Every wedding day runs on a timeline, whether you write one or not. A clear, realistic schedule keeps your vendors in sync, gets you to the aisle on time and leaves room to actually enjoy the day. Building it is not complicated once you know the order to work in and how long things really take.
Start with your fixed points
A few times are set before anything else, and the rest of the day is built around them:
- Ceremony start time. Everything before the ceremony works backward from it, and everything after works forward.
- Venue access and end times. When your vendors can arrive to set up, and when everything has to be finished and cleared.
- Sunset. Look up the sunset time for your exact date and location. It decides when portraits will have the best light, and it moves a lot between June and December in North Carolina.
- Any hard stops. Noise ordinances, a church's schedule or a shuttle's last run.
How long things actually take
These ranges are typical, but ask each of your vendors for their own estimate, because the numbers depend on your group and your plans.
- Hair and makeup: often 45 minutes to an hour or more per person for hair and makeup together. Your hair and makeup team will build the getting-ready schedule from the number of people and services.
- Getting dressed: allow 20 to 30 minutes, with a photographer present if you want those moments captured.
- First look and couple portraits: roughly 30 to 45 minutes.
- Wedding party photos: roughly 20 to 30 minutes.
- Family photos: roughly 20 to 30 minutes. A written shot list and a family member who knows everyone keep this moving.
- Ceremony: commonly 20 to 30 minutes, longer for religious or cultural ceremonies.
- Cocktail hour: about an hour, which is when many couples take family photos if they did not do them earlier.
- Reception: usually four to five hours for entrances, dinner, toasts, first dances, cake cutting, dancing and the send-off.
First look or not?
A first look means seeing each other privately before the ceremony. It lets you take couple and wedding party photos earlier, so you can join your own cocktail hour, and it is especially useful in fall and winter when the sun sets early. Skipping it keeps the aisle moment as your first sight of each other, but it means more photos must fit between the ceremony and the reception. Talk it through with your photographer, and see our guide to choosing a photographer.
A sample schedule
Here is one example for a 5:00 p.m. ceremony with a first look. Treat it as a starting point and adjust it to your venue, your sunset time and your vendors' advice.
- 10:00 a.m. Hair and makeup begins.
- 12:30 p.m. Photographer arrives for details and getting-ready photos.
- 2:00 p.m. Getting dressed.
- 2:30 p.m. First look and couple portraits.
- 3:15 p.m. Wedding party photos.
- 3:45 p.m. Immediate family photos, then everyone tucks away before guests arrive.
- 4:30 p.m. Guests arrive.
- 5:00 p.m. Ceremony.
- 5:30 p.m. Cocktail hour, with any remaining family photos and sunset portraits.
- 6:30 p.m. Grand entrance and dinner.
- 7:30 p.m. Toasts, first dances and cake cutting.
- 8:00 p.m. Dance floor opens.
- 10:00 p.m. Last dance and send-off.
Build in buffers
- Add 10 to 15 minutes of cushion before the ceremony and between major photo sessions. Something always runs long.
- Plan travel time between locations, including parking and walking, and add more for traffic on a Saturday.
- Schedule a few minutes alone together after the ceremony and during the reception.
- Make sure your vendors eat. Ask your caterer when vendor meals will be served, usually while guests are eating.
Share it with everyone
Send the final timeline to every vendor two to three weeks before the wedding, with a contact name and phone number for the day. Give the wedding party a simpler version with just their call times and locations. Your planner or day-of coordinator usually builds and runs the timeline for you, and your DJ or MC will keep the reception on track. For the months before the wedding, see our planning timeline, and if your reception is outdoors, our guide to tent weddings covers setup times.