How long do weddings last?

If you’re a day guest with a 1 pm ceremony, expect your big day to last 11 hours. You can apply the following to a 2 pm or 3 pm ceremony by adjusting accordingly.

Here’s a run down of a wedding day to give you an idea of a typical wedding day schedule. We’re going to presume that the ceremony and the reception are held at the same venue. We’re also going to say this wedding timeline is for a Summer wedding in the UK.

9:00am
Bridal preparations

Our wedding itinerary begins with your hair and makeup artists arriving to get your bridal party looking glam. Of course, depending on how large your wedding party is make dicate that they arrive even earlier. Your make up artist will give you a rough time of 30-45 minutes per person. The bride will get 90 minutes.

10:00am

The flowers arrive

Your florist will deliver your flowers for the wedding ceremony, bride and groom and decorating the the reception venue.

11 am

The Wedding Photographer arrives

Typically, your photographer arrives 2 hours before your wedding ceremony. This allows to capture the getting ready plus time to take a stroll around your wedding venue and capture some smaller detail shots such as the wedding breakfast layout.

The bridal preps will take about an hour, and if the Groom is at the same venue, they’ll also spend a few moments grabbing both informal and formal photos.

12:30 pm

Father of the Bride’s first look

After hair and makeup have complete their work, this is a lovely moment for you to plan into your wedding reception timeline. Special shots such as the bride and groom first look (popular in the US) and bridal party first look make wonderful family photos.

12:45 pm

Meet the registrar

As the wedding guests begin to fill the ceremony room, the bride and groom will chat with the registrars to complete the formalities. If you have a wedding coordinator, they can help keep on top of these moments, ensuring all your guests are at the right place at the right time.

1 pm

Ceremony

Time to make the grand entrance! Most wedding ceremonies don’t last longer than 30 minutes. In fact, wedding ceremonies typically are fairly short – long may it continue. Non-religious ceremonies, in particular, are not bound by religious formalities and are short and sweet. The average wedding ceremony is 30 minutes long. Catholic weddings are usually longer than a series of 24.

Wedding Table Games

1:30 pm

Drinks Reception

Congratulations, you’re now a married couple. The ushers direct guests to grab a glass of champagne for the cocktail hour. Most drinks receptions are 90-120 minutes. The bride and groom greet guests as the photographer rounds the wedding party up for family portraits before wishing the newlyweds away for some candid moments. How many photos? That depends on you – your photographer will happily accommodate your wishes.

A wedding planner will ensure things run smoothly. Wedding entertainment is a must – consider a wedding magician as the hors d’oeuvres to help get your guests involved and have a great time.

wedding games during dinner

3:30 pm

The Wedding Breakfast

After the cocktail hour (ironic that it’s much longer!), your guests are invited to sit down as the bride and groom make another grand entrance into the wedding breakfast room.

No, here’s where you have a choice: straight into speeches, then the meal or meal first, followed by the speeches. Personally, your wedding guests have had a long enough day already to be made to wait for their meal. With that in mind…

3:35 pm

Food service begins

At most weddings, expect a two-hour service for dinner service. Hopefully, everything runs smoothly but ensuring your guests have some fun activities can help with proceedings.

5:30 pm

Speeches

Time to charge the glasses and round up the wedding party for the speeches. How long are the speeches? How long is a piece of string? What’s the order of speeches at wedding receptions? Typically, the Father of the Bride, The Groom, then the Best Man. However, times are very much changing, so if you want to do away with wedding traditions, go right ahead.

My advice on speeches is to keep them short and sweet. Those carbs are hitting hard, and your guests are thinking about nap time!

6:00pm
The Lull

Difficult to know what to call this part of your wedding timeline but it’s the moment when things wind down a little. It’s actually a crucial party of any wedding reception where if left untreated could really dampen the spirits going into the evening wedding reception. Like the cocktail hour, wedding entertainment plays a crucial role in generating a nice atmosphere in your evening reception.

Maybe consider a bouquet toss to see who’s next in line or garter toss for some lols for the lulls…

6:06 pm
The DJ or band set up.

6:30 pm
Evening Guests Arrive

For those who didn’t get the wedding invitation to both the ceremony and reception, they get to turn up fresh ready for your evening wedding reception.

7:00 pm
Golden Hour

The perfect time in the entire day to grab the best of the Summer day sunshine. Ideal for photographers who love a light and airy style.

7:30 pm

Cake Cutting & First Dance

Your wedding DJ has the unfortunate task of making this tired wedding tradition anything better than the formality of your wedding timeline. This includes formal dances for the bride and groom, plus the father of the bride/parent dances. Spice things up with your own dance to set Tiktok on fire!

7:45 pm
Band/Open Dance Floor

Wedding receptions typically have either a DJ or band to encourage a party vibe and get your guests dancing after the first dance. Keeping the dance floor full is a difficult task if you haven’t got the right type of wedding guests. You know the type – plonk themselves down at the table and stare into their beer!

9:00 pm
Buffet is served

An essential part of your wedding day timeline, this food is the perfect remedy for your day guests who need to counteract the effects of a long cocktail hour! Pizza vans and other food trucks can be a great alternative option for late-night wedding receptions.

10:00 pm
More Dancing

It’s been a long old day, so before the newlyweds say their final goodbyes and make their grand exit, your DJ or band will drum up the bridal party to fill the dance floor for one last hurrah.

12:00 pm
Carriages

Time to call the taxis as this wedding reception is at the end!

From the start of the wedding preps to now, it’s been a long old day.

Final Thoughts on a wedding reception timeline