Singaporebrides | Weddings 101

July 2021

8 Common Wedding Day Schedule Mistakes Couples Tend To Make

By Audrie Soh

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Read up on the common wedding day schedule mistakes couples often make to avoid making the same pitfalls.

Having a well-planned wedding day schedule is just about the most important thing for any wedding. It outlines the events of the day and what time they will be taking place, as well as the duration of each event, guiding those who are involved in the wedding on what will happen, and where you and they need to be at specific times of the day.

However, in a bid to fit in as many events into your wedding day, you may be making common mistakes such as not factoring enough time to travel from one location to another, which may threaten to throw off the rest of your wedding day schedule if you end up arriving late. To help you avoid making these mistakes, we’ve put together a list of eight common wedding day schedule mistakes that couples tend to make.

1. You did not set aside sufficient time to get ready

One of the most common mistakes made by brides on their wedding day is not setting aside enough time to get ready. Getting glammed out for your big day takes time, whether it is dressing up or getting your hair and makeup done, especially if you are requesting for an elaborate look.

Instead of assuming how long your hair and makeup should take, check with your hair and makeup stylist to find out how much time she’ll need to doll you up. If your package includes a trial session, make use of it to test out the look that you want for your big day and the time it’ll take to achieve it. Add on another 20-30 minutes to the time you took to achieve the look you want to buffer for any unforeseen delays, such as your hair and makeup stylist arriving late.

You should also factor in the time your bridal party needs to get ready, especially after the morning frenzy, before they welcome your guests at the dinner reception. Give everyone ample time to rest and freshen up for the dinner reception, so they don’t end up rushing from Point A to Point B and greet your guests looking disheveled.

2. You spent too much time on gatecrash games

It’s easy to get carried away and forget about the time when your bridal party is having too much fun from the gatecrash games. To prevent your gatecrash from overrunning and causing the rest of the day to run late, assign a time keeper to keep an eye on the time. This person is responsible for watching the time as the games are being carried out, and speeding things up when the games are taking too long.

You should also leave an extra 15-30 minutes of buffer time so your bridal party can clean up after the games are over while you and your groom get ready to leave for his place.

If you don’t have much time for a full gatecrash, you can either consider shortening it to include the fun and important bits or swop it out for a quiet and intimate first-look with your groom instead.

3. You did not allocate enough time for travel

When it comes to planning travel times, it is always better to include a little more buffer time than you actually need to cater for unforeseen delays or mishaps. You will never know if traffic will be a little slower or more congested than usual, or if any one of the wedding cars will encounter a flat tire!

You’ll also need to take into consideration that your bridal party will be travelling along with you in different cars and may be slightly ahead or behind you as you travel from one point to another, as well as the time taken for all your bridal party to park their cars and alight, before joining you at the end point.

Another point to take note is the time needed for your guests to travel from one location to another at the wedding. If your solemnisation and dinner reception are taking place at different locations within a venue, you should also buffer a few minutes of time for your guests to move from one location to another.

4. You did not set aside ample time for photo taking

Most couples underestimate how time consuming photo taking can get, especially if they are planning to go to a separate location for a photo session with their bridal party or intend to take photos with everyone during the dinner reception, and tend to set aside too little time for it.

The last thing you want to happen is to rush through the photo taking and end up with photos you are dissatisfied with or miss out on taking photos with some of your guests. So, before you allocate a time for photo taking throughout your wedding day, think about the kinds of photos you want to have and the people whom you want to take photos with.

Then, share these with your wedding photographer and ask for his or her advice on how much time you should set aside for photo taking on your wedding day. If he says you need to set aside about 30 minutes to an hour for photos, make sure you add a buffer of 15-30 minutes to cater for any unforeseen delays or time taken to travel from one location to another, if you are planning to head to a different site for photo taking with your bridal party.

To facilitate group photos with your guests and speed things up, ask a bridesmaid or groomsmen to inform your guests when it is their turn for photos and get them ready. That way, you won’t have to wait for your guests to arrange their seating or go looking for guests who wandered off just as it was their turn for photos, cutting down on unnecessary time wastage.

5. You’ve packed your schedule with too many activities

Another mistake many couples make with their wedding day schedule is filling their big day with activities packed to the brim, leaving little or no room for delays or rest. We know that it’s your one and only big day, and you want the whole nine yards, from a first-look session to a boisterous gatecrash, a Instagram-worthy photo session with your bridal party, sunset solemnisation, and so on.

But unless you are starting your day before the sun rises, chances are, you are not going to have enough time for all of these activities on your wedding day. Or, if you insist on fitting everything into your day, you will likely be in a mad rush to complete them on time.

Don’t set yourself up for failure and make yourself and your bridal party miserable by planning your day with a reasonable amount of activities that are adequately spaced out to factor in any delays or rest time. List down all the programs you want for your wedding day and try to fit them into your schedule with some buffer time in between each activity. If you’re unable to fit all of them into your schedule, then take a look and remove those that are not essential to the day or can be done on another day.

For instance, if there isn’t time for you to travel to another location for the bridal party photo session that you have in mind, considering removing it from your wedding day schedule so you won’t have to rush through the session or from one location to another. Instead, you can invite your bridal party to join you and your groom at your pre-wedding photoshoot and have your bridal party photos taken before your wedding day.

Another way to free up some time in the morning would be to have the tea ceremony at the wedding venue so that you have time to sneak in some rest and freshen up for the activities in the later part of the day.

6. You did not share your wedding day schedule with your photographer and videographer in advance

Your photographer and videographer will need to know the flow of events on your wedding day so that they can plan their time better and know where they should be during different times of the day to ensure that they get to capture all of the precious moments of your big day. So, when you have your wedding day schedule and timeline sorted out, do share it with them immediately.

They will also be able to advise you on your schedule based on their experience, whether you need to set aside more time for photo taking or give them more time to prepare the same-day-edit video for your dinner reception. Not sharing your wedding day schedule with your photographer or videographer in advance might lead to disappointments and delays, so make sure you prioritise this task and provide them with the schedule once you have it.

7. You did not set aside enough time for wedding speeches

Wedding speeches are notorious for being the one item in your wedding day schedule to overrun, regardless of who is giving the speech. In that moment of joy and excitement sharing funny or memorable anecdotes, and giving thanks, it is easy to get carried away and ramble on past the five minutes that you were allocated for your speech.

Even if you’ve rehearsed your speech many times to ensure that you’ve kept to the five minutes time limit, speeches rarely take less time than you’ve originally set aside for it. You’ll also have to take into account the pauses within the speeches, the change over between speakers and the emcee, who may add their own anecdote as they introduce the next speaker, as well as guest speakers who decide there and then that they want to say a word or two.

So, it is always better to factor in more time for the wedding speeches. If you end up taking less time than planned for, you can always use the extra time to mingle with your guests or take group photos with your guests.

8. You expect everything to go according to plan

Despite your best efforts to ensure that your wedding day schedule is foolproof, chances are you’ll encounter some hiccups on the day itself that will derail your carefully put-together plan. Guess what? That’s perfectly normal and okay!

Every couple goes through some form of hiccup on their wedding day no matter how carefully they’ve planned the day and prepared for unforeseen circumstances. It is completely normal and somewhat expected, so you shouldn’t let it ruin your mood on the happiest day of your life. Instead, focus on solving the problem at hand with the least amount of fuss and delay, so that the rest of the day can continue.

Remember, no matter what goes wrong on your wedding day, it is already perfect, for you are marrying the love of your life, and nothing can be more perfect than that!

Feature image from Clara and Tim’s Ethereal Hokkaido Pre-Wedding Photography Session by Adrian Seetho Photography

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