Wedding Day Timeline Tips From Vendors Who See It All
- Allison Grant
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
As wedding vendors, we experience a lot of wedding day timelines. We see what works, we see causes issues, and we have our own thoughts about it all! If you’re looking for some guidance and ideas, this is for you! This doesn’t mean we believe this is the only way or the right way to do a wedding day. You should do whatever works best for you and what you enjoy! Here are some wedding day timeline tips from wedding videographers and content creators.
OUR FAVORITE RECEPTION SCHEDULE
Our favorite way to structure a reception is as follows:
Grand entrance of the couple
Cake cutting
Couple's first dance.
Dinner served
Speeches begin once everyone is served
Father/daughter, Mother/son dances
Open dancing!
We love starting out with the couple's grand entrance, which flows right into the cake cutting and then the first dance. It gets those big moments done right away while you have everyone's attention. Plus, a lot of the “pressure” is off the couple once these tasks are done! Then, you're free to enjoy your dinner, sit back and relax during the speeches, and then just soak up the special dances with your parents. When those are done, your guests are going to be so excited to pack the dance floor!
NO BRIDAL PARTY ENTRANCES
You might have noticed that we didn’t include a bridal party grand entrance above. That’s because we think it’s fine to leave this out! It sort of just slows things down, especially if you have a large bridal party and introduce each pair one by one. If you want your bridal party to have some recognition, have them all walk out at the same time, not pair by pair.
RECEPTION SPEECHES
We believe a max of four speeches during the reception is the way to go. The Maid of Honor, and Best Man, of course, and then the parents of both or either partner. Any more speeches and things tend to really slow down and your guests lose interest. And to really keep things going, each speech should only be about 3-4 minutes long. Again, anything longer and you lose people.
KEEP THE DAY MOVING
No matter what you have planned, it’s important to keep things moving. Some of the most efficient wedding days we’ve experienced will have a later ceremony (4 or 5 pm), followed directly by the cocktail hour, and then right into the reception. Most people look forward to open dancing the most, so keeping things moving will get you there sooner and keep your guests engaged the whole time.
WE ARE PRO FIRST LOOK
First looks can be controversial but we like them! It's nice to have a private moment as a couple during the wedding day. If you're having a later ceremony (which we think has many benefits), then you aren't spending all day separated from your soon-to-be spouse! Plus, once the first look is done, you have plenty of time to get pictures. Get your portraits, bridal party photos, and even family photos all done before the ceremony. Then you're truly able to just enjoy your wedding day once the formal events start!
ENJOY YOUR DAY!
Overall, you want to ensure you enjoy your day. Follow your heart and build the wedding day you want to experience. However, our one piece of advice is to not plan too many special surprises or events throughout the day. If you have too many things to fit in you can start to feel like you’re just being ushered from thing to thing. You want to have time to chat with people, spend time with your new spouse, and do important things like eat, drink, and use the bathroom! You can plan a couple of fun, extra things, but we really recommend keeping it to that.
Once again, all of this is just our preference in what we’ve seen from shooting weddings since 2018. We are in no way saying that if you go against this advice, your wedding day will be terrible and we will hate it. We truly believe everyone should do what they want for their wedding day! But if you were looking for some tips and guidance, we hope you found this helpful.