Whilst planning your wedding is extremely exciting, it can also be extremely stressful! The best way to minimise the stress is to be as organised as possible. And if organisation isn’t your forte then you could consider hiring a wedding planner if your budget allows.
At Country House Weddings we have fantastic in-house co-ordinators who supervise everything taking place on the Big Day, whether you’re at the stunning Gosfield Hall in Essex or Warwickshire’s Bourton Hall.
They will help you put together a timeline in advance of the day that you can get everything running shipshape and Bristol fashion! This puts you firmly in control of your day, helping ensure it’s exactly the way you want it with none of the hassle.
If you want to start piecing together a wedding timeline now, or aren’t lucky enough to have a wedding coordinator helping you plan your day, then we have the lowdown on how to put together your Big Day and ensure that it runs like clockwork.
By planning ahead you’ll be able to sit back and relax when the day comes around, knowing that everyone knows exactly what they have to do.
Use our template to plan your Big Day but remember to allow travel time from your ceremony to the reception if they’re taking place in separate places. Wedding ceremonies typically last 30 minutes to an hour, and most wedding receptions last 4 to 5 hours, giving you a good idea of how long to allow for each section of the day.
When you sit down to put together your plan, add as much detail as possible – this will minimise the number of people ringing or texting you on the day asking you questions, allowing you more time alone with your new spouse or to get ready before the ceremony takes place.
A typical wedding timeline starts first thing in the morning with everyone showering and having breakfast. Of course, the earlier your wedding ceremony is, then the earlier you will need to get up, so any night owls getting married should consider that when booking their Big Day.
For our template wedding timeline, we’ve put the ceremony at the most popular time spot of 2:30pm and have the ceremony and reception at the same location.
Country House Wedding’s Template Wedding Timeline
- 8am – Breakfast
- 10am – Hair and make-up begins for the bridal party
- 11am – Flowers delivered to the venue as well as to the bridal party and groom; wedding cake delivered to the venue
- 1pm – Photographer/videographer takes photos of bride and bridesmaids getting ready as well as groom and groomsmen getting ready (this will need to be done by two different people if the bridal party and groom are not in the same location)
- 2pm – Groom arrives for the ceremony
- 2:15pm – Bride sets off for the ceremony
- 2:30pm – Ceremony
- 3:15pm – Throwing confetti and whole group photos after the service
- 3:30pm – Bride and groom photos
- 4pm – Drinks and canapes
- 5:20pm – Seat guests for dinner
- 5:30pm – Announce Bride and Groom into the room
- 5:35pm – Serve dinner
- 7pm – Speeches and pudding
- 8pm – Evening guests arrive
- 8:30pm – Band starts playing and first dance for bride and groom
- 9pm – Cut the cake
- 11pm – Evening food served
- 2am – Carriages
We hope our suggested wedding timeline is useful to you as you go about planning your Big Day. When moments get stressful, we heartily suggest letting your hair down by doing something fun together. According to @theknot, some of the ”Worst wedding advice anyone has told me was to sing our vows to each other,” but it could at least provide a giggle!
