Time Management & Your Wedding Day

So, after months and months of planning your big day is finally here! I am going to talk a little bit more on how to keep things organized and fun on your wedding day!
By now, you have probably talked to tons of people, friends, family, etc. who all tell you one common thing: “The day goes by so fast!” I’m here to tell you (from personal experience) that they are right! Before you know it, you’ve said, “I do,” and you and your new spouse are dancing your last dance of the night. To keep yourself, your new hubby and all your bridal party happy, there is one thing you can do – prepare, prepare, prepare!

Being prepared is probably something I don’t have to lecture you about – but I will anyway. There are so many factors at play on your wedding day that it can be hard keeping everything (and everyone) together. Just to name a few, you have the hair and make-up crew starting your day, getting all your bridesmaids together, making sure your almost hubby has his guys together, making sure transportation is going to pick you up, keeping your parents calm and getting dressed and getting out the door! Oh, did you remember the rings?

Here’s Five Tips for some Killer Time Management on Your Wedding Day

1. Finalize Your Deets at least 10 Days in Advance –

To help yourself out further, make sure all the details for the day of are finalized PRIOR to the week of your wedding. This is a huge help because everyone gets on the same page and it’s less for you to worry about that day. Using a Wedding guidebook, theKnot reminders, Siri, or a wedding planner may help assist with keeping you on track all the way up to the big day!

Measure twice, cut once. Do whatever it takes, however it takes – you’ve got this!

2. Ditch Your Cellular Device

Make sure you give all your vendors your maid of honor and best man’s cell phone numbers so if there is an issue that day, it will not come directly to you. You will not want to deal with anything that day (with the exception of meeting your honey at the end of the aisle). Not to mention, you will have no place to keep your phone that day!

Leave the cell phones to the ones that have purses and pockets – your job today is to get married!!!

Honestly, it’s better to just leave it at home where it is safe and sound (and truthfully it’s your bridesmaids jobs to make sure they take enough selfies to hashtag for Instagram!). If you feel you still need to be connected that day, have your groom carry his phone in his jacket pocket. You will still be connected but you won’t have to worry about who has your phone or where you are going to keep it!

3. Print Print Pass (them out at Rehearsal)

To stay on track, I know a lot of brides who print out itineraries and give them to their bridal party. Make sure it is clear who needs to be where and when (and sometimes why they need to be there doesn’t hurt to add)

Oh, by the way… this can go one of two ways.

One, everyone smiles and nods and accepts that you planned out bathroom breaks and reapplication of lip-gloss (seriously, have you been in a wedding where you haven’t had time to sneak away to the bathroom? Yikes – no fun when you’re crossing your legs during the ceremony because you have to pee so badly!). Everyone loves to know what is expected of them and how they can help on your big day!

Or two, you create a resentful bridal party who is there to party and have fun, but doesn’t feel your wedding day is one that they need to be “adulting.” If this is the case, you may want to ditch this tip and head straight to tip #4.

Either way, make sure you at least give a gentle timeline to your bridal party. If you’re booking a salon for hair and makeup – go ahead and make appointments for everyone AND tell them where to be and when to be there. Also, make sure your bridal party is aware of all the major events during the day – such as ceremony start time, when photos will be taken, and of course, when the open bar starts. Your wedding day should be fun and exciting so try designating a group leader, such as your maid of honor, to wrangle the group together for you to stay on time.

4. The Hired Help

If you are consistently late for everything, most likely this personality trait is not going to just magically fix itself or disappear on the day of your wedding. There is no shame for wanting/needing a babysitter for your wedding day. You can  hire a full time wedding planner, a day of wedding consultant, or really lean on the person your venue may provide (sometimes called a coordinator, or captain) to assist you on your big day.

Full Time Wedding Planner – this type of person or service is there to help you throughout the ENTIRE process of planning the wedding. They are available to help craft the perfect schedule and find reputable venders. They are also make sure there is no stress with things like seating charts or picking the perfect signature drink. On the day of your wedding they (usually) have a team setting up all your ceremony and reception details as well as making sure your venders have timely arrivals for a seamless day. This team will make sure you always have a drink (or water) in your hand, no one asks you silly questions, and they make sure your dress looks perfect at all times for photos.

Elle Ellinghaus Designs was there for Jamie and Giovanni’s gorgeous Baltimore wedding to make sure every reception detail was in place and fit Jamie’s dream theme!

Day of Wedding Consultant – this type of service is a person who shows up the day of the wedding and makes sure you are moving along your schedule and everyone is lined up in the correct order. They will not be assisting you on choosing a florist or advising you on a proper schedule – her job is to simply get you in the limo and to the church on time.

Venue Coordinator – you can take care of the planning process yourself (like timeline and researching and choosing venders) and this person will be provided by the venue to assist once you arrive (so if your ceremony is at a separate location, this person is not available to you).  Most of the time, when you’re working directly with the venue you will work with one person  up to the wedding day AND get a “Day Of” person that will be like your personal assistant for the night! Most of the time the assistants provided by the venue will have other tasks to attend to as well as fixing your train, but will be close at hand for you the entire night.

Captains make sure your light saber gets cleaned after cutting the cake – so you know, next time you use it, it is clean! Valley Forge Casino’s staff is amazing!

Either way- accept the help! There is no shame in relying on someone to help you achieve your perfect day!

If your motto is more along the lines of, “to be on time is *still* late,” than you may not need to go to the expense of hiring a professional babysitter for yourself and your bridal party. BUT there is one thing I learned it’s, don’t be afraid to ask for help! If you are getting married at a venue, you will most likely have a dedicated person that will help you throughout the night.

My husband and I went the route of working just with the venue. My “captain” was absolutely amazing! She was a god-send! She did silly little things like re-pinning my bustle all night long (seriously seamstresses, invent a better way to keep that dress train up for the dance party)! But besides being an expert pinner, she was there to make sure that cocktail hour ran smoothly, that our guests were seated at the right time so we could make a timely entrance to get our reception started. She checked in on my husband and I to make sure were doing well all night long (this included refreshing our drinks, finding our videographer when cake was going to be cut, and putting our card box in a safe place at the end of the night). She even packed up everything in boxes and helped us get it all to the limo on the way home. All these little things she took care of for us, allowed us to make time for our guests – which is one thing your guests will be super pleased about! Everyone wants to be able to see the new bride and groom up close and personal so take some time out to mingle with your guests!

5. Let’s be real

In addition to being prepared you need to be realistic. Yes, I said it. So many brides want to cram a million things into a short amount of time – and I mean, who wouldn’t? It’s going to be the best night of your lives! I hate to burst your bubble, but even though it’s your wedding day, there are still only 24 hours to accomplish everything. Let’s assume you get 8 hours of sleep (ha… ha…), that leaves only 16 hours on the day of your wedding to squeeze in all the awesomeness.

Seriously love this girl – her hair and make-up team got done 45 minutes early so we even had time to goof off a bit. P.S. Can you tell she’s seriously excited to see her groom?

If you are doing a first look (check out my First Look blog here – coming soon!) make sure you have enough time to do hair and make-up, your first look, pictures and get to your destination WITH enough time to do your photos. If you feel this might be an issue, go back and re-read Tip #4.

If you’re headed the more traditional route – keep in mind your cocktail hour is ONLY an hour (that’s the same as 60 minutes – which is the same as the length of a Game of Thrones episode plus a bathroom break). If you have a list of family photos that is 20+ combinations with 15 different members – this will not take just 10 minutes – especially if there are young children you want looking at the camera.

Lindsay and Dave’s photo location was a five minute walk from the venue – look at the four unique looks they got from the same location!

For example, maybe you want to take pictures at a few different locations during your portrait time. Keep in mind you need to GET to each of these locations (whether on foot or by vehicle). Do the math, will you have enough time at each location to take more than just a handful of photos? Maybe instead of marathoning to three locations, think about the place that has the most significance and go take quality pictures there. You will be showing and looking at these pictures for the rest of your lives, might as well have quality over quantity. (P.S. we offer kick-ass Déjà vu sessions so if those other two locations mean a lot to you, let’s consider doing them a different day!).

Super in love with with Déjà vu Session versus wedding from 2013 – Leeann got her elegance on the wedding day but had a lot of fun incorporating Matt’s LOVE for his car at their post session!

A teeny tiny bit of final advice – You are going to be pulled into so many different directions that day but the true key is be true to yourself. They day is about you and your husband, after all! Don’t worry about accommodating everyone else that day. Focus on why you are doing all of this and you will be golden!

Seriously, isn’t this all about? I love this man!

Cheers!
Liz

We’re adding new Wedding Planning posts as much as we can – need some wedding advice? – click here!!!