Wedding Timeline

When given the wedding timeline and putting reception into aspect, this is how I looked at it between 6:30 and 7:00 with 5 minutes about each part: Grand entrance with wedding party Mother/Sons dance Cake cutting Speeches Dinner First dance was to be done too though the DJ pushed it for later in the night when it wasn't recorded. Anything after dinner was party time and late night buffet was set for 11pm. You can set your timing as you seem fit to the best of your decision. Its all how you look at it and the order you two want to go about.

330- getting ready photos/bridesmaids photos
430- ceremony
500- cocktail hour for guests/ all photos with family etc6:05- grand entrance/introductions6:15- dinner with speeches in between courses8:15- cake cutting 8:30- first dance/parent dances10:30- late night buffet/ bouquet toss/garter toss1:00- finish

Its all up to you theres no rule of what has to be done first. but make a list of all the stuff you know you have a specific time for then play around wiht all the other timing of everything, first dances, entrances, cake cutting, party time, entertainment, dinner time, mom and son dance etc.

View quoted message For us it was mostly a preference thing. It did help to get it out of the way earlier to help with nerves.

5pm - ceremony with family only
6pm - cocktail hour and food for reception guests at our venue while we do photos and eat/drink at our ceremony site.
7pm - arrive at the reception with our ceremony guests730pm - grand entrance (doing more photos before our entrance) and straight into first dance745pm - dances with our children and parents8pm - introductions, speeches, bouquet/garter toss, etc. There is no meal or cake cutting.9pm to 1am - party and dance1030pm - smore bar, popcorn, cupcakes
We have rented an SMT bus to get our ceremony guests to our wedding and then to our reception so family can celebrate safely with us! We also have a fun photobooth/mirror for guests to use during cocktail hour and after the speeches.

View quoted message If there is any kind of desert with dinner then you could do the cake later, if there isn't desert you could cut it before speeches so it can be served during speeches. If there isn't a late night snack you could also delay cake a little so that guests who have been drinking can put a little something solid in their bellies. There are so many options.

Personally I don't want to interrupt the dancing so I want to do cake cutting before. I feel like if you pull people off the dance floor it's harder to get them back up on it. Our guest cake is cupcakes so they can grab one whenever they like once we've cut the top tier of the cake.

View quoted message Omg yes! I have to take pictures during cocktail hour too. How do you feel the first dance before dinner? Was there any advantages to doing so, or just your preference?

View quoted message Awesome, thank you for sharing. The 3 songs break is very thoughtful!

View quoted message Thank you for sharing Stefanie! I'm going for pretty much the same order

View quoted message That's awesome, what a cool way to save as well! Do you think all foods should be done with before dancing commences? Like reception, dinner, cake, all before first dance? I'm not sure if it's too much food all at once haha. We're not doing a first look so gonna have to take pictures while guests enjoy the cocktail hour

View quoted message Thank you for sharing Veronica, I really appreciate it. We're not doing first looks because my fiance has his superstitions lol..so I guess we have to find time during reception for the pictures. Our ceremony also starts at 6 and party ends at 1 am!

Ours is going to be :

2pm First Look.
2-4pm: Parent Portraits, Wedding Party Photos, Bride/Groom Photos
4:30pm: Ceremony Start
5-6pm: Cocktail Hour, Finish off portrait photos, sunset photos
6:15pm: "Grand" Entrance
6:30-8:30pm: Dinner with speeches in between courses
8:30-9:00pm: Mingle time, grab drinks, venue has to tear down some tables for a dance floor
9:00pm: Spotlight Dances (First dance, Father/Daughter, Mother/Groom)

915pm-1:00am: Dance time and then late night snack around 10:30-11:00pm.
We have to be cleared out of the venue by 1:30am. I don't think we will go this late though but never know!
We are not having a cake or doing the boquet, garter toss etc.

Ours is a little weird because we aren't having a meal but the plan is:
First look, photos, guests arrive/cocktail hour, ceremony, speeches, cake cutting, first dance, sneaking out for night photos, bouquet toss, fini!

- Ceremony

- Cocktails

- Grand Entrance

- Dinner

- Speeches

- Cake Cutting

- First Dance

- Parent Dances

- Dancing/Garter and Bouquet Toss

- Late night Lunch

-ceremony

-reception

-supper/speeches/dessert

-first dance

-parents dances

-little 3 song break while we get more beverages

-bouquet toss

-garter retrieval/toss

-dancing

-late nights snacks/dessert

Our order of events went like this:
-ceremony

-cocktail hour (guests had cocktails and h’ordovres for 1 hour and 15 mins while we took pictures)
-first dance
-dinner (during dinner we had speeches and did table visits)
-father daughter dance between salad and soup course
-mother son dance between soup and dinner course
-cake cutting during dessert at dinner (we did this here so our photographers could leave a little earlier and not have to wait around as much)
-dancing starts
-bouquet toss and garter toss
-late night popcorn snack and wedding cake are served