How do you go about a wedding day routine?

I know this is going to sound very moronic, but you know how after the ceremony when the couple kiss, everyone claps and then they walk down the aisle...so how in the world is it that all of the guests are suddenly outside showering the couple with rice and flowers?? How does that routine happen? I have no idea how I'm going to coordinate my ceremony and afterwards because the church is allowing us from 11 am-3:30 pm (wedding is at 2), but I need to take pictures, have a receiving line, and we all need to leave the church at a reasonable and respectable time for the reception, but the reception won't start till 6!! So how in the world am I going to do this? I really need some good ideas.

How do you go about a wedding day routine?
You don't sound moronic at all. Movies are made to be smooth-flowing and they make it look so easy because they get the benefit of time lapse and scene cropping.





A real time line is something more along the lines of this:



Pre-Ceremony Pictures (if you want to have the bride and groom not see each other before the ceremony have this told to the photographer long before hand so they can schedule accordingly)



Ceremony (At ceremony end, the Bride and Groom exit followed by the wedding party... if you are doing a receiving line this is when you would do it.) The Wedding Party lines up at church entrance to do a receiving line, guests are excused one pew at a time and start being "received" by the wedding party on their way outside. (If you wish to do confetti, bubbles, etc at the church rather than at the end of the evening there would be an usher at the end of the receiving line that would hand out these items to your guests).



When you finish receiving guests the Couple leave the church in shower of bubbles/confetti/etc %26amp; Hop into waiting car. (This is where it can get tricky) The waiting car can take you to a 3rd location for more pictures, or circle to the rear of the church if you are having the rest of your pictures taken at the church.



Post-Ceremony pictures are taken. (This would be where the Bride and Groom get their "together" shots if they chose not to do them before the ceremony.)



After pictures are finished you would head for the reception site, since you are having the reception considerably later than the ceremony you could go get changed into your "honeymoon outfit" if you like and if you still have time. (This is the outfit you choose to leave in so that your dress and his tux can be taken to cleaners and returned to rental place and/or preserving the dress).



The guests will arrive at the reception site at the time you have posted on the invitations so plan to arrive at least 15 min after that time and no more than 30 min after that time... this allows you to be "announced" to the room.



Reception activities (if you need a time line for this as well please email me)



Last Dance



Couple leaves (if you didn't do the bubbles, confetti, etc earlier you would do it now)
Reply:Ha! You make a good point!

They always have it work that way in the magical world of movies, but none of the weddings I'VE ever been to have the guests waited for the bride and groom to walk back up the aisle together and then materialised out the front to throw rice as they walk out!

We're getting married in May and now that you bring it up, i'll have to ask the priest..! I know that we have the ceremony and the kiss then we have to sign the certificate and walk back up the aisle together, but I can't remember if at any of the weddings I'e been to if the B%26amp;G walked out and waited for everyone or ducked out to a side room or something.. I guess we'll find out at the rehearsal.

Anyhow, we will definately 're-inact' the coming out of the doors so our guests can throw rose petals and bubbles for the sake of the photos.



Our ceremony is at 2:30pm, will be over by 3pm, then mingling with guests should take us to 3:20pm then our reception starts at 5:30pm. In the between time we will be going with our wedding party to some different locations for photos. Meanwhile our guests can move to somewhere else for drinks to fill in the gap, or many will head back to thier homes/hotel rooms to get ready for the bus we have organised to transport guests to the reception.



We wont be doing a recieving line (not really an Aussie tradition) but isn't that done at the start of your reception?



Go to theknot.com and i'm SURE you will find a weding day timeline, or even Google it. Good luck!
Reply:I've never been married, but I have been to a few weddings. To answer your first question, all the guests are probably issued with rice/bubbles/flowers before the wedding, or just as they are leaving the ceremony site. The recessional will get you, your husband, and your wedding party out of the building in reverse order. Then you can all stand in a receiving line outside the site or in the lobby and wait for the guests to emerge. I think they shower you with rice et al as you two are leaving the site, getting into your limo or car on the way to the reception.



I also think that many people take pictures before the ceremony, if you have time. That will save a lot of hassle afterwards.
Reply:After you walk down the aisle with your husband, you, your parents, your husband and his parents form the receiving line. Twp of the ushers/groomsmen, go back into the sanctuary and dismiss the rows of guests one row at a time. They leave the sanctuary and immediately greet you, your husband and your parents in the receiving line. They then go outside to await your departure. Once all the guests have gone through the receiving line, you and your husband leave the church, get into the limo and drive around the block to give your guests time to leave to go to the reception or wherever they are going between the ceremony and the reception. Then you go back to the church, take your pictures and then go to the reception.
Reply:All weddings I have been to, have the rice/bubbles as the couple is leaving the reception rather than as they are leaving the church. At our wedding, my hubby and I waited at the back of the church and our friends and family congratulated us as they came out. Then we went to the reception. We didn't have a receiving line but we went to each table and thanked everyone for coming. In that way we were able to greet all of our guests without the ackwardness of a receiving line. Then we had 2 little girls (friends of my family) go around to guest and pass out the bubbles. Also the MC/DJ announced that we were about to leave. Then as we were leaving the reception is when we ran through the bubbles to the car. It worked out pretty well.