How to Create the Perfect Wedding Day Timeline

At Spruce Mountain Ranch we love being able to provide our couples with tools and tips to make their wedding planning process as simple as possible. Here you will find tips and tricks to create the perfect wedding day timeline as well as an example timeline to help in your planning process.

Planning your wedding day timeline can seem stressful, but with these tips, you should have all the information you need to help you plan the day of your dreams. 

What are some of the best practices for working on a wedding day timeline?

Ask yourself some of these important questions before creating a timeline.

●            Will you have a first look before the ceremony? This will determine the photography timeline/details prior to the ceremony

●            Do you want to include family in photos after after the ceremony? This will determine photography timeline after the ceremony and possibly length of your cocktail hour.

●            Will you have a large wedding party? If the answer is yes, that may mean extra time to get ready. 

●            Do you want to participate in your cocktail hour? You may consider extended time here to be able to fit in needed photos and enjoy some time with your guests before the reception.

●            What does your first dance look like? Outside under the stars? You'll want to plan this later after dinner when it is dark. OR perhaps when you are introduced before dinner to help with nerves?

●            Who needs the most set-up/clean-up time. Making sure vendors arrive in an order that is most efficient for setup and teardown. Your vendors will let you know what time works best.

Photo Credit: Sarah Roshan Photography

Work with your wedding Coordinator.

This is why Spruce requires a professional coordinator/planner. They are professionals at this and can ensure a perfect day! Spruce can also suggest things that work well and things that don't to give you the best flow of events and seamless guest experience. 

Make sure you've included all of the required information.

●            Vendor arrive time, completion of set up, arrival for teardown and completion of teardown.

●            Important photo opportunities. Don't forget those golden hour sunset photos!

●            When wedding party and couple should be ready to go for the day

●            Don't forget to include transition times of events. If you have a large wedding party or guest list, this may require more time to transition.

●            The main events such as dinner, first dance, toasts and send off

Photo Credit: Friends and Lovers Photography

 Leave room for changes and flexibility.

Even though you plan for the perfect day, sometimes perfect doesn't always meet the timeline exactly. Leave room for transition time and create space to be forgiving if the timeline doesn't go exactly as planned.  At your 30-day walkthrough your team will go over everything one last time. We can make final tweaks at this meeting and solidify your timeline to ensure a timeline that works best for your day.

Communicate the timeline.  Who should receive the timeline?

●            The wedding couple

●            Parents or important family/friends participating in the day

●            Spruce Mountain Events

●            All vendors 

Finally, we've shared this example timeline. We hope this is helpful in relieving some of the pressure of creating a timeline for your perfect day. 

To help answer more of your planning questions, we've created this Planning Guide to help answer any question you may come across. We are also always available for your questions via email!  If you have not booked Spruce Mountain Ranch as your wedding venue and wish to do so you can contact us at info@sprucemountainranch.com. We look forward to hearing from you!