3 Tips for Creating Your Wedding Day Timeline
Creating your wedding day timeline can feel like putting together an impossible puzzle! With so many factors to consider, it’s often tricky to nail down specific start and end times for your ceremony and reception. That’s where we come in!
Over years of planning New Jersey weddings, we’ve nailed down the most important factors to consider when creating a timeline. Whether your goal is sunset portraits or saving money by hosting a weekday wedding, read on for our top three tips!
Find Out When the Sun Will Set
This may be the most crucial thing to consider when creating your wedding day timeline! Head to a weather prediction website and note when the sun will set on your wedding day. This knowledge is even more critical if you plan to take outdoor photos or host an outdoor ceremony!
Depending on the season your wedding takes place, you’ll want to schedule your ceremony earlier or later in the afternoon. If you’re hosting a summer wedding, you have the most flexibility! But if you’d like to take sunset portraits at some point during your reception, it’s best to aim for a later ceremony start time, such as 4:00 or 4:30. Conversely, as we all know, the sun sets earlier in the wintertime. For weddings that occur after daylight savings time, aim for a 1:30 or 2:00 start time. That way, there will still be plenty of daylight to work with!
Aim to End Earlier For Weekday Weddings
Many couples like to book a Sunday-Thursday wedding to save thousands on a venue rental! While we are all for saving money, we also caution couples to consider their guests’ lifestyles when figuring out a wedding day timeline. Most people work a Monday-Friday schedule, and some also have children to shuttle to school in the morning.
If you don’t want your guests to start trickling out halfway through your reception, aim for a 10 p.m. end time at the latest. This will allow your local guests to arrive home at a decent hour—and ensure that you have a packed dance floor through the evening!
Budget Travel Time, If Necessary
You’ll need to manage your time wisely if your wedding day involves multiple locations. For example, some couples opt to get ready at a hotel, have a church ceremony, then head to a separate venue for their cocktail hour and reception. This means more time is needed to travel from one location to another. It also means you’ll need to hire your photographer and videographer for additional hours compared to a one-location wedding.
Acquaint yourself with the travel time between destinations, and book transportation as needed. If you hire us, we’ll take care of all these details for you and ensure seamless travel for you AND your guests! In addition, keep traffic in mind. You can count on battling rush hour congestion if your ceremony ends anywhere between 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. on a weekday. Especially keep this in mind if your wedding is in a busy metropolitan area like Jersey City or Hoboken or near a major artery like Route 80!
Are you ready to hand over planning your wedding day timeline to a team of experienced and dedicated professionals? We’re committed to giving you the carefree, once-in-a-lifetime experience you crave for your New Jersey wedding. Get in touch today to learn about our customizable planning packages!
