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A realistic wedding day timeline for a 4pm ceremony from getting ready to send-off, plus how the key times shift for a 2pm, 3pm or 5pm start.
For a 4pm ceremony, start hair and makeup around 10am, be dressed by 2pm, and finish wedding party photos by 3:15 so you're out of sight when guests arrive. The ceremony runs 20 to 30 minutes, cocktail hour and family photos fill 4:30 to 5:30, guests are seated for dinner at 5:45, dancing opens around 8, and the night ends near 10:30. Every other start time follows the same shape, shifted.
Wedding day timeline for a 4pm ceremony: 10:00, Hair and makeup begin, Ask your stylists how long each person takes, and schedule whoever needs least touch-up first; 12:30, Lunch for everyone getting ready, The meal most often forgotten; 1:00, Photographer arrives for details, Rings, dress, invitations, shoes; 1:45, Getting dressed, ; 2:15, First look (optional), Moves most portraits before the ceremony; 2:30, Couple portraits, then wedding party photos, ; 3:15, Couple out of sight, Guests start arriving; 3:30, Guests seated, prelude music, ; 4:00, Ceremony, 20–30 minutes for most non-religious ceremonies; 4:30, Family photos, cocktail hour for guests, Have a written list of family groups; 5:30, Couple joins cocktail hour or has a breather, ; 5:45, Guests seated for dinner, ; 6:00, Grand entrance and first dance, ; 6:15, Dinner, ; 7:15, Speeches, ; 7:40, Parent dances, cake cutting, ; 8:00, Dancing opens, ; 10:15, Last dance, ; 10:30, Send-off, .
Everything before the ceremony moves with the start time. The biggest difference is how long the reception has to fill: an early ceremony leaves a long afternoon, and a late one makes dinner late.
The timeline above has almost no slack. Real days run late, usually in three places: hair and makeup, family photos, and moving guests from the ceremony to the reception. Add 15 minutes after hair and makeup and 10 minutes after family photos, and don't schedule anything at the exact moment the ceremony is meant to end.
Sunset time on your date and location, if you want golden-hour portraits. Plan a 15-minute break in the reception for them. Venue access time. When can vendors start setting up, and when must everyone be out? Your caterer's service time. Plated dinners, buffets and family-style service take different lengths of time. Travel time between getting-ready location, ceremony and reception, at that time of day. How many songs you need once the timings are set. The song calculator works it out.
Around 10am for a small wedding party, earlier if many people are having both hair and makeup done. Work backwards from being dressed at about 2pm.
Usually about an hour and a half: a 30-minute ceremony, then an hour of cocktail hour and family photos, with guests seated for dinner around 5:45.
Most end between 10pm and 11pm, depending on the venue's curfew and how long you want dancing to run.
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