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Five-Hour Wedding Timeline
by Dani
As you’ve noticed, there’s a lot going on at your wedding. This basic timeline should be a good jumping-off point to help you decide what you’d like to happen and figure out how long it should all take.
Before the Ceremony
The musicians should begin playing and the ushers should start seating people about half an hour before the ceremony.
Hour One: Get Married!
• The bridal party enters
• You and your groom get hitched
• Formal pictures of the wedding party
• Guests go to the reception
• Introductions of the wedding party (about five minutes)
o Introductions of the best man and maid of honor
o Introductions of you and your new husband
o You can introduce other bridesmaids and groomsmen as a bunch if you like, or you can just let them go ahead and start hitting on each other.
Tips
This “hour” may stretch, depending on whether you want to include readings or add nontraditional elements to your ceremony and on how far away your reception location is.
Definitely check in with your photographer to make sure you’re on the same page about which groupings you’d like to use and how long you think it will take.
Optional Hour:
You may want to add an hour to this timeline for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. This will give your guests time to chat – and you know they’ll have something to do if the wedding party needs some extra time for photos.
This extra leeway can give you time for your bridesmaids to change clothes. For example, your bridesmaids could wear separate bodices and skirts that look like formal dresses for the ceremony, then switch the skirts for more danceable coordinates for the reception. You may want the luxury of peeling down too – lots of wedding dresses offer the option of a more reception-friendly layer.
Hours Two and Three: Eat, Drink, and Get Silly
This is when you’re in full-on reception mode.
• Toasts – Start with the best man and (if desired) the maid of honor. Figure on about five minutes for the two of them.
• At last, you can eat. You may want to have music as dinner is being served. Give dinner about an hour and fifteen minutes.
• You and your groom will start off the dancing. Now is the time to get schmoopy if you want to. (About five minutes, unless you choose “Stairway to Heaven” or something as your song.)
• You dance with your father. If you’re from a blended family or a commune, there may be more than one claimant to this title. Err on the side of inclusiveness, but remember that your other guests may be raring to go, especially since nowadays, the father-daughter dance may be followed by…
• The groom’s dance with his mother, or various combinations of you, your new husband, and your grandparents. (Figure on about five minutes for each dance.)
• Everybody dance! Give people about 30 minutes to get funky and/or tired.
Tips
Check in with the musicians or DJ and the caterer to make sure you’re all in agreement on your timeline.
As a rule, the wedding party gets served first, then the parents’ tables, and then everyone else.
The best man will know that he’s expected to make a toast, but the maid of honor may be unsure. Definitely check in with her.
You may also want to make some firm decisions about how many times you’ll allow people to make you kiss by clinking their forks on their glasses. If you’re not crazy about the idea, insist on kissing only if your guests complete a more elaborate task, such as making a toast or singing a few bars of a love song.
Hour Four: Some Well-Earned Carbs
• Cut the cake with your new husband (about 15 minutes)
• Toss the bouquet and the garter (about 10 minutes each)
• Everyone is all keyed up again, so back to the open dancing!
Tips
Long before you get to this part, you and your intended should decide whether or not you are the kind of people who smash cake into each other’s faces.
You’ll also want to touch base about how you feel about the bouquet and garter tosses. Some people find them antiquated or even embarrassing, and some wouldn’t have a wedding without them.
Hour Five: Wrap it up and Head for Your Honeymoon!
The wedding world is definitely divided on your responsibilities here. Some people say that it’s your job as a couple to lead the last dance. Others believe that it’s your job as a couple to pile into your limousine before the reception is over, in effect giving your guests permission to leave. In either case, you did it! Let everyone else clean up for once and go play.
