

What is your dinner plan and how are you planning to end the evening if there's no dancing allowed? Because a lot of these moments are timed to be spaced out during dinner and get things pumped on the dance floor.

Re cake cutting: are you serving the cake as dessert during dinner? Since self-serve buffets are not allowed, people can't just go up to a dessert table and grab their own slice unless a server is handing it out from behind a partition. Knowing this would help determine the best time to cut the cake.