A few weekends ago, my husband stood up in a very nice wedding. The only trouble was that it was not as organized as I would have liked to have seen it. Most everything turned out fine for them, but there was definite potential for problems. As the wife of a Bridal Party member, I definitely wished my husband had more direction on where he needed to be and when, so that I could have known where to get him to and when.

I know that bridesmaids and groomsman everywhere will probably groan at the thought of this (but after the wedding I think they will thank you), but something that really helps out is typing up a schedule of events and times for the weekend of the wedding. This schedule should layout where attendants should be and at what time. Plus, it should also give other helpful information - like who to call in case there is a problem of any kind, and any maps that may be necessary.

I am coordinating the ceremony portion of a wedding that is coming up soon, and here is how we went about creating their Bridal Party Schedule:

First, close your eyes and imagine that it is the day of your wedding. If everything could go absolutely perfect for you, how would it go? (Keep in mind that it is rare for nothing to go wrong on your wedding day, but by doing this, hopefully whatever goes wrong will be very minor!) Take notes as you think about this, and make sure to write a list of things you need to do that you may not have thought of until this time.

Let's imagine you and your bridesmaids first. If you are getting married on a Saturday afternoon, then I would guess that your day begins on Saturday morning with a hair appointment or someone doing your hair. Right away you need to realize several things:

1. This means you need to have a hair appt. arranged ahead of time
2. You need to be at your appt. on time, so you need to get up early enough to be ready on time (or the rest of your schedule could be delayed).
3. You haven't considered breakfast, and this is very important on your wedding day - for you and your Bridal Party! (Make sure you arrange to eat breakfast somehow!)

Okay, so next you are probably going to head to the church or ceremony location. How are you getting there? Consider the transportation of everyone in the Bridal Party - if you are taking a limo for all of you from the ceremony to the reception, then if your attendants drove to the ceremony their cars are stuck in the parking lot! How will they get back to them?

I recommend meeting at one common, and hopefully central, location - for example, your parent's house or the salon (if you can leave your cars there for the day). If the dates of your attendant's can drop them off, that would be best, but if they have to leave their car at this location, it should be somewhere that they can easily get a ride back to - and not by you! (NOTE: if you are all driving separately to the reception from the ceremony, then this does not apply.)

Next, you may have pictures at the church. This means, you need to have arranged for the photographer to be there at a certain time. You need to have the flowers there before the photographer. You need to have someone there to let the florist in, if you are not already there. Do you see how this can get complicated pretty fast? You also need to have your dress on and your makeup ready before the photos. If you are going to see the groom, do you want to arrange for a special place to do this before the photo session? And what about lunch?

How about the groomsmen? Before the ceremony begins, do the ushers know where and what time they should begin escorting guests to their seats? Do they know what time to be at the church? What about their transportation? Breakfast? Lunch? They need to make sure to eat, too. (I assume that your perfect day does not include anyone fainting?)

Skipping ahead a bit, how about the reception? Is there a Bridal Party Introduction? Is there a Bridal Party Dance? Do your Honor Attendants realize that they should make a toast during dinner or at some point during the evening? Do you want your attendants in the pictures during the cake cutting? - do they know what time this is at?

Alright, I realize that I have now completely overwhelmed you. Sorry! But, the point of this exercise is to envision each portion of the day and how it would look if everything went smoothly. Please do not, however, get completely caught up in every little detail. Address as many as you can, but realize that you have limitations, and that so do your attendants and the people that you have contracted with. Your day will be perfect because of your love. If someone does faint at your wedding, it will not make your day any less perfect! Keep this in mind!

To help you not get overwhelmed, I have a few examples of wedding day schedules (and even rehearsal dinner schedules) for you to look and use as examples. (If you do not have Adobe AcrobatReader, you are going to need to download it to see the examples: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

• My wedding for Bridesmaids: http://www.Bwedd.com/Couples/Bridesmaids.pdf
• My wedding for Groomsmen: http://www.Bwedd.com/Couples/Groomsmen.pdf
• Friend's Christmastime wedding for all Bridal Party: http://www.Bwedd.com/Couples/DaveandLoriAgenda.pdf

Good luck making your schedule, and if I can help you out in any way, please let me know! And, if you think you have a good schedule, please e-mail it to me and I will share it with other brides to help them in their planning!

Sincerely,
Kelly Kons, kelly@bwedd.com
http://www.Bwedd.com/TrueCompanions/