Subscribe How Long Will it Take?
Last week I wrote about the Importance of Wedding Day Timelines and gave some sample timelines. But many couples don’t know how much time to budget for events of the day, especially for photography. Since we attend more weddings than most, we’re experts on how wedding days go and how to budget your time. The following are tips and general time estimates you will find helpful when planning your Wedding Day Timeline. If you have any questions about how to budget your time please ask me by leaving a comment!
h3. Tips on Time Estimates:
- Don’t be conservative in time estimates! Chances are things will take longer than you think or things may get delayed. If you only allow for a short time after your ceremony for all your posed portraits, you risk not having any if something causes a delay and your ceremony starts late. You would be surprised by some of the stories we could tell: from fires on freeways causing a huge traffic jam to Priests showing up late! If you think something will take 30 minutes plan on 45 minutes.
- Good vendors, will help you plan. Ask them to help you plan your timeline; wedding vendors are experts and (most) are more than happy to share their expertise! Your DJ will know how much time you need to fit in your formal dances, speeches and cake cutting, etc.
- Ask friends who were recently married about their wedding day. Were they able to fit everything in? Did they have delays? Compare their wedding day’s timeline to what you want yours to include and plan accordingly.
- Don’t forget to include travel time! Expect light traffic, even if there rarely is any in your area. Travel time isn’t just driving time, it’s walking from place to place. Depending on the wedding dress and shoes, a bride will usually walk much slower when she’s all dressed than she would normally.
h3. General Time Estimates for Typical Wedding Day Events:
* Ceremony
- Formal Portraits
- Dinner
- First Dance
- Money Dance
- Speeches & Toasts
- Bouquet & Garter Toss
- Cake Cutting
From the time your DJ announces that the two of you will be cutting the cake, to the time servers begin to serve the cake is usually about 15 minutes. This can vary though, if you want pictures with the cake before you dig in and posed shots feeding each other, or if you are far from the cake table, etc.
Technorati Categories: weddings, wedding planning.
0089b25d2d442930c82d1edc92515ebb->
Ceremony times vary greatly. Churches often include a coordinator for your ceremony and should be able to tell you how long everything will take. If you don’t have a coordinator, ask your officiant how long it will take and add in 2-3 minutes for each special reading or song you add to their typical service.
The best estimate would be 2 minutes for each type of formal portrait. Some may take much less and some a bit more. Two minutes for each type will give your photographer time to pose people, fix stray hair, crooked ties and necklaces, run back to the camera and snap away. A good general estimate for formal shots of the bride and groom, bridal party (group shots), paring of bride with each of her attendants, groom with each of his attendants and family shots (if all in one general location and everyone is ready for pictures) is 45 minutes to an hour. So if you want a lot more than these mentioned shots (which most do) you will need more time. Once you book your photographer go over your timeline for portraits with him/her.
Americans eat fast! So usually 30 minutes is ample time for guests to eat. If you are having a buffet, you will need to add more time! Buffet dinners take quite a bit longer, especially if you have a lot of guests. If you are having several courses, ask your caterer or the coordinator of the reception how long dinner should take. Because you and your wedding party will be served first it’s a great idea to start a traditional dance or event (not directly involving your guests) while most people are finishing their dinners. We did this for our wedding and it worked great! Guest enjoyed watching our first dance followed by a dance with our wedding party while they ate.
Add 2 minutes to the length of your selected song. Adding 2 minutes will allow you time to go to and from the dance floor (again wedding gowns can really slow a bride down). Additionally, you won’t want to rush anything so give yourself time. The same time rule should apply to all your other formal dances (Father-Daughter, Mother-Son, etc.) except your Money or Dollar Dance.
If you plan to have one, allow for at least 15 minutes per 100 guests. A great time saving tip here is to have the Maid/Matron of Honor and the Best Man manage your lines. They give each guest a brief time with the bride or groom and tell the next person in line it’s their turn. You can have some guests who think they’ve got you for the length of an entire song! You’d be there all night if no one was helping to manage the lines.
This one varies greatly! Public speaking often does strange things to people. Some will go on and on (because they planned a long speech or they have nothing planned!) while some will say next to nothing. Some people who you wouldn’t expect to make a toast will grab the microphone and surprise you. As such, estimate 5 minutes to each planned toast or speech. If you are on a major time crunch you should ask your DJ to not allow anyone to have the microphone who isn’t on your timeline.
These two traditions usually take about 5-7 minutes each, so estimate 15 minutes on your timeline.