One of the most critical elements to a successful and stress-free wedding is creating a timeline that is realistic and works. Our top ten tips are listed below:

1. Most start thinking about their timeline when they get closer to the wedding day, but actually your timeline starts being developed from the time you book your venue. Be sure to verify the time you have access to your venue. Most clients assume that they are the only event that day, but truth is that most venues (especially hotels) do have more than one event a day in their banquet space. Unless you have "bought out" the morning space, you typically do not have access until after 3pm or sometimes even later which may impact your décor ideas.
2. Know what time you need to be ready by for your pictures. The answer to this question is dependent upon whether you are doing "getting ready" pictures or video and whether you plan to see each other prior to the wedding, as well as whether you are already on-site or traveling to another venue for your wedding. This will also help you determine how long you will need to hire your photographer and/or videographer.
3. Ensure that you let your hair and make-up stylist know exactly how many attendants or family members that you have when you make your appointment. Most hair and make-up stylists may do two or three weddings on a busy day, so they schedule your time slot based on what time you need to be ready and the number of attendants you have. If you decide to add on people later you may find that they are not able to accommodate your request due to other obligations.
4. Let your vendors know what time they have access to the space when you do your consultations to ensure that you do not breach your end of the contract. For example: I've seen clients sign a contract with their florist that guarantees them a minimum of 2 1/2 hours of set-up time for the ceremony décor they have ordered only to find out they only have 1 or 1 1/2 hours for set-up which ultimately results in scaling back on décor, adding more staff or the event starting late.
5. Do not scale back on staffing during set-up. When we are hired to manage events the first priority is ensuring that your event is able to be set-up within the time allotted which means that your rental company, caterer, florist, linen company, lighting, and musicians may be simultaneously setting up while your coordinator is ensuring everyone is on-site as scheduled, on track with their set-up, ensuring bridal party has their flowers, setting up reception table, favors, trouble shooting, etc. Set-up fees do add-up, but there is a reason why the labor is added, and that is to make sure everything is completely set prior to your guests arrival.
6. Understand the staffing levels of your event, especially for off-premise events. We recently were hired for an off-premise wedding that was going to be a buffet for 140 guests. The client received a great quote, however, the caterer only had scheduled 2 servers along with the on-site manager which is not sufficient to provide quality service to that number of guests. In the end, they ended up adding on two more staff which still wasn't the best ratio and was an added cost they hadn't budgeted for, but it certainly was better than what they had and was worth every penny. Remember, service, or lack-of, is one of the things that guests always remember.
7. Ensure that your program does not interfere with the quality of your food (especially for plated meals). We normally recommend toasts after the entrée is served as speeches as you don't want your food to be sitting in a warmer getting overcooked as a result of someone speaking longer than anticipated. It is possible to "merge" in some activities during the course of the meal, but it has to be done by carefully coordinating with all concerned throughout the evening and does come with experience knowing how long it takes to serve, eat and clear dishes before the next course.
8. Don't schedule every second of the day. Give yourself some time to have a moment for yourselves before the reception and some time at the end of your event to visit with your family and friends that have come to celebrate with you.
9. Start the day on time. This is the most important item that is communicated during our wedding rehearsals. The stress of the wedding day starts when people are running late or stuck in traffic and can snowball from there. If you're on-time or better yet, a little early, you are in a relaxed state of mind and are better able enjoy the day.
10. End the day on time. Ending your event late can result in costly overtime charges.

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