DIY Bride

A timeline will be the single most important document you will create for your wedding. Without a realistic timeline, your wedding may have unforeseen challenges and actually create more work for you (or your family) on your big day.

As a wedding planner we create one master itinerary for our couples. The only time they will see this master plan is before the wedding. This document will  include both wedding party information and vendor information (which we like to call a production schedule). We personally like to color code because at the wedding any member of our team can easily glance at the itinerary and know immediately which tasks apply to vendors vs. wedding party. This may be an option you would like to consider, because it is important to understand both vendor needs and personal needs when planning your wedding day.

Before we begin there are key vendors that you need to contact to know their schedule needs.

1. Your Photographer – knowing when he/she wants to begin your pictures is very important (taking into consideration if you are getting all your photos done before the wedding or some before/after your wedding). You’ll also want to check the length of time you contracted them for to be at your wedding so you won’t schedule events after they are suppose to leave.
2. Caterer – have a detailed conversation with your caterer to understand their needs for setup (for instance; if you are providing rented linens they may want those a day before your wedding so they can set your tables). You will also need to know how long it will take to serve your wedding guests so you can appropriately gauge the timeline at the reception.
3. Florist/Decorator – they will need to know all the setup times that they can get into the reception venue and church as well as break out times. Remember if the reception venue says that you need to be out of their facility by midnight, you can’t end your wedding at 12:00am. You’ll have to end earlier so all decorations, personal items and your entertainment has time to breakdown and remove their items.
4. Hairdresser/Makeup Artist- this person is important because you’ll get information as to when to start your wedding day and know how long it will take to be ready to get to the church to start pictures. More often, the entire wedding party is joining you, so we see entire wedding parties starting their hair/makeup at the salon at 8am in the morning so they can all be done to make to the church for photos.

Creating the Timeline

So let’s begin. Always start at the start time of your wedding and work backwards to figure out the timeline at the beginning of your day. Let’s say your wedding ceremony starts at 1:30pm (that is what is printed on the invitation). That would mean that you need to have everything done (photos, décor, etc) by half an hour before hand. So 1:00pm because the “starting time” for your wedding for all the vendors and wedding party.

Now you will work your way backwards from that point, beginning with start time and finish time for your photography and then to your hair/makeup. You’ll want to be sure to schedule setup times for your cake,  caterer, entertainment, reception decorating, bartenders, and caterer.

We like to create timelines that are in 15 minute increments. Understanding that may not always be possible or realistic, but it is always a good idea to “pad” your timeline with extra minutes. For example, if it takes 20 minutes to get from your hair salon to the church, then simply allow 30 minutes in the timeline.

It will read:
10am         Girls conclude hair appointments and leave for the church
10:30am    Girls arrive at church to dress
11am         Photos begin for bride (insert your name), bridesmaids and bride’s family
11:30pm    Groom (insert real name), groomsmen and ushers arrive at church,  dressed

It is our experience that weddings take a life of their own and sometimes you are ahead of schedule and then behind schedule, and then suddenly on time! It’s no big deal…it all works out in the end, but you can’t foresee  one of your bride maids taking longer on their hair or a flat tire. The one constant will be the time you actually walk down the aisle, especially if you are having a church wedding. Priests and Pastors like to start ON TIME, because there may be more activities going on in the church after your wedding (confessions, mass, etc).

After the wedding you’ll want to estimate how much time it will take to complete the ceremonial activities. For instance, 300 guests and you want to do a receiving line? Let’s calculate, if it took only 30 seconds to greet every guest it would take 45 minutes! You may have backed yourself into a corner for post wedding photo opportunities.

In the timeline, you’ll want to include every single vendor you have contracted. You will want to have an arrival time and a departure time. This allows you to look at your wedding on paper and you can literally walk yourself through the day.

Finally when you have completed this master itinerary document (don’t be surprised if it is 5-6 pages long), you’ll want to remove most of the vendor information and downsize it for the wedding party to distribute at rehearsal. Your bridesmaids don’t need to know when your cake is going to be delivered at the reception venue.

You will want to include these important times for everyone:

• start time    Hair/Makeup
• start time    Arrival at Church
• start time    Starting time for photos: (break it out for wedding party/parents, grandparents, children, extra family members. Usually it is not necessary for grandparents to show up 2 hours before the wedding for photos).
• est times    General flow of the day for special events; toasts, dances, cake cutting, etc.

Finally when you have completed this beautiful master plan of your entire day, give it to someone else. NO BRIDE should be ever be holding her wedding day itinerary. If you are not hiring a wedding planner or coordinator for your wedding day, then ask a family member or friend to implement your plans. But it should NOT be a person in your wedding party. That’s right! Your MOH should be with YOU, helping YOU…not running around contacting vendors or answering the hundreds of questions that happen during a wedding.

Plan on!

This article was submitted by the uber-fabulous Saundra Hadley.

Saundra is owner and event engineer with planning…forever events

Wow, this snuck up on me this year!

