How to Begin Planning the Layout of Your Wedding Day Timeline

As a Chicago wedding photographer, I’ve seen firsthand just how stressful it can be to create the timeline for your wedding day. For many couples this is the first time they’ve ever done anything like this, and so (understandably) there’s a lot of questions and confusion that come out of planning a wedding timeline. It’s these questions and anxiety that cause couples to start feeling more stressed than excited for their wedding, and that is the exact opposite of how it should be! I want you to feel giddy with anticipation as the day approaches, which is why I’ve put together this resource to help you work through laying out the groundwork of your wedding day timeline, so let’s jump into it!

How to Lay the Groundwork of Your Wedding Day Timeline

I want to make a quick distinction that this isn’t meant to be a full breakdown of your wedding day timeline (that’s linked later on in this article!) Instead, this article is meant to help you work through some of the most important pieces of your wedding day that will dramatically impact your timeline. These items are either easy to look over, underestimate, or just difficult to work through with everything else going on with wedding planning. Take note of them and how they affect your timeline so you can create a wedding day that flows smoothly from start to finish while also including everything you’ve dreamt of!

Note Who is Having Their Hair and Makeup Done

First things first, you’ll want to take note of who is all having their hair and makeup done, and if the same HMU artist(s) are doing it all. Depending on what you and your bridesmaids/family members are having done this can take a while. You’ll want to know ahead of time what services each person is getting, what the time estimate is for each person, and how many artists will be at your wedding to take care of everyone. From there you’ll be able to choose a rough start time as you begin planning your wedding day timeline!

Decide if a First Look is Right for You

Choosing whether or not to have a first look on your wedding day is a HUGE decision for a number of reasons. It affects the flow of your day, the timeline of your wedding, and the emotions/anticipation you feel throughout the day as well. Deciding whether a first look is right for you can be tricky, so here’s a few questions to ask yourselves to help:

• Do you want that big moment during your ceremony of seeing one another for the first time, or would you rather have that moment be private between just the two of you?
• Are you ok with spending a good amount of time after your ceremony taking wedding party, couples, and family portraits, or would you rather take care of most of those earlier after the first look?
• Are you comfortable sharing your vows in front of everyone during your ceremony, or would you rather that be a personal moment during your first look?

Again, there’s no wrong answers here! Every couple and wedding day is different, but it’s important to know beforehand what you want so that you can plan out your wedding timeline to fit everything!

Make a Wish List of Locations for Portrait Photos

In addition to our remarkable wedding venues, one of the main attractions of having your wedding day in Chicago is the abundance of amazing and iconic portrait locations throughout the city. Whether indoor spots like the Chicago Cultural Center and Union Station speak to you, or outdoor spots like Ping Tom Memorial Park and Milton Lee Olive Park are more your style, Chicago has you covered. 

When planning out your wedding day timeline you’ll want to make a list of portrait locations you’d like to include into your day. Then you’ll be able to discuss these locations with your photographer to see which will be able to fit within the timeline of your day. If you don’t have any set locations in mind don’t worry, just come up with a general vibe you’re looking for! I provide a guide to all of my clients with every location I recommend along with their pros and cons to help find the perfect space for your vision!

Note How Many Unique Locations are a Part of the Day

Another important factor in the layout of your wedding day timeline is the amount of locations included into your day! Are your ceremony and reception at different locations? Will you be getting ready at your wedding venue? Are you having portraits taken near the venue? Making a list of these locations, and taking into account the estimated travel time (with a good bit of buffer for Chicago traffic), is essential for the layout of your timeline.

Will the Venue Require a Room Flip?

For weddings where multiple parts of the day are taking place at the same location (ceremony, cocktail hour, and/or reception), will flipping the room be needed or are there separate spaces for each event? This is an important detail for your timeline as a room flip can be the perfect opportunity to squeeze in portrait photos while there’s some downtime. That way you don’t have to miss out on any of the fun!

Determine the Length of Your Ceremony

How long do you want your wedding ceremony to be? Short and sweet, or longer and more traditional? Whether you have a 10 minute or 1 hour ceremony, knowing the rough runtime of this part of your wedding day is SO important for your timeline. It’s the first point where all your guests gather, and the lead up into each and every event to follow. Knowing this, it’s important to know how long your ceremony will be so that you can lay out the rest of the day’s timeline accurately!

Take Into Account any Religious Ceremonies/Traditions

Are there any religious ceremonies or formalities that you intend to include into your wedding day? Things like the Ketubah signing for Jewish weddings, or the Chinese Tea Ceremony can be incredibly important for many couples on their wedding day, so creating your timeline with them in mind is essential.

Plan the Layout of Your Reception

Aside from the actual time of your wedding reception, you’ll also want to make note of the layout of the event itself. Are you having any toasts, and if so how many? Are you doing your first dance right when you enter or after dinner? Do you plan to sneak out at sunset for some couples portraits? (Please do this by the way!) This mini-timeline of your wedding reception is another important piece of your overall wedding day timeline!

Note Any Hard Cut End Times

Hard set times can seem stressful, but honestly they’re pretty helpful when it comes to planning out your wedding day timeline. These grounding points for your day give you clear start and end times for things like your ceremony and reception, allowing you to realistically plan in the moments that will fill the space between these times. Knowing these hard start and end times is also crucial for booking vendors as you’ll know how long to book them for and you can inform them of when they’ll need to be finished and packed up for the night.

What’s Happening in Chicago on Your Wedding Day?

Something that can be easy to overlook considering ALL of the planning that goes into a wedding day is the actual happenings in Chicago on the day of your wedding! Chicago traffic can be pretty rough even on the best of days, and the city’s big events crank the craziness up to 11. Things like Lollapalooza, medical conferences, street fests, concerts and music festivals, Bears games, Cubs games, you name it. If your  wedding date happens to land on one such day where the city is extra busy due to one of these large events it’s important to know ahead of time so you can plan some extra travel time into your timeline!

Book a Wedding Planner

Alright, so after taking ALL of that into account, planning your wedding timeline may sound even more stressful to you than it initially did. If that’s the case, something I highly encourage you to do is look into booking a wedding planner for your day. As your photographer I’m able to help with the photo specific portions of your timeline, but a wedding planner is able to help plan your day taking everything into account. It’s their job to do so after all! If you have the budget for booking a planner it can be a lifesaver in terms of stress and allowing you to actually enjoy the leadup to your wedding day!

Those are some of the most important pieces to consider as you start planning out the timeline of your wedding day here in Chicago! If you’d like a little more guidance on how to plan out your timeline, here’s a checklist of all the details for you to work through. Again, I strongly recommend booking a wedding planner if having someone take all the planning off your plate appeals to you, and if you’d like to have me document your day be sure to inquire today through my contact page!