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5 Things You May Be Forgetting to Consider in Your Wedding Day Timeline

June 29, 2023

Planning your wedding? Congratulations! As you’re probably already finding out, there are many details and factors that play into creating a seamless wedding day timeline, and today we’re talking about 5 of them that are often forgotten. Grab your notebook, and let’s dive in!

1. Getting Ready Time

One thing couples often underestimate is the time it will take them and their wedding crew to get ready for the big day. Here at The Eloise, wedding rentals begin at 10 am. Have a larger wedding party? Take advantage of The Eloise’s convenient hourly extension offer or consider getting ready – or partially ready – offsite.

2. A Later Ceremony Start Time

Consider a later ceremony start time to keep a consistent flow of events after your ceremony. This will ensure there isn’t lagging time and creates a building of momentum that keeps energies high for you and your guests all night long! At The Eloise, the earliest time a ceremony can start is at 3:30pm, and Friday weddings often start later. The Eloise was built to follow the natural flow of a wedding day so that a seamless event is possible without flipping any spaces, and with an intentional design that guides you and your guests through the evening simply and elegantly.

3. Taking Time For Yourselves

Want to know something crazy? You and your new spouse most likely won’t be seeing a whole lot of each other on your own wedding day – especially just the two of you. With loved ones all around and moving from event to event, it takes intentional planning to have some time just to yourselves – and it’s so worth it! Schedule 15-20 minutes just for the two of you to be alone. Sit in the getting-ready suites, have your planner or member from your wedding party bring you both a drink and plate of food from your appetizers, and just soak in some precious time alone, reflecting and connecting. We often see this block of time scheduled right before a grand march. The wedding party goes to enjoy cocktail hour for a little while, and the couple takes some time to themselves before they get introduced to their guests!

4. The Timing of Your Grand Exit

Grand Exits can be such a fun, celebratory moment that also make for some incredible photos, but they do take strategic planning in your timeline. The first question you and your partner need to answer is, are you having a Grand Exit because you want a Grand Exit to send you off at the end of the night? Or do you mostly want the photos that capture it? There is no wrong answer, however, couples often don’t have their photographers and videographers booked to the absolute end of their wedding, so if photos of a Grand Exit are what you’re looking for, you may need to consider having a mock exit while your photo and video team are still there. Planning a Grand Exit to send you and your love off also takes planning. In order to execute a Grand Exit, your last call will need to be earlier for everyone to finish their beverages, dances, and get all your guests out of the venue. This ensures that when you leave, your guests leave too and there is still time for tear down. At The Eloise, this is the schedule we recommend for those wanting a true Grand Exit at the very end of their celebration:

10:45 pm – Last Call
11:00 pm – Last Group Dance
11:15 pm – Everyone is Out of the Venue, Grand Exit

5. Setup and Teardown Time

Another detail to consider in your timeline is setup and teardown time. It’s important to know that it often takes twice and long to setup than it does to take down, but if you have a lot of big decoration elements, especially your own arch, you may need to start taking down some of these items earlier in the night. Dedicate and delegate people to taking down those bigger pieces throughout the night instead of trying to do them in a massive overall at the end of the night. At The Eloise, we find that take down typically takes an hour, and midnight is when everyone, and everything, needs to be out of the venue. Leave the setup and tear down coordinating to a wedding planner! This ensures you and your loved ones can be present and truly soak in all the moments of your special day, not worry about breaking down decorations.

There are so many details, decisions, and planning that goes into a wedding day timeline, and we find hiring a wedding planner is the best investment you could make! At The Eloise, we offer month-of-coordination, and also have an extensive list of premier wedding planners that we would highly recommend to you. Leave the details up to them, and leave the celebrating to you and your loved ones

Find more wedding planning tips, inspiration, and resources on our blog.

With love,