Wedding Day Schedule
Getting the timing for your wedding day schedule is important!
As you have now realised, all wedding vendors work to a strict timeline.
Often there are other weddings happening at the same church or garden and running overtime will impact other weddings.
The catering needs a timeline so that all food is served at the right time
The photographer needs to know every minute of your schedule so that they can capture the important moments.
The hair and makeup team are often the first of your wedding vendors to start the work for the day.
You need to have the timings happening right from the start as this is what will set you up for the entire day.
Running late from being held up at a hair salon will throw the rest of your morning into panic mode.
Why Mobile Hair And Makeup Is So Popular!
It surprises me how many brides like to cut the timing quite fine on the day.
One of the most common mistakes brides make is not allowing enough time for hair and makeup.
By including enough prep time for hair and makeup in your wedding-day schedule, you’ll arrive at the ceremony venue relaxed, stress free and ready to go, with plenty of time to spare.
Otherwise, if hair and makeup run late, other aspects of the wedding also run late.
In most cases the entire bridal party must be ready for the photographer one to two hours prior to the ceremony time (depending on photographer).
That is not including driving time to the location for pre-wedding photos (if relevant). Every bride should make sure they understand the exact timing needs of their photographer as part of the wedding day planning.
How Much Time Should You Allow?
Some brides try to cut costs by having their friend/sister/bridesmaids do the hair and makeup.
If this is the case, please consider the time it normally takes for them to get ready for a special occasion.
Don’t forget to add plenty of extra time forgetting ready in an unfamiliar location (eg hotel room), several women sharing the same bathroom, for misplacing or forgetting necessary items, running behind schedule, etc.
A Room Full Of Women Ready On Time?
Consider the consequences of running late.
If you’re hiring a hair and makeup artist, they should put together a detailed wedding day schedule for you which indicates who should be in what chair (hair or makeup) and what time.
A mobile hair and makeup team are experienced with dealing with emotive women on what can be a stressful day.
They will guide the entire morning by working to a schedule and one by one each girl is sitting with their hair and makeup done and all in an order that will help the bride and mother of the bride to still attend to the things they need to do.
Often the mother of the bride will have errands to run and they will need to be finished first and being able to help the bride get dressed and be a part of the mornings photos and fun.
The Organised Bride
The bride should have a copy of the schedule and have discussed it in detail with the rest of the wedding party.
All it takes is for one person to run late to throw the schedule off.
The time allowed depends on a lot of factors including the desired look (highly ornate hair and makeup looks will take longer) and the condition of the hair and skin.
The bridal trial is when the hair and makeup team can start to work out their time schedules
A wedding timeline should also include details of when pre-wedding treatments should be scheduled (facials, brows, waxing, nails) and details on the pre-wedding skin and hair routine to ensure that everything is optimal on the big day.
However, even when the trial has taken place and good skin routines followed, skin blemishes can and do appear on the day of the wedding and time needs to be factored in for proper coverage.
Wedding Day Timeline Considerations
Some good rules of thumb include:
Bride: 1 hour for makeup (and up to an hour for hair depending on the look)
Bridesmaids and Mother of bride: 45 mins per bridesmaids for makeup (and ~45mins for hair) – These are generally guides only.
Here are some more wedding timing tips:
- The order for hair and makeup is the Mother of Bride first, followed by the bridesmaids and finally the bride who needs to look ‘freshest’ for the camera.
- Hair should be done first then followed by makeup so the hair stylist should start first (while the hairstylist is working on one, makeup should be done on the other)
- Book the photographer to arrive one hour before the bride is ready to go. That way, he or she will be able to shoot getting-ready shots, like the bride applying her last bit of lipstick or having a flower pinned to her hair. This also gives your photographer plenty of time to capture those oh-so-important detail shots: your gown on a hanger, shoes, jewellery, etc.
- If you have yourself plus four bridesmaids all getting your hair and makeup done, allot at least four hours of getting-ready time. That may seem like a lot, but it’s just enough.If you’re bridal party is a bit bigger, your bridal makeup artist should bring on an assistant
- If you’re traveling to a salon, double the travel time you anticipate.
- Don’t forget to factor time to eat something healthy. No one wants a hungry bride (who then becomes rather ‘hangry’) –the wedding day is a long day and you need your energy so having some sustenance through a nutritious meal beforehand will keep hunger pangs at bay for you and your bridesmaids.
Follow these tips and you’ll be sure to make it to the church or ceremony on time, happy and ready to go for a fabulous day!
Sample Timeline For A Wedding
Take a look at our suggested running schedule for hair and makeup on your wedding day morning.
For our example, there’s a 4 p.m. ceremony start time and the bride has four bridesmaids in her party.
10:00 a.m. Bride’s makeup and bridesmaid No. 1’s hair
10:30 a.m. Bridesmaid No. 2’s hair
11:00 a.m. Bridesmaid No. 3’s hair and bridesmaid No. 1’s makeup
11:30 a.m. Bridesmaid No. 4’s hair
11:45 a.m. Bridesmaid No. 2’s makeup
12:30 p.m. Bride’s hair, bridesmaid No. 3’s makeup, photographer arrives to take getting-ready and details photos
1:15 p.m. Bridesmaid No. 4’s makeup
2:00 p.m. The Photographer can start
I hope this has helped you to understand the time schedule a little more.
A well planned morning will ensure a relaxed morning on your wedding day.
Till next time
Peggy xx
