Trish’s Tips: #1 – Wedding Day Timelines
I decided to start an ongoing topic called ‘Trish’s Tips’ to talk about some things I did during my own wedding planning that I think really made the difference in the overall experience of the day, plus anything new I’ve come across since then that I think you might benefit from for your own planning.
Tip #1 – The Wedding Day Timeline!
You’ve heard it before…and I’ll say it again – Your wedding day is going to fly by. Looking back at my own, I was actually stunned by the time 11pm rolled around and the reception was over. I thought to myself, How could this day have taken so long to plan but go by so quickly? It’s just not fair! And then I think I actually stomped my feet and poured myself another glass of champagne.
Having leisurely time to sit and relax, enjoy your family and friends, and just revel in the excitement of it all is of the utmost importance on your wedding day. You should have time to focus on the day, take it all in, enjoy it and just be able to live in the moment. Having to rush around and try to make up time once you are behind can cause a lot of stress. One of your best defenses against losing your mind on your wedding day (besides the wine) is padding your timeline.
Some of you may have just said, “Wait – I need a Timeline?” Yes, I said Timeline. Do yourself, your family, friends and vendors all a favor and create a timeline for the entire day and include anyone with a role to play in the wedding. If you have a wedding planner or Day of Coordinator, they will be able to help you do this. You may consider making a different timeline for each group of folks that has only the ‘Need to Know’ info on it – such as parents – so it will be very simple for them to know when and where they should be at any given time. This timeline should include when you plan to wake up, time to arrive for hair/makeup for each person, when each person needs to be dressed, time you will get dressed, time and place of formal photos, when and where to meet for transportation or when to arrive at the venue pre-ceremony…you get the picture! If you want, you can check out my actual wedding timeline doc right HERE. Please feel free to take it and do whatever you’d like with it if it will help you out!
Ahhhhh, the inevitable wedding day lag. In my experience, it’s usually the hair and/or makeup that makes the ladies fall behind schedule. Knowing this, give yourself and your girls some extra time (just in case) by starting a bit earlier than you think is really necessary or allowing for more time than you think it will take – anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour more.
Padding the timeline is also GREAT for photographers because then we have plenty of time to capture all your fun details, you getting ready while looking relaxed, happy and stress free, AND (if you have chosen to do so…) still have time to do the First Look and get all the formal photos out of the way while the ladies hair and makeup are still fresh. If you haven’t heard of a ‘First Look’ yet, I’ll go over that in more detail in my next Trish’s Tips post. (OR just Google it right now and you’ll find a ton of great info about it. Jasmine Star actually has some great info about it on her blog right HERE!)
Enter the New Year
Happy 2011 everyone! It’s so weird to be typing that already. Anyway, I hope you all had a safe and happy new year with those who mean the most to you. Joe and I took Raki the 68 lb. Boxer puppy over to our friends house and had a super fun and low-key celebration. Good friends, good cigars and good scotch (well, for me coca-cola and chocolate!)
As you may know, I’m not much on ‘resolutions’ but one of my goals for the year is to take more personal photos and share them. So for my first post of ’11 I’ll do just that! On New Years Eve Joe bought a new car. It was between a Juke and the Insight. Guess which won out? Yep – that’s an Insight!
Ya-ji has been sunning himself regularly during the afternoon and napping on me whenever possible since I have been off work a lot during the last two weeks (he was especially happy for me to be home sick the week of Christmas – and I was glad he was here to keep me company!). He’s such a sweet boy and will be 11 years old this Feb. You’d never know it though – he’s as playful and youthful looking as any 2 year old cat I’ve seen…how handsome is he?!
Today while cooking breakfast we heard a loud noise outside and the power went out. It’s the second time in 2 weeks the transformer has blown – so we decided to take the dogs for a walk while we waited for the power to come back on. Needless to say, the dogs were very excited and I got a few good shots after we got back to the house. Babu is Joe’s girl. She is a 5 year old Border Collie Lab mix. Isn’t she a pretty girl?
Raki is a purebred semi-flashy fawn Boxer puppy. I gave him as a gift to Joe for his wedding gift and we picked him up when he was 7 weeks old. I still can’t get over how big he is already, and how much bigger he will probably get. He’s just at 8 months old now, and weighs in at 68 lbs. Babu is 62 lbs. Raki is taller and longer than she is and is not fully grown. He’s going to be a monster!! A really sweet and slobbery monster…he has the sweetest disposition and is so darn smart it blows me away. Look at those big ol’ paws & droopy jowels! I love that little wrinkley face of his.
So here’s to an amazing 2011 – with lots of love, furry hugs and slobbery kisses from our house to yours! One last pic of little pups and I’ll stop showing him off. This is his inquisitive look…adorable right?!
