The topic a lot of people always question – do I do a first look? Or maybe a first touch? Maybe neither and you won’t have any interaction until you’re walking down the aisle? Each one has its positive qualities and as wedding planners, we always will do what you want for your day. But people always ask “which one is better?” so we thought we’d offer our opinion. We love first looks and want to share the 4 reasons why we think they’re great!
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Nervous Jitters Disappear
Your wedding day is nerve wracking because of the excitement of getting to marry your best friend. We love that a first look gives you the opportunity to get all those nerves out before standing in front of people at the ceremony.
A first look lets you rest in the calming presence of one another as you join together as one. It’s the fact that you’ve seen each other and spent time with each other beforehand that makes your ceremony easier to handle.
Photo by Gysland Photography
A Private Moment
As wedding planners, we are always there to make sure the first look goes off smoothly. You deserve to get this special moment all to yourselves. We will make sure there’s no one standing in the corner with a cell phone interrupting you. It is our job to make sure your wedding day is about you, and we do everything we can to make sure that happens.
Photo by Venture North Media
The first look is an opportunity for the two of you to truly be with each other and have the experience of seeing each other without any interruptions or a bunch of people staring at you. It is a great way for each of you to be able to emote your feelings in whatever way you need to without others as a distraction (this is where you shed those tears!) Being able to experience seeing each other for the first time on your wedding day without others makes it more enjoyable.
Timeline Ease
Having a first look, it makes it easier to get a majority of your photos done before the ceremony. Normally when we write out a wedding day timeline that includes a first look, we are able to get all the bridal party photos done before the ceremony. This makes it super easy to get family photos done right after the ceremony and you don’t have to worry about people waiting around or getting pulled away when you need them.
Photo by Venture North Media
The other plus side is if you have a larger bridal party that will take longer to get ready in the morning, you’ve got the ability to have a later ceremony time since you’re getting most of your formal photos done in the afternoon. Doing a first look really gives you more freedom in your wedding day timeline. We’ve also written How to Build your Wedding Day Timeline that you can check out!
Be Present During your Ceremony
We’ve talked about the nerves and the private moment between the two of you. We think the best part about doing a first look is being able to truly be present during your ceremony. Since you’re not nervous about seeing each other for the first time, and you’ve been able to experience a private moment between the two of you, you can actually enjoy and be present during your ceremony.
Often we hear couples wish they did a first look because it takes the pressure off during the ceremony. The whole point of your wedding day is the act of getting married. Wouldn’t you want to be as present as possible during the ceremony to enjoy getting married?
Photo by Gysland Photography
Summary
We think it’s super important that you get the wedding day of your dreams. As wedding planners, we are here to make that happen for you! If you prefer a first touch, we are there to make sure that neither of you sneaks a peak. If you are seeing each other at the aisle, we will execute the moving parts so that there are no interactions before the ceremony.
We absolutely love first looks! They’re so wonderful because of the overwhelming peace, the ability to experience seeing each other for the first time without an audience, wedding timeline freedoms, and getting to be present during your ceremony. If you’re looking for more helpful tips while planning your wedding, schedule a consultation to start working with us! We can’t wait to elevate your wedding experience without exceeding your budget.
So you’ve gotten engaged, started your planning to get everything booked, and you have NO idea where to begin when building your wedding day timeline. Where do you start? What time do you have to wake up? What time are you going to walk down the aisle? How much time do you need between activities? There’s so much to consider that it can be overwhelming.
Well, you’re in the right place! We’ve laid out many factors that come into play when creating your wedding day timeline. While everyone’s wedding day is different, these are some guidelines you can use to give yourself a place to start. Wedding timelines are also affected by your location, or locations, so this may not work for everyone. There are a lot of factors to consider, so let’s start with things that would add to the time needed on your wedding day.
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Factors That Add Time to your Wedding Day
One of the biggest schedule drivers for the wedding day is location, or locations. If your ceremony and reception are not in the same place, you’re going to need extra time between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of the reception for travel. If you are having the ceremony and reception in different locations, try to keep the travel distance between them to under 30 minutes. Your ideal target is 10-15 minutes, but it is not uncommon to be 20-25 minutes away either. This is really common with backyard ceremonies, church ceremonies, and public park locations.
The next factor in your wedding day timeline is how many people are getting hair and makeup done. The bigger the bridal party, the more people that probably want hair and makeup services. The large number of people contributes to the time when only one or two hair and makeup vendors are booked. This is something to consider when making your timeline. The more people you have, it’s likely you’ll be waking up earlier.
Photo by Gysland Photography
The last large factor that will add time to your day is if there are “extra” events you’d like to include in your day. This could be anything like a longer ceremony, dance events, special moments with family or friends, and so much more. When you plan “extra” events, be sure to plan the added time to your day. It’s not an issue – you should have your wedding day be exactly the way you want it! Be aware and plan for the time!
Where to Begin
Now that we’ve talked about the things that could add time to your wedding day, let’s get into where to start. We always think it’s best to begin building your timeline around your ceremony time. So, how do you choose your ceremony time? There are a couple of things to think about.
First, do you plan to do a first look? Your ceremony time may need to be later in the afternoon to account for getting ready and wedding party photos before the ceremony. Second, are you doing a room flip? This will add more time to your cocktail hour so an earlier ceremony time might be better to avoid a late dinner. Thirdly, how many photos do you want captured? This can add time in a couple of different spots and affect the start time of your ceremony. Lastly, and maybe the most important, is time of year. If the sun is setting earlier in the day, your ceremony time will probably be earlier to accommodate good lighting with photos.
Photo by Gysland Photography
Morning Activities
Once you’ve figured out the best time for your ceremony to take place, you are ready to work on the next part of your schedule! We split the day at the ceremony time and work in two pieces – before the ceremony and after the ceremony. Working on smaller chunks is a great way to make building your wedding day timeline less stressful.
The important thing we want to add to our morning schedule is “buffer time”. When you build in small pockets of “buffer time”, you give yourself the opportunity to avoid a late ceremony. Things happen, it’s just life! But that doesn’t mean the ceremony needs to start late because someone didn’t arrive on-time, clothing was left in a vehicle, or your mom couldn’t stop crying long enough to get her makeup done in the time allotted. Build in buffer. You’ll be glad you did.
Photo by Gysland Photography
There are a ton of things that will affect your morning and how long it will take you to get ready for your day. The biggest things that come into play are hair and makeup services, fun bonding activities, number of bridal party members, and where you are getting ready.
Hair and Makeup Services
Hair and Makeup is an important part of the morning for some people. You may be asking a friend or family member to do it, you may be looking for a vendor, or you may even be doing it yourself/not need hair and makeup time in your schedule. Depending on how hair and makeup will be done, consider needing to wake up earlier.
Ask yourself, “How many people do I have that will be getting ready and may need these services?” Based on how many people are getting hair and makeup services, you might need a second or third vendor/family member to help. There are a lot of small details that will need to be discussed prior to making your wedding day timeline when it comes to a hair and makeup schedule.
Photo by Gysland Photography
Fun Bonding Activities
There are many times that a couple and their supporters will do something fun before the rest of the busy day. Or maybe the couple will do something together just the two of them. These events are great to enjoy your day entirely so add the time to your schedule. These events could be anything from a round of golf, to a 5k run, to a fun breakfast date. Whatever you choose to do, just remember that if you want to plan these extra events, you’ll probably need to wake up earlier than you originally expected.
Number of Bridal Party Members
The size of your bridal party really matters when you’re creating your wedding day timeline. The more people you have, the more time you’re going to need. Regardless of any activities or hair and makeup services, you’ll need more time so everyone has a chance to use the bathroom space to get ready and everyone has time to travel to the next event. This is one of the biggest factors we consider when adding in “buffer time” to a wedding day timeline.
Photo by Venture North Media
Getting Ready Location
This factor is pretty simple – are you getting ready at the ceremony space, or not? If you are getting ready at the ceremony space, that creates a nice transition and could make your wake-up time later in the morning. If you are getting ready at a different place, make sure you include extra time for travel both before and after your “getting ready” time.
Photo by Gysland Photography
Evening Activities
Once you’ve set your ceremony time, and your morning scheduled, we recommend building the last part of your wedding day timeline. It is important to make sure that there is a flow between the events happening after your ceremony. One of the most detrimental things that can happen to a cocktail hour and reception is not having a flow, and your guests don’t know what they should be doing. Don’t lose guests!
Let’s talk about the things that impact the timing of your reception. Guest count, time of the year, and additional events are three of the biggest factors to consider when creating a flow through your reception.
Photo by Gysland Photography
Guest Count
This seems obvious, right? Clearly, if you have more guests it’s going to affect your timing. But we point it out because there are multiple different reasons a higher guest count can impact your timeline. If your ceremony and reception are in different locations, it takes longer to transfer more people. If a lot of your guests are family members involved in photos, those photos are going to take longer. A higher number of guests will make your dinner service longer. The length of time you schedule for dancing depends on your crowd. There are so many evening activities that are affected by your guest count. It’s important to consider this when building your wedding day timeline.
Time of the Year
Photo by Gysland Photography
This is particularly important when it pertains to photos, therefore impacting your timeline. If you’ve got a later sunset, you can have a later ceremony time. Having a later ceremony time pushes dinner service later. If you want to have dinner around 6:00pm but sunset is 6:10pm, that’s not going to work if sunset photos are important to you. Time of year plays a huge role in how you schedule your wedding day. You might say it’s the most important factor…you might say.
Additional Events
The main thing that can alter your evening activities is if you plan to do a first look moment or not. That determines if you can fit any bridal party photos in before the ceremony. The next additional event to consider is a cocktail hour. This can be altered by a variety of factors, including if your venue requires a room flip. Venues that need a room flip often require you to have a cocktail hour of a specific length of time. This gives them the proper time to prepare the space between ceremony and reception. Speeches, individual dances, and regional or traditional events also have an effect on how to schedule your wedding day.
Photo by Gysland Photography
Photos
One piece that troubles many people is when photos should be taken. As much as we’d like it to be a cut and dry answer, it’s not – go figure! There are many things that matter when deciding how to schedule your photos throughout your day. Do you want photos getting ready in the morning? Are you doing a first look? How many first looks? Are you doing family photos? How many people are involved? How much daylight do you have? Can you have photos being done at the same time in separate locations? What are your priorities for photos? There are certainly more factors to consider.
Photo by Venture North Media
Since photos are such a huge factor of your wedding day timeline, we always recommend that planners work together with the photographers on the timeline. At Ackin Events, we always build the timeline with our couples, and then send it to the photographer first to get their thoughts and approval. Planners and photographers both have a duty to give the couple a spectacular wedding day experience, so they work together often to make those dreams come true. Put the planners and photographer(s) on the same team. Browse our services to find out how your planner can best help your wedding day!
Photo by Gysland Photography
Photo by Venture North Media
Building your wedding day timeline can be overwhelming when you don’t know where to start. One thing that we always hear from couples when planning their wedding is that they know they need a timeline, but they are lost getting started. We use these tips when building all our wedding day timelines! Schedule your consultation today to work with our planners so you have the BEST flow on your wedding day!
You said, “Yes!” and now you’re engaged! Congratulations! It’s time to celebrate your engagement and start wedding planning. But the question is, when? In short, 15 months, but it’s not that easy. Let’s talk.
When isn’t always the easiest to answer, since there are many things to consider before setting out to plan your wedding. Do you have a specific date in mind? Do you already know specific vendors you MUST book? Are you keeping the wedding local or having a destination wedding? Do you want a small elopement or a larger wedding? All of these questions will help you determine when to start planning your wedding.
Specific Date vs. Time of Year
If you have a specific date in mind, this will help determine when to start wedding planning. We recommend securing your venue and wedding planner within one or two months of your engagement, or about 15-18 months out from your desired date. You want to make sure you’ve got a location and planner locked in right away so that you don’t have to compromise that special date because someone else grabbed them: the venue and planner have already been booked.
If you’re looking at a time of year, and a specific date isn’t your top priority, start your planning about 12-15 months away from the beginning of the season you want. By planning ahead, you’ll be able to secure a venue and planner, even if you’re searching for a date during the busy season. You can be flexible on the date if a vendor you want to work with already has some limitations in availability.
Specific Vendors vs. Researching Vendors
Similar to having a specific date you have to get married, having specific vendors you want to use will mean you begin booking those vendors earlier. While the first vendors booked are usually a venue, planner, and photographer, you may know a makeup artist you LOVE and absolutely MUST book for your wedding day. If that’s the case, you’ll want to get on their calendar as soon as you know your date to make sure they are available.
If you don’t have specific vendors you need to work with, we recommend looking at venues and wedding planners about 15-18 months out from your desired wedding date. Normally, wedding planners will work with you starting 12 months before your wedding, and can get you vendor recommendations to help secure the other vendors you’re missing.
Local vs. Destination Wedding
If you’re choosing to have a destination wedding, we definitely recommend planning the big things further in advance so your guests have time to plan their travel and lodging. Select your date and location about 18 months in advance. Start looking for venues at this point so you can lock something in sooner rather than later. You should send out “save the dates” at least 12 months before your date to give guests enough time to plan their trip.
Local weddings can be planned in a shorter amount of time. The average time to plan a local wedding is about 12-15 months, pending your needs list and wants list. As we’ve covered already, some things should be booked further in advance of this so you make sure you get what you want to have the wedding day of your dreams.
Small Elopement vs. Large Wedding
If you’re looking at doing a smaller elopement with just you and a photographer, or you and 15 of your closest friends and family, you could plan your wedding fairly quickly. If you aren’t partial to any vendors, and those closest to you don’t have terribly busy schedules, it’s possible to plan an elopement wedding in 6 months.
If you’re going for a more traditional wedding with 100-150 people, or more, we always recommend having more time. Having a minimum of 12 months to plan a larger wedding like this will ensure you can find a space, secure quality vendors, and take full advantage of a wedding planner’s full service package.
While there isn’t an easy answer always to this question, around 15 months is that sweet spot to begin planning your wedding. Starting your wedding planning 15 months from your desired wedding date gives you the opportunity to select the perfect date, secure an expert wedding planner, and enjoy planning the wedding of your dreams! Click the link to schedule a consultation with us today to begin planning your dream wedding!
