I recently had lunch with a pastor friend of mine who performs wedding ceremonies and his wife. They told me about an experience of mayhem at a wedding for a DIY bride. The bride was more than an hour late for her wedding and totally exhausted. The reason? Well, she did her own flowers, decorating, hair (with a weave in I might add), makeup and God only knows what else. I am not sure if it was a control issue or to save money. I am sure the latter is probably the correct answer. In her attempt to do it all, she ended up having to pay vendors for extended time and put some vendors in an uncomfortable position because they had other commitments. Of course, the ceremony starting more than an hour late pushes the reception out of whack, too. The guests were restless and even angry. This is unacceptable, very rude and inconsiderate not only to the guests but the vendors.
Tick, tock… The clock is ticking and continues to do so. If you are late to your wedding, your wallet may well feel a ping from the clock. The possible added expenses and problems in being late to your own wedding are:
1. Your limo driver and other vendors will probably have to charge you more for time or you will lose time you paid for.
2. If you are getting married in a church, they may have other weddings scheduled after yours and you will be holding up another bride. Hence, your ceremony time may be cut.
3. The officiant might have other weddings scheduled that day, too. He may be put in the position to leave and come back to perform your ceremony later, which will definitely cost you more money.
4. Your reception time has just been sliced. So you essentially paid for time that you will never enjoy because you are behind schedule.
5. You certainly won’t make it onto your mother-in-law’s favorites list.
Time is always money. Don’t let this happen to you at your wedding. Hire professionals to do the work and definitely have a planner to oversee everything for you.
Instead of being stressed and exhausted let the following be your wedding day schedule:
8:00 a.m. Breakfast with maid of honor, bridesmaids, mothers, etc.
9:30 a.m. Hair, manicure and pedicure appointment.
12:00 noon Back to designated location, relax, have makeup done and get ready for wedding (fruit, water and light snacks available in room).
2:30 p.m. Limo picks up bride and others as instructed to go to church.
3:30 p.m. Ceremony begins and bride is radiant, relaxed and stress-free for beautiful photos.
Isn’t that so much more appealing than being stressed and exhausted? In the above bridal timeline, is there any time for you to run around trying to figure out flowers and setting up tables, etc.?
I have seen countless brides either exhaust themselves (and their families) the night before the wedding and/or the day of. They are stressed out and stressing everyone else out. Leave yourself off the “things to do list” on your wedding day. Put in your work in the planning phase with the best reliable vendors that take charge that day! You need to relax and enjoy the whole day. In the long run, you will be so glad you did. So – don’t be late!
Thanks for this, very good advice for the DIY bride. While a ceremony may start 10min late, any longer & it throws off the whole schedule, from outdoor lighting for photos to getting hot food on the table. The best thing a bride can do is have a “team” to help, from bridesmaids to day-of coordinator. At the heart of the wedding day is the ceremony, a transformative ritual of Love, a stepping stone on a new journey, and wedding preparation should not give the bride, or anyone else, undue stress! @RevAnnieNYC
As a photographer I have had some brides be so late that I started putting verbiage into my contract stating that if the shooting schedule causes me not to be able to get photographs due to lateness of bride and/or groom, that those photos simply are not guaranteed to be taken. It blows my mind how someone could be over an hour late for their wedding, because so many things end up costing more because of it (as described in the article).
I always advise my couples to get everything done at least two weeks prior to their wedding date so that they can relax and think on the day’s logistics. Great article!
Michael, I feel you completely! I had one wedding where it was almost 2 hours late due to the groom…
As a wedding minister, I say AMEN to this article! Time means money to everyone in this industry. Even if you avoid most vendors with a DIY wedding, you still have an officiant with a schedule. My contract says if the wedding is so delayed that I risk being late to my next bride and groom, I can leave without performing the ceremony. And I mean it.
I was just at a wedding where the bride was an hour late, but so were some of her vendors! The wedding started at 6. The violinist didn’t even set up until 6:10. Her photographer was suppose to be with her since 4, but he didn’t show up until 5:30. Also, a groomsmen was missing in Atlanta. He flew in the day of the wedding. He was suppose to land in Pittsburgh at 2. He had a layover in Atlanta and later everyone found out he got drunk at a bar and the airline wouldn’t let him on the flight. So the Best Man was at Pittsburgh airport until about 3 or 4 trying to figure out what was going on. He got stuck in traffic on the way back to the venue. Even guests were late because of a car accident before the exit you needed to take to get to the venue. It was a Murphy’s Law wedding for sure.
Any other time, I would be mad.