A Guide to Wedding Day Main Moments
This is a