Your wedding day is a once in a lifetime event, and while it's tempting to take a laid back approach, managing your time effectively is key to ensuring everything runs smoothly. From my experience as a wedding photographer, I've noticed that losing time in the morning or during key moments can be difficult to recover later in the day. As your schedule progresses, it becomes increasingly hard to compromise on those special moments you’ve carefully planned.
Here’s a guide to help you make the most of your time on your big day, using the example of a traditional church wedding where the bride and groom are getting ready separately and there’s travel involved to the ceremony and reception.
1. Start Your Day with a Plan
The time you lose at the start of your day is almost impossible to get back, so it’s important to keep control of your schedule. While it’s great to enjoy a relaxed morning with your bridal party, ensure you’re mindful of the time. Having a clear plan for what you want to do and when you want to do it can make all the difference.
Here’s a common scenario where time can slip away: vendors arriving in the morning. It’s become increasingly common for wedding suppliers to capture behind-the-scenes moments for their social media, which is important for their business. However, this shouldn’t come at the expense of your schedule. For example, if you’re about to leave for the ceremony and your makeup artist or hairstylist wants to gather everyone for a quick photo or video, it can delay your departure and throw off your entire timeline. As much as I love working with beauty teams, it’s crucial that these moments don’t interfere with your plans.
2. Utilise Your Bridal Party
Your bridal party is there to support you, so don’t hesitate to use them effectively. If you plan to get dressed at 10am, ensure your bridesmaids are ready 10 minutes earlier so they can assist you without any last minute rush. This will help prevent a chaotic scramble, keeping everything on track.
Throughout the day, assign small tasks to your bridal party. Whether it’s coordinating with musicians or handling last minute details at the venue, this is your day and you shouldn’t have to worry about these things. One of my favourite uses for the bridal party is to gather family members for group photos while we’re taking portraits. This way, everyone is ready when we return, allowing us to move quickly and get you to your drinks reception on time.
3. Rethinking the Receiving Line
The receiving line is a time honoured tradition, but it can be time consuming. While it’s a wonderful opportunity to greet each guest personally, it can also be a bit overwhelming and a potential time sink. If you’re concerned about makeup transfer or just want to move things along, here are a couple of tips:
💐 Hold onto your bouquet tightly to create a natural barrier, keeping guests at a comfortable distance, and avoids getting makeup stains on your wedding gown.
😉 If you’re ready to wrap things up, give your photographer a nod, and we’ll help usher you to the next part of your day.
In some cases, couples choose to skip the receiving line altogether, knowing they’ll have plenty of time to catch up with guests later on. This can save you up to 45 minutes, which can be a game changer if you’re running behind or if sunlight is limited in those winter months when sunset is early.
4. Cut the Cake Early
Traditionally, the cake cutting happens later in the evening, but I’ve seen couples flip this tradition on its head by doing it as soon as they enter the room after dinner. This avoids the common issue of key people like parents or the best man stepping out for a chat or a smoke, causing unnecessary delays. Cutting the cake early means you can keep the momentum going, get the photos done, and have the cake served without interrupting the flow of the evening.
5. Make the Schedule Work for You
Ultimately, your wedding day should be tailored to your preferences. Some couples love capturing those social media moments with their beauty team, others want to savour every minute of the drinks reception, and some prefer the traditional cake-cutting ceremony. It’s all about finding what works best for you. We provide our couples with a personalised (realistic) wedding day timeline to share with their bridal party. This is agreed in advance and helps keep everyone on track on the big day, so it’s good to chat this through with your vendors in advance so everyone is on the same page. The suggestions above are based on what I’ve seen work well, but it’s your day, and you should do what feels right for you.
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