Outdoor Wedding Timeline Guide

Do you really need a wedding timeline?

Our answer to this, after supporting couples to plan their outdoor wedding over the last 10 years is YES! But do not worry, we’ve kick-started this for you. We have put together this Outdoor Wedding Timeline Guide to help you put yours together.

Your wedding timeline can be as simple or as detailed as you choose. Your guests may never have been to this style of wedding before. Giving them an idea of what will be happening throughout the day, helps them to understand:

1) What is expected of them, and

2) When they’ll be getting fed!

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Wedding Ceremony

What time you get married will first influence if you’ll be feeding your guests once or twice during the day. For later ceremonies, you may choose to do this only once. Most of our weddings opt for an early ceremony around 1pm and feed their guests twice, even with a relaxed festival vibe with food vans. The vans may change from day to evening, or the same vans may change up their menu from day to night. Whether you are opting for a formal outdoor celebration or something much more relaxed, you are still going to be feeding your guests. After all, weddings are hungry things!

Outdoor Wedding Timeline Guide, "Let's Rock" Download festival themed sign

Daytime Food Timings

What time you feed your guests is the next key milestone time (after your ceremony). This is a key part of your wedding timeline. This is a guide for you and can be moved according to your own ceremony start time.

Time at the Table

If you are opting for a sit-down meal, even if this is a relaxed menu with grazing boards for example, we’d always recommend allowing for 2 1⁄2 hours “at the table”. This allows for speeches to overrun, or for Aunty Maude who may be a slow eater, for example.

Outdoor Wedding Timeline Guide, Rustic wooden wedding timeline

Arrival of your Evening Guests

A guide to this is 3 hours after you have sat at the table for food. Allow an hour for evening guests to arrive before you then turn the notch up on your evening party.

The evening antics are normally opened by the last of any formalities, for example, cake cutting and your first dance, which then declares the party has started! Do not feel you have to do any of these “formalities”. It is about building the day that you want and this is just to help you plan your wedding day timeline.

Outdoor Wedding Timeline Guide, contemporary perspex wedding timeline with pink colours

Evening Food

A good timeline for the start of your evening food is around 1.5/2hours after the arrival of your evening guests. This ensures all of your evening guests have arrived and your daytime guests are also ready to eat again.

The key thing that any guest really wants to know is “What time am I getting fed” and “What is expected of me”, and having a printed timeline with key points throughout the day helps to guide your guests on what is happening and when.