Yay! Your wedding day is approaching and you’ve handled just about everything…..except your wedding timeline. It’s pretty common for our couples to ask, “What is a timeline?, How do I create a wedding timeline?” and the answer is just as simple! A timeline is a detailed map that shows the agenda for your wedding day with no detail missed. The sole purpose of this document is to ensure that everyone participating in your wedding knows your expectations, wants, and needs! Although it may seem a bit ridiculous to calculate and dedicate every time throughout your day, trust us, it’s necessary. Even our most disorganized brides (whom we love) have reaped the benefits of the holy grail that is a wedding day timeline.
Are Day-Of Timelines Necessary?
We at Havasu Springs Resort require all of our couples to provide us with a wedding timeline at least one week prior to the ceremony. I know, homework is never fun, but creating a timeline gives you the opportunity to visualize all of the moving pieces that will make up your wedding day. Constructing this play-by-play of the day will serve as a form of written communication to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Creating a thorough wedding day timeline can help regulate essential details of the wedding day such as the dinner service, which photos are to be taken, when to play what music and so on. There are some pieces of information that are crucial to the construction and usefulness of your timeline. How do you start a wedding day timeline?
Your Homework
Before beginning your timeline creation, you should consider all the details that will make up your day! Your wedding vendors are going to be the biggest contributors to your schedule, as they are the ones that will make your wedding day happen. It’s important to first gather your wedding vendors’ contact information, so that you can share the timeline with them once it’s completed. Then you’ll want to evaluate the time window that you booked their services for. This number will inevitably vary between vendors, so it is important to keep your data organized. In this time it may also be helpful to consider what you can do to increase your vendors’ productivity. If you have any questions surrounding vendor management, you should definitely check out our exclusive wedding planner, Posh Planning and Event Co.’s blog, “The Vendor Survival Guide.”
Creating lists for each of your vendors is a great way to ensure that they are fulfilling your wants and needs for the day-of! For example, you can provide your photographer with a shot-list which includes all the important pictures you’d like with your family and friends. For the sake of your DJ, you should provide them with a list of songs and when you’d prefer to be played (or perhaps not played). Maybe even construct a list for your wedding planner to know what items you’ve brought to the venue and where you want them placed! Organizing your thoughts in lists will help you set intentions for the day and can only benefit you on the day-of.
For the sake of wedding planning, it’s also important to think about any special events that you want to facilitate during your ceremony and reception. Although we do not want to overwhelm you, there are some questions that we can prompt you with to help get your wedding planning-brain flowing. Do you think that you will want to read your vows during the ceremony? Are you religious and wish to incorporate any traditions before tying the knot? At the reception, do you want to do a first dance or any parent dances? Would you like to publicly or privately cut your cake? What about the bouquet or garter toss? If you consider some of these ideas and get a thorough understanding of your highlighted events, then planning the later half of the day becomes a bit easier!
Ceremony
Although it may sound counter-intuitive, we’re going to start our timeline creation process in the middle of the day with the thing that everyone showed up for, the ceremony! There isn’t too much to take into consideration in your timeline when it comes to ceremony. The big three ideas that you’ll want to note are ceremony invite time, processional, & recessional. Ceremony invite time is always tricky to decide on, but the easiest way to select the designated time is to consider the time of year and weather. Most of our couples here at Havasu Springs Resort, choose their ceremony invite time in acknowledgement of the sunset and their venue rental period. Let’s be honest, our venue is known for the incredible Lake Havasu sunsets. Although there is a true sunset time, we always suggest that our couples subtract 20-25 minutes from this value, as we do have a mountain blocking the horizon line. We also base our venue rental time block on the ceremony start time, as we allow our guests up to 8 hours in the venue, however all events conclude at midnight. A safe and common ceremony start time ranges from 4:00pm-4:30pm depending on the time of the year. This allows time for you to prepare yourself throughout the day yet elongates your post-marital celebration.
Processional is just a fancy word to describe when you walk down the aisle. Your ceremony can be as simple or complicated as you desire! In terms of a traditional processional, those who walk down the aisle can include grandparents, parents, bridal party, ring bearers and flower girls. However, in recent years, we’ve seen limitations on who all gets to make their debut down the aisle. Most of our couples restrict their processional entourage to parents, bridal party, and the couple. In regards to timeline creation, knowing who will be strutting the aisle is very important in maintaining a seamless and elegant entrance. When forming your line up, this can be ordered by height or who is closest to you relationship wise. Once you have your list of bridal party VIP’s, you will want to organize them in reverse order. I know that it sounds wonky but bare with me, you are going to start with who is standing furthest from the couple then work inwards. Orchestrating the entry in this fashion helps limit any awkward shuffling or bumping shoulders at the altar, while trying to get into place for the ceremony at The Pointe.
Almost every one of our couples find themselves wondering, “how long is a wedding ceremony?” Well to be honest, the time you find yourself in the limelight typically depends on the traditions that you choose to incorporate into your ceremony. Almost every ceremony requires some sort of an invocation, in which the officiant welcomes your guests and initiates the ceremony. However, other than that, most ceremonies do not require much more than an exchange of rings. While it is customary to openly read your vows to your partner whilst in front of your family and friends, we’ve seen our couples take a more modern approach. A private vow exchange has been very popular amongst our newlyweds, as it helps limit stress of any public speaking and maintains some intimacy on their wedding day. We encourage you to keep your ceremony short and sweet, with that being said, a good time block for your wedding is 20-25 minutes. Also, let’s be honest, Lake Havasu City can get pretty warm and our Havasu Springs visitors love a good party, especially if it’s in celebration of two of their favorite people!
Now that you’re hitched and ready to wrap up this ceremony, we have to talk about your recessional. Luckily, this is the easiest part of the timeline creation process! Essentially you will take your processional list and just organize it backwards. Recessional begins with the couple and then bridesmaids and groomsmen walk out in pairs, starting with those closest to the couple. Other members of your processional, such as parents, will more than likely not participate in recessional, as they will remain sitting in their seats. Recessional should honestly run a lot faster than processional, simply because it’s the conclusion of the ceremony and all of your guests will be eager to head to your reception.
Post-Ceremony
After your recessional, you will have a very brief window of stillness amongst your crowd. This part of the ceremony can be a little awkward because after walking down the aisle, you will stop and be slightly unsure of where to go. We’ve found that this is a great opportunity to take a large group photo. The photographer can position themselves at the top of The Pointe and aim their camera at the crowd! The full bridal party will follow you for recessional and eventually, they will be waiting at the end of the aisle. At this time, your guests can stand from their seats and smile for the newlyweds! We think that prioritizing this time for a group photo is really important. Think about it, in what other circumstance will you see your friends and family all in one place? After your group picture, everyone will be so excited to congratulate you! However, to limit any post-wedding distractions, your DJ should make an announcement for your guests to enjoy cocktail hour in the Harbor Room. We will want to get your family photos done as quickly as possible and in order to do so, we have to be prepared. We recommend for our couples to create a detailed wedding family photo list, which includes the names and relations for every person in the desired photo. This helps make family photos a breeze. When calculating the estimated time to allot for family photos, consider the size of your family. On average, you should be able to get all of those desired family shots in approximately 25 minutes!
Cocktail Hour
While some venues offer a separate space to host your cocktail hour, our venue is a bit unique! We host our cocktail hour in The Harbor Room and we later use the same space for your reception. Truly, whether you decide to join cocktail hour or not is entirely up to you. Some of our couples choose to join cocktail hour as they are eager to mingle with friends and family, while others wish to use this time for additional photos. Whether these extra photos are of the bridal party or just the couple, you can certainly use this time to diversify your wedding portfolio. Wedding sunset photos overlooking Lake Havasu are an absolute staple in our couples’ wedding galleries! The easiest way to decide whether or not you should partake in cocktail hour is to evaluate your ceremony invite time and sunset time. While the time of sunset is going to shift dramatically depending on the time of year that you wish to be wed, you should dedicate the 40 min before sunset to capturing these glowing moments. If the time between the end of family portraits and the 40 minutes before sunset allows, then we recommend going inside for part of cocktail hour. That way you can freshen up, grab a snack or drink, and socialize with your people. Don’t worry, you can always sneak back out for those cliffside romantic sunset photos!
Grand Entrance
Grand entrance marks the shift from cocktail hour to your reception. Loosely explained, the grand entrance is when our couple makes their first introduction as newlyweds. Most of our couples elect to include their bridal party in their debut. In doing so, the small parade takes more or less 5 minutes. When organizing your grand entrance, you will want to make notes for your DJ on your timeline. Letting them know what songs you wish to be played and the order of people to be called is very important in executing a smooth introduction. After the grand entrance, we recommend that our couples go straight into their first dance. This tends to appear more relaxed and gets all of those dance floor jitters out of the way! Usually the first dance lasts about 5 minutes. Then you can spend about 30-35 minutes interacting with your family and friends before dinner begins!
Dinner
After a long day packed with photos, you and your guests will definitely be ready for a nice meal. Some of our couples choose to have a blessing delivered by a close family member or friend prior to the dinner service. If a blessing is something that you are interested in doing, then you should include the name of the person giving the blessing on your timeline so that your vendors can coordinate it accordingly.
Here at Havasu Springs Resort, we offer two different types of dinner service. There is the traditional option of a plated dinner, in which your guests will be served individually, almost restaurant-style. Plated dinners do come at a higher price point and require more work on behalf of you, as the couple. When constructing your timeline, be sure to consider which type of dinner you have selected. Depending on the size of your wedding and If you opt for a plated meal, then all of your guests should be served within approximately 30-45 minutes. The second and more popular option is a buffet-style dinner. A buffet assembly allows for your guests to customize their selections, guarantees hot food, and is more fitting for those with dietary restrictions or preferences.
In the circumstance that you select our buffet dinner service, then dinner should go as follows. Almost immediately following the blessing, we serve salads to the tables.Then about 15 minutes after salads, your buffet service will start. The buffet line does flow kind of slowly as your guests will be customizing their plates, so you will want to dedicate at least 45 minutes-1 hour for your dinner service. This time period can fluctuate depending on your guest count. After every one of your guests have been served and offered the opportunity for a second serving, then we wait about 20 minutes to go into toasts. When making your wedding timeline, you should include who you would like to speak during toasts and the order in which you’d like them to. When allocating times for each person to speak, about 5 minutes per toast is recommended. We also encourage our couples to have parents speak last, as it flows nicely into parent dances.
Reception
Now this is where the fun happens! All of those special traditions that makeup the stereotypical wedding occur during your reception. When formulating your timeline, evaluate whether the two of you wish to partake in parent dances. If you do, then we recommend dedicating 5 minutes to each dance. After parent dances, it is typical for our couples to open the dance floor and invite their guests to boogie alongside them! Roughly 20-30 minutes after the party gets roaring, we encourage our couples to take the time to cut their cake. Whether you wish to have the DJ announce this event or want something more private and intimate, you should definitely note it on your timeline! We find that it’s best to cut the cake earlier in the evening for the sake of your photos and prolonging your time to party. The rest of the evening should flow pretty smoothly. If you are interested in hosting a bouquet toss or garter toss, you should designate times later in the evening. These events tend to be more fun once everyone has had the opportunity to get a drink or two!
The Beginning of The Day
Now that you’ve constructed your timeline for the later half of the day, that being from ceremony until the end of reception, we need to focus on the beginning of your wedding day. Obviously the day cannot begin until you’ve gotten ready! For the ladies, getting ready means hours of hair and makeup but for the guys, this means a shower. When making your schedule for those who are in need of hair and makeup styling, it’s important to recall how long you’ve reserved your specialists for. Typically, hair and makeup stylists dedicate about 45 min to 1 hour per lady and 1.5-2 hours for the bride. The meet-up time for your girl gang will depend on the size of your bridal party. For couples who have a lot of bridesmaids in their bridal party, this can mean meeting as early as 6:30am. For those with a smaller group that require styling, the day can be a bit more relaxed with everybody meeting at 10:00am. When determining your “getting ready” schedule, just be sure to evaluate the amount of time you have booked your stylists and the number of people that will need their services. Your photographer should arrive within the last 30 minutes of everybody getting ready. That way they can take photos of the bride finishing her makeup and capture any cute getting ready images you desire! The general rule of thumb is that all of the ladies should be ready at least 3 hours prior to your ceremony invite time. In the case of the men, they will need to meet up at a designated location, whether this is a motel room at Havasu Springs or an RV site. When they arrive, they should be showered and partially dressed. A good meet up time for the guys is usually when the photographer arrives.
After getting ready images of each of the parties, the photographer will use this allocated time before the ceremony to capture a majority of your bridal party images. If you as the couple wish not to see each other prior to the ceremony, then these photos will be separated between the bride/bridesmaids and groom/groomsmen. We encourage our couples to explore the property prior to their wedding day, as there are several different great photo locations spread across the resort. Knowing where you want your photos taken will be very helpful in saving time on the day-of. In selecting a variety of locations, you will diversify your wedding portfolio and get the most of your day!
After your pre-ceremony bridal photos, you will find yourself anxiously waiting for the event to occur! To help curb any stress or anxiety, we prefer for our brides, bridesmaids, and parents to meet in The Harbor Room 30 minutes prior to the ceremony. This will allow for you to grab a cocktail and remain hidden before the wedding ceremony occurs at The Pointe. The groom, groomsmen, and fathers, should arrive at The Pointe 15 minutes before ceremony invite time. This will allow for the guys to take a few minutes to greet your guests and grab a beverage before it’s go-time. Everybody should get into place for the processional about 5 minutes before the ceremony invite time. Once it is time for the ceremony to begin, we will golf cart shuttle all of our ladies up to The Pointe and begin the ceremony!
Closing Thoughts
While your timeline can be as complicated or simple as you wish, investing the time to produce a thorough one will always benefit your wedding day! From the venue, vendors, to your bridal party, there are a lot of moving facets working together to provide you with the most stress-free and beautiful day of your life. In working to establish your wedding timeline, it is essential that you’ve considered what you desire for the event to be. What images do you want of the day? What songs do you want to be played? What special traditions do you wish to honor? While it all may be overwhelming, take some time to daydream about what you want to happen before you think about when it should happen. Trust us, we understand the difficulty behind organizing a wedding day timeline. This is why we encourage our couples to book a wedding planning package with Posh Planning & Event Co. They are wedding day timeline pros!