Your Wedding Day Timeline: A Realistic Schedule
What time should the makeup artist start? And how long does a photo shoot really take? This realistic schedule prevents stress on the big day.
D
Written by Daan de Vos
1 min read
The most common mistake in a wedding day schedule? Not enough buffer time. This realistic timeline is based on hundreds of real weddings.
The morning schedule
- 07:30 – Makeup and hair styling for the bride (allow 2 to 2.5 hours including mother and witness)
- 09:30 – Photographer arrives for the "getting ready" photos
- 10:30 – Getting dressed and first look with father or witnesses
- 11:15 – Departure to the first look location or ceremony
The afternoon
- 12:00 – First look and couple photo shoot (allow at least 1.5 hours)
- 14:00 – Guests arrive
- 14:30 – Ceremony (45 minutes on average)
- 15:30 – Toast and congratulations
- 16:30 – Group photos (30 minutes maximum, make a list in advance!)
The evening
- 17:30 – Dinner (allow 2 to 2.5 hours for three courses)
- 20:30 – First dance and party kick-off
- 00:30 – End of party and send-off
The three golden rules
- Plan a 15-minute buffer per programme item. Something always runs over.
- Eat and drink. Assign someone to make sure you actually eat on the day itself.
- Appoint a point of contact. On the day itself you answer zero logistical questions — that's the master of ceremonies' job.
