One of the greatest tips that we can give, to help you stay on time on your wedding day is to have a wedding timeline! Your timeline will serve as your guide to staying on time as it was created to ensure that you will accomplish everything you hope to at your wedding. If you have a coordinator they will create this timeline for you, and next to your marriage certificate it will be the second most important document at your wedding! So whether you are creating your own timeline or your coordinator has made one for you, the following are a few tips and things to consider to help you stay on time on your wedding day!
If you could use the assistance of a well experienced wedding planner to create your timeline for you, but don’t need the day of help, check out our timeline creation service!
Travel Time
Photography: Aria Studios
Planning a wedding that will require transportation to the venue or venues? The duration it will take you to get from one location to another may be greater than you think. Depending on what you’re wearing, how many people you’re traveling with, and of course where you’re coming from, your drive could be longer than what google maps says! And as Honolulu has unfortunately been often ranked as one of the cities with the worst traffic in the country, planning realistically for your travel time is really important to staying on time on your wedding day! Our biggest recommendation to avoid this altogether is to stay overnight near or at (if your venue is a hotel) your wedding venue! This will incredibly reduce your travel time and will remove the thought of sitting in possible traffic from the list of things to have to think about on your wedding day.
Putting on the Dress
Photography: Embr Photo
Though putting on your wedding dress may sound like something that can be done in minutes, the speed at which you are able to put your dress on greatly depends on the type of dress! For instance dresses that have a corset or an intricate button detailing will most likely require more time than a zipper or slip on dress. Additionally you also want to take into consideration the time it will take to use the restroom prior to putting on your dress, as well as any undergarments that may need to be put on as well. As these things can quickly add time to putting on the dress, we always allot for brides to have at least 30 minutes (more if you have a corset) to put on their dress so that they can take their time when getting their gown on!
Speed of Your Photographer
Communication with all of your vendors is important but especially with your coordinator and photographer! The timing of your day is greatly dependent on the speed your photographer captures your requested photos. Though your coordination team will most likely be there to assist the photographer with staying with the wedding day timeline. Chatting with your photographer prior to your wedding about the amount and type of photos you want will help them know the speed that they will have to move in order to achieve your goals, which will greatly help you stay on time on your wedding day!
Delegate Tasks
One way for a wedding day to go behind schedule is if tasks are not accomplished or if items are forgotten. When we check in with a Bride on the morning of their wedding we always make sure to confirm that they have all of the supplies and items they stated they were going to bring for the ceremony and reception. We also make sure that they have all of the wedding stationery, jewelry, and other items that they would like to be photographed with them as well prior to the arrival of the photographer. As forgetting one of these items or a task that needed to be done at a certain time (such as ordering lunch from room service prior to getting dressed) can affect your ability to stick to your timeline, we recommend delegating tasks to your wedding party, or a few friends and family members. So that instead of having to take care of everything yourself, you can check in with the person/people who are helping you. With the help of others, this will hopefully reduce the chance of something being forgotten and falling behind schedule.
Photography: Derek Wong Photography
Add Buffer Time
Finally one of the best ways to help you stay on time on your wedding day is to add buffer time to your timeline. When creating a timeline you want to adopt the mindset of “hope for the best, and expect the worst”. By thinking in terms of timing what the worst case scenario could be, this will help you create a timeline that is prepared for the worst but also planned to go perfectly smoothly should nothing go wrong. Some of the main areas to add extra time too are when getting ready, if you’ll be driving from one location to another, and the time before your ceremony as you want to be able to relax a bit before it’s time to say “I Do!”.
We hope these tips help you stay on time on your wedding day! :)
XOXOXO
(A Perfect Day)