How to work your order of events

Often overlooked until the last minute, the order of events is an absolute necessity when it comes to planning your wedding day and is like absolute gold to every vendor involved in bringing your day together.

I've put together quite a traditional order of events that I see play out during most kiwi weddings. I do quite like to claim that the weddings I run do run 90% to time, but it’s a fairly accurate stab that no, most weddings rarely ever run 100% to the dot - it's all part of the fun! Go ahead and use this template as it is, or tweak it to suit what you two are all about.

Probably important to add here is that the following timeline is based off a standard Canterbury summer when there’s plenty of light well into the evening! If you’re planning a winter wedding, I’d recommend bringing the timeline forward, chatting to a planner (naturally) or running the schedule past your photographer - They will also love you for it!

3.00 PM Ceremony

3.30 PM Congratulations and Cocktail Hour

3:50 PM Family Photos

4:20 PM Bridal Party Photos

6:00 PM Guests Seated for Reception, (shared entrees on table if opting for a grazing style)

6.15 PM Bridal Party Entrance

6.30 PM MC Welcome, Followed by Speeches (You could cake cut during this time, too)

7.15 PM Main Course Served (during summertime your photographer may whip you out for golden hour or dusk photos once you’ve eaten)

8:05 PM Dinner Cleared

8.15 PM Speeches, Telegrams, MC Wrap Up

9.00 PM First Dance, then Party Starts

9.30 PM Sweet Treats, Tea and Coffee put out

10.30 PM Bouquet Toss

11.00 PM Bar Closes

11:30 PM Closing Time

It’s almost embarrassing looking back, but when I first wrote this post, I allowed a ridiculous amount of time for photos, just thinking it was standard when in actual fact it’s so far from normal and the last thing you want to be doing on your wedding day! A handy tip is to allow about one hour for your photos if you’re staying on-site, and add time on to that 60 minutes to travel if required. In my experience, the bigger the bridal party, the longer it can take! Try not to worry about your guests, they'll be well 'watered', fed and entertained in your absence!

Allowing 20-30 minutes after the ceremony/congratulations for family photos is also a great move. Give a list to the MC, and also to a representative from each side of the family who knows all of the faces and have them round everyone up so you can stand in the middle and let it all unfold before you and the bridal party head off on your adventure.

Highly recommended, and something we took advantage of was taking off at sunset (or dusk) for a few twilight snaps while our friends and family finished off their dinner - they were so worth it! Even with a vertical hill climb in stiletto heels! It's the best opportunity to take some time alone and 'stand still in time' if you like, taking in the events of the day.

For those of you wondering how to tackle the speech order, ours rolled like this:

Father of the Bride
Father of the Groom
Bridesmaid

Best Man
Bride
Groom (or often I see the newly weds speak together)

It's a great move on the MC's part to sprinkle a few congratulations from absent guests throughout the evening, otherwise known as Telegrams, and if you’re quite close with your MC they will be sure to tell a few epic stories, I’m sure!

If this is something you’re looking at and getting super flustered over, maybe it’s time to bring in the big guns and invest in a coordinator to run your wedding day. I personally offer wedding packages and begin my handover process three months out to ensure every element is taken care of, but I might not be your person and that’s totally fine too! Over on the directory you’ll find some of the best planners Canterbury has to offer, so reach out to them and you’ll feel the weight lift off your shoulders instantly.

So make your tweaks, fire it off to the MC and let them create the magic!

Think this is enough to get you on your merry way? Got a question? Want to see alternate options that accommodate a first look? Let me know!

Until next,