Wedding day timelines play a vital role in the entire planning process from beginning to end! In the beginning of my career, I didn’t know what the heck a timeline was and I left most of my weddings feeling anxious, stressed and RUSHED! Yikes. I kept asking myself “why don’t my brides know how long portraits take?” Or “why didn’t the florist know they needed to drop off the flowers for detail shots?” Well, it’s because I never told them what I needed in order to serve them best. Once I realized this, I helped my clients put together a timeline so we were both on the same page! So, here are three benefits of having a kick-butt wedding day timeline!!

People Know Where They Need To Be

Picture this: all of your bridesmaids text you and ask, “hey, um when am I supposed to be at the salon to get my hair done?” One text is totally fine, right? Right. Well, when I planned my wedding I quickly learned that people often have the same questions and rather than answering the same things over and over again, I referred our bridal party and important family members to our timeline! It was such a stress-reliever – for them and ME! Everyone knows when they need to get dressed and all the other necessary details.

It Helps Your Vendors

If you don’t have a wedding planner, your vendors will most likely be reaching out to someone to confirm where they need to be and when. Who is usually that someone? YOU. All the vendors will be arriving and setting up at different times, so including them in your timeline allows the bride and groom to focus on themselves rather than coordinating everything on their special day. Figure it out ahead of time so everyone’s on the same page! (Are you seeing a trend yet?! hehehe)

Utilizes Your Time Well

Fun fact: if my couple wants to do a first look (yay!), I schedule that TWO HOURS before the ceremony start time. Gosh, that’s a LOT of time… right? Actually, it’s just enough! I try to allow for more than enough time for detail shots, bridal portraits and the first look because you never know if someone is running late or gets caught in traffic. If you don’t want to do a first look, I suggest leaving a two hour window between the END of the ceremony and beginning of cocktail hour to make sure we use our time well to get some great photos! The last thing I want to do is rush through portrait time with my clients. It’s my favorite part of the wedding day (shocker, I know!) so I try to utilize our time in the best way possible.

Well, there ya have it!! 3 benefits of a wedding day timeline! I hope this shows the importance of staying organized on your wedding day.

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