Today is World Card Making Day. The purpose of WCMD is to bring together handmade card enthusiasts to share our ideas, techniques, and love of the craft.

As an avid card-maker, this is one of my most sacred holidays. Besides projects for the upcoming DIY Bride book #2 my overworked brain has been obsessing about Xmas cards, baby announcements and thank you cards. In celebration of WCMD this weekend, I’ll be posting a great little thank you card that’s perfect for any occasion.

Head’s up, plus-size brides. Lane Bryant, who launched their bridal line in 2006, has discontinued their wedding gowns. According to http://www.lanebryant.com/pagebuilder/bridal_dresses, they announced that they’d no longer carry bridal wear “soon”. Clicking on the dresses, it doens’t look like any are available for order. That’s a shame. They had simple, elegant gowns at reasonable prices.

Given the current economic happenings in the US, I wanted to revisit some of the budget-related posts I’ve done over the last few years.

• How To Recession-Proof Your Wedding
• Avoid The Wedding Debt Trap, Pt 1
• Avoid The Wedding Debt Trap, Pt 2
• 25 Ways To Save On Your Wedding

The Question of the Day comes from Mandi:

My DIY skills can only go so far. My fi and I want to hire some help to handle big planning stuff but we’re confused. What’s the difference among wedding designers, coordinators, and planners? Or are they the same with different titles? Thanks!

Hey, everyone. On Tuesday night my husband had a seizure. Thankfully he survived with no detected major complications or causes. We’re home from the hospital now and trying to take it easy. To spend more time with him as we work out care schedules and the next steps in his path to recovery, I’ll be on an extended blog break. Email will be checked periodically. Please expect delays in responses.

Thanks for your support and understanding.

-Khris

Hey Michiganders,

DIY Bride Amanda needs some help scoping out a venue…

Hi There,
You mentioned that you have a lot of Michigan brides checking out this site, so
I thought I’d ask my most difficult, stressful and time-consuming question.  Is
there any one out there who can help me find my ideal wedding site in Metro
Detroit?  I live out of state now, but I’m from Troy and my family still lives
there.  Here’s our holy grail: a beautiful place with good indoor and outdoor
options for the ceremony (reception can be indoor only) that is an appropriate
size for 150 people.  This place will preferably have some flexibility in the
kind of stuff you can do (like bring your own booze, buy extra hours, etc), will
not be a golf club or hall, and will not be a wedding factory.
If we were doing it where we live now, we know of converted barns, large art
galleries and an Arboretum that would fit the bill, but since we don’t live in
Detroit anymore, we’re having a difficult time coming up with the sort of place
we really want.
Oh yes, last caveats, preferably a place that has no insane rules (like no red
wine or no food inside) and will be “nice” enough for mom and dad who are very
kindly footing the majority of the bill.  It will be a civil ceremony and we’d
like to do both in the same place, near Detroit (not Ann Arbor).
If anyone has any suggestions, I would be insanely grateful.

Amanda

Hey everyone!

Making the site more interactive and conducive to member-to-member sharing is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Finally, it’s happening! This month brought some cool new features to the DIY Bride forums. In addition to easier-to-navigate forums, you’re now able to:

• Create your own photo gallery and/or share your swell creations in our project galleries
• Create and manage your own DIY blog

Both features are available to DIY Bride members in good standing. Membership to DIY Bride is free. To sign up, simply go to http://www.diybride.com/community/register.php . Blogs, galleries, and forums may not be used for business/commercial purposes by any member.

If you haven’t visited the forum and downloads area since the changeover to new software, you’ll need to reset your password. Please follow the link below and enter your email address. You will be emailed directions to resetting your password: http://www.diybride.com/community/login.php?do=lostpw&email=$email

DIY Bride member, imastep, has a question I’m hoping you etiquette-savvy readers can help out with:

I am looking for suggestions on how to word the invitations for my step-daughter’s wedding. Her father and I have paid for the engagement party, and are paying for the wedding ceremony, wedding reception, breakfast for out of town guests the morning of the wedding (and nearly all the guests are from the brides mother’s family), etc. Her mother is paying for her dress (they remain close), the grooms family is paying for the rehearsal dinner. My husband and I do want to include her mother’s name on the invitation (as well as the groom’s parents, e.g. son of…). But, at the same time, we do want it to be clear that my husband and I are the hosts of the party. None of the books seem to cover this situation…any suggestions?

As announced last week, I amended the iPod contest to make it more fair to all who entered.

Using Random.Org to pick random comment numbers, here are the 3 winners:

Pick #1, commenter #17, is The iPod Winner: Amanda (there’s more than 1 Amanda… check your comment number.)

Pick #2, commenter #47, wins a $25 iTunes gift certificate: Emily McGinley

Pick #3, commenter #6, wins a copy of The DIY Bride book: Laura

Congrats! Winners will be notified by email today with details on how to collect their prizes.

Thank you to everyone who entered!