wedding day timeline
After hosting our fair share of weddings, here are a few things we'd recommend thinking about when putting your timeline together.
How to plan a day you actually get to enjoy
Your wedding is one of those days where you can very quickly end up with a run sheet that looks like a military operation. But the best wedding timelines aren't the ones that squeeze the most into the day. They're the ones that give you enough structure to keep things moving, while still leaving room to actually enjoy it.
Don't plan to the minute
Things will take longer than expected. Someone will need to find their shoes. Your aunty will want a photo. Build some breathing room into your timeline so that if something runs 10 minutes late, the whole day doesn't suddenly feel behind. A good timeline gives you a plan, but it shouldn't make you feel like you're racing the clock.
every moment doesn’t need to be an "Instagram moment"
Champagne tower. Tiramisu tray. Special entrance. Sparkler exit. Confetti shot.
There are so many fun little moments you could add to your day, but don't feel like you need to do them all. We've seen it happen - one wedding, we had the champagne tower poured and ready at the brides request, but with everything else happening, they didn't get around to doing it until after dinner. The photos admittedly were very cool. The champagne tower however was full of bugs.
The takeaway? Pick the moments that actually matter to you and make sure they fit naturally into the day. Otherwise, you can spend the whole wedding being pulled from here to there, rather than hanging out with your favourite people.
Think about when you'll do your couple photos
At Omahanui, we recommend doing your couple portraits while guests are getting seated for dinner - usually somewhere around 5.30-6pm. This means you don't have to disappear during the lawn party and cocktail hour, which is often one of the best parts of the day. You've just got married, everyone is relaxed, the drinks are flowing and your favourite people are all there. It's a pretty good time to actually be at your own wedding.
Getting those couple photos later in the day also means you've had time to settle into being married rather than disappearing straight after the ceremony. Of course, the exact timing will depend on your photographer, ceremony and reception plans, but it's worth thinking about early.
your guests don't teleport
When you're looking at your timeline, don't forget to allow time for everyone to move from one part of the day to the next. At Omahanui, for example, our garden walk experience takes around 15 minutes. So if the ceremony finishes at 4pm, that doesn't mean the lawn party starts at exactly 4pm. Guests need time to get up, have a wander, grab a drink and settle into the next part of the day. These little transitions are part of the wedding too, so give them some breathing room.
A typical Omahanui wedding flow
Every wedding is different, but this is an example of how a wedding day at Omahanui might go:
3.00pm Guests arrive
3.30pm Ceremony
4.00pm Lawn party, drinks & canapés
5.30–6.00pm Couple portraits while guests are getting settled
5.45pm Guests head into the reception
6.05pm Bridal party entrance
This is just a guide - we'll work with you and your suppliers to make the timing work for your particular day.
Allow more time for speeches than you think
A three-minute speech is rarely a three-minute speech on the day. Add in the laughs, the claps, the cheers and the emotional pauses and a three-minute speech can easily become five.
Make sure your MC, coordinator and caterer all know how many speeches there are and roughly how long they're expected to take. If dinner is ready to go but you've still got one speech to come, you may need to move that speech until after dinner rather than holding up the food.
It's all about keeping the day flowing and this is where having a great coordinator, or a venue team like ours who takes care of this for you, is priceless. You shouldn't be worrying about whether dinner is ready, who's giving the next speech or whether everyone is where they need to be. That's what we're there for.
Your Omahanui run sheet
When you book at Omahanui, you’ll be given a run sheet that we know works well for a wedding here. It's a starting point, not a rulebook. We'll work with you to personalise it around your plans, your suppliers and the kind of day you want to have.
Plan the important stuff. Leave room for the unexpected. And make sure you actually get to enjoy the party you spent so long planning.
