Wedding Day Timeline

Before booking during the initial consultation, many of our clients ask about the wedding day timeline to ensure we will take care of it, because it’s important to them. They reference to not wanting to worry about who is supposed to be where and what time certain things needs to be done. That thought process aligns with our work process. On wedding day we don’t want our clients or their family and friends being “worker bees”. So one of the ways we take care of that is by strategically formulating the timeline to ensure all vendors are on the same page and know that our clients can have the Best.Day.Ever!!

When you are a Lorenda Howell Events client, you get the luxury of our us creating your extensive full day timeline, plus a simplified pocket timeline for your VIPs. Your full day timeline is not just wedding day itself, we also include rehearsal schedule, which is typically the day before the wedding. As well as load in and load out schedules that are many times a couple of days before and after the event.

Our timelines also go into all the details each vendor need; such as how you want to be introduced for the first time, whether or not you want a song for cake cutting and if so what that song is. We event take things a step further so that there is no room left for error and clarify in the timeline, what happens after the cake is cut. For your vendors, we make a note that after the couple cut, taste and get photos, the catering team will take the entire table to the back to dissemble and plate the cake. Don’t worry we tell the catering team whether or not you are saving your top tier, as well. We note that in the timeline when we schedule cake delivery, along with the flavors, how many tiers (and/or backup sheet cakes), if extra boxes will be left and who will install the flowers on the cake (baker or florist). These are all elements that a planner orchestrates behind the scenes. We work with every vendor that has a role for wedding day. This way from the time you wake up to the time you return back to bed, every detail is accounted for.

Other Vendor’s Timelines

As you begin to hire vendors, almost all of them will ask for a rough timeline and if you don’t have one they will gladly jump in to create one, so they can cross it off their list.

I completely understand that, with wedding seasons getting busier and busier each year, everyone wants to have a solid plan for how an event will operate. However, I’m pretty sure most planners will agree, that the plans you have from day one will look different to plans that are confirmed in the final phases of wedding planning.

This is why one of the first things we discuss after onboarding is a tentative simplified timeline, which is a one-page document that has key points of your day and can be shared with each vendor you hire.

Sometime will you get a DJ, Photographer or Venue coordinator will want to do your timeline and that simply is not ideal for so many reasons. With a DJ his timeline will only go over reception events and sometimes ceremony if they are providing the music for ceremony. What about getting ready and floral delivery and pre-ceremony photos?

Same with a photographer, their timeline will consist of the hours they are contracted. If you have a photographer for 10 hours and they start at 11am, what about everything before 11am, such as when hair and makeup start, when your bridal stylist arrives or what about what time breakfast is being delivered?

And venue coordinators are in a similar boat. Venue coordinators typically have nothing to do with hair and makeup or anything that is not in their space. They don’t tend to coordinate your ceremony at the church and your post-ceremony photo time off-site.

This is just one reason why hiring a planner is a necessity. We are typically the only vendor that speaks to all the other vendors. Your baker will never talk to the beauty team. The beauty team will never talk to the officiant. The officiant will never talk to the florist and the florist will never talk to the dj, yet your planner will talk to them all and we will work closely with your venue to ensure they have everything they need.

We trust our advice is helpful. Please feel free to email us with questions or any suggestions you have that helped in making your wedding day flow smoothly and stay on schedule.