RIGHT ON SCHEDULE: WEDDING ITINERARY TEMPLATES AND TIPS
When your marriage day finally rolls around, things can get pretty hectic. But as a bride, you should be focusing on your marriage, the happiness and the celebration, not on the schedule. To help you organise, and delegate jobs, we’ve come up with a few wedding itinerary templates. So, you won’t have to start one from scratch. We’ll also give you some tips to help keep things together on the big day.
TEMPLATES
While each wedding is unique, we’ve kept it simple, and based our templates on a few common types. We kept the exact flow of events general, making it easier for you to customise the itinerary to fit your needs.
A full-day wedding with a church ceremony and banquet
A full-day wedding with only a solemnisation ceremony. (No church service)
TIPS
These are little bits of helpful information and advice we’ve collected from years of being professional wedding videographers. These tips have helped lots of our clients, and we hope that they can now help you.
- Try to keep a checklist of any items that are going to be transported. Things like the dresses, rings, decorations, and so on, are easily lost or misplaced. A checklist will ensure nothing is left behind
- Assign each person to an item, or items. It’s easy for things to be misplaced when there’s only one person in charge of all the items, or if people aren’t sure what they’re supposed to be looking out for. Assign each person to be in charge of specific items, allowing them to focus their attention, which lowers the risk of leaving something behind.
- Give buffer periods. Timing can be thrown off by things outside of your control, like traffic and weather. It’s also a good idea to allow time for transport and general preparation.
- Have a Plan B. Always have a backup plan. If you’re going for an outdoor photoshoot, have another venue ready in case of wet weather. Know what to do if things go missing, if the food is late, and so on. Planning ahead saves you a panic attack if anything goes wrong on the actual day.
- The Victoria Concert Hall and National Gallery are common backup locations. You can book shoot locations in the National Gallery through their website. Keep in mind that the booking has to be placed two days in advance. The Victoria Concert Hall also requires a booking in advance, with no shoots being allowed after 6pm. You’ll have to drop them an email with your contact number. Another good thing to be aware of is that both venues have guidelines regarding photography equipment, so let your photographer know if you’re going for either venue. Of course, if all else fails, you can always take your pre-wedding photos at the venue where the banquet/rest of the wedding will be held. If you’re shooting at a hotel, remember to first check with the manager, some hotels have designated photoshoot areas.
- Organise your packing, and pack in advance. Use this in tandem with assigning people to objects, and you’ll never lose anything again.
- Have set carpooling arrangements. Take stock of the total number of cars you will have on the day, and assign seating accordingly. This is also a good opportunity to assign boot space, especially for your photographer and videographers.
- Have a timekeeper. Get a groomsman or bridesmaid to keep track of the time. S/He will ensure that the group stays on schedule, and gets to the ceremony on time.
- For events involving large groups, such as the tea ceremony, try including a little buffer time when considering an arrival time. This gives all the members of the group time to get to the venue.
- It’s a good idea to provide guests with food and drink, especially at particularly grinding events, like the tea ceremony. This will prevent them from becoming grumpy, and hungry.
- Brief the entourage. Hold a group briefing beforehand, run through the itinerary, and make sure everyone is on the same page. Make clear each person’s role and responsibilities, so prevent mix-ups on the day.
If you’ve found this article helpful, maybe you’ll like our other articles too! And, if you happen to be looking for wedding videographers to capture all the special moments of your big day, look no further.