Planning Tools, Ideas, & Advice
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For Wedding Pros
Micro weddings are loved by couples who prefer an intimate and close-knit celebration with loved ones. These small-scale ceremonies are more personalized, with thoughtful and meaningful moments woven in. But, if you’ve been considering a micro wedding, you might be wondering about the timeline. There is occasionally a misconception that micro weddings are shorter, excluding elements you might find in a more traditional wedding, but actually nothing could be further from the truth. While shortening your timeline is absolutely an option, there are no rules when it comes to the timeline for your micro wedding.
In this blog, we’ll be covering a few wedding formats, the benefits, and example timelines so you can figure out which is best for you. Just know that you can mix and match, extend or shorten any one of these. And remember, these are just guidelines. Leaning into the expertise of any wedding pros you’ve hired is a good idea to ensure nothing is overlooked.
A daytime micro wedding timeline in the garden is perfect for lovers of soft, natural light. This celebration will help you make the most of outdoor beauty, giving a comfortable yet beautiful vibe of a cozy tea party.
Continue the celebration by taking your reception to a local bar, nightclub, or someone’s house. One of the biggest bummers about weddings is that they go by so fast! Having an afternoon wedding gives you an opportunity to really take advantage of every minute!
Afternoon weddings occasionally come at a cheaper price than an evening wedding. This will depend on the venue, but there’s definitely the possibility of being able to book your dream wedding venue at a more affordable price.
10:30 AM – Getting Ready
To make sure your day is relaxing and stress-free, start preparing and getting ready early. Make sure you leave plenty of time so you can enjoy this part of your day with your wedding party and family. The amount of time you’ll need will depend on how many people are in your party and your plans for hair and make-up, but 2-3 hours should do for most couples.
12:30 PM – First Look Photos
First look photos are totally optional, but if you decide you want to have this as a part of your day, you’ll want to leave about an hour before the ceremony to get some good shots. If you plan to go to a location off-site then you’ll want to allocate a little more time.
As you’re wrapping up your photos, your guests will start making their way to their seats and the wedding party will prepare for the procession.
1:30 PM – Ceremony
After a fun photo session, it's time to say your vows and make it official. Ceremonies tend to be pretty short these days (I think mine was about 15 minutes), but if you plan to incorporate more into yours then you’ll want to add a little more time here.
2:00 PM – Cocktail Hour & More Photos
Following the ceremony, guests will head over to cocktail hour for mingling, drinks, and snacks while you do a little photo session with your wedding party, family, and perhaps just the two of you.
Tip: Work a few minutes into your micro wedding timeline for just the two of you to spend alone. Weddings can feel really chaotic and you’ll be pulled in a lot of different directions. Having even just a quick 15-minute break to breath and celebrate what you just did is a great idea.
3:15 PM — Cake Cutting & Celebratory Toasts
As snacks are winding down you can do the cake cutting (or just serve dessert if you’re not doing cake) and have the speeches.
4:00 PM – Socializing & Dancing & Goodbyes
If you’re planning any special dances, now is a good time for those. Spend this time with your guests socializing and enjoying each other’s company. Perhaps you’ve hired a DJ and plans for a dance party or you’re just keeping it low-key with some games or other entertainment.
5:30 PM – Farewell
It’s time to say goodbye! But like I said before, it doesn’t have to end here! Make plans to continue the party into the night or turn in and start your honeymoon early.
This timeline leaves enough room to enjoy every moment and does not make ensures you don’t rush your special day!
Brunch weddings are becoming increasingly popular and they’re well suited for micro weddings. With brunch weddings you can get super creative with a lot of the elements, and it’s another timeline that could offer some benefits in the budget department. You could even opt for a first look and couples photos at dawn making for some extra special photos and a really special way to start the day.
For most of the micro wedding timelines outlined below, the same rules apply as noted above so we haven’t expanded on them unless there’s something unique to this micro wedding timeline.
Earlier hours are considered off-peak for many venues, as are Sundays which just seem to go so naturally with brunch. Save on the venue space, and potentially on food and beverage as well.
No offense, but Sunday evening weddings are a drag when most of your guests have to return to work Monday morning. Ensure everyone is fully present and not fretting about leaving early so they can get a good night’s sleep by choosing a wedding timeline that favors the morning hours.
Early morning light (or sunrise!!) offers really great light for photos.
7:00 AM – Get Ready!
9:30 AM – First Look Photos: A beautiful photo session during the peaceful hours of the day with early morning sunrays would be breathtaking!
10:00 AM – Ceremony
10:30 AM – Cocktail Hour & More Photos
11:30 AM – Brunch Reception
12:30 PM – Cake Cutting & Celebratory Toasts
1:00 PM – Socializing & Dancing
2:30 PM – The send-off! Since you’re in the middle of the day, choosing send off “embellishments” like flower petals, streamers, or bubbles will be more appropriate than fireworks or sparklers.
This micro wedding timeline gives you and your partner enough time to have a romantic, intimate celebration after the event since you’ll have the whole afternoon and evening ahead of you!
Just because your wedding is micro, doesn’t mean your celebration has to be! You can still have every single thing a traditional wedding has, including the timeline. This micro wedding timeline is more in line with what you’d see for a traditional wedding.
2:30 PM – Get Ready
4:30 PM – First Look Photos
5:30 PM – Ceremony
6:00 PM – Cocktails
6:45 PM – First Dances
7:00 PM – Celebratory Toasts & Dinner
8:30 PM – Cake Cutting
9:00 PM – Socializing & Dancing
10:30 PM – Farewell
You may choose not to do a first look and that’s totally fine. Use that time by starting your day a little later or tack an extra hour or so onto the reception (you’re going to want it 😉)
3:30 PM – Get Ready!
5:30 PM – Ceremony
6:00 PM – Cocktails
6:45 PM – Reception & First Dance
7:00 PM – Celebratory Toasts & Dinner
8:30 PM – Cake Cutting
9:00 PM – Socializing & Dancing
10:30 PM – Farewell
I hope these example micro wedding timelines give you creative ideas and inspiration for your intimate celebration. Remember, these are just suggestions. Pair your unique needs with the expertise of the wedding pros you’ve hired to put together the perfect day.
This day is going to fly by so be sure to add as much time into your micro wedding timeline as you possibly can and be sure to allocate some private time for you and your partner. Micro weddings are made for customizing — they’re flexible, unique, and focused on you enjoying your loved ones. Whether you go for a classic evening party or a laid-back brunch, your micro wedding timeline should help you make the most of every moment.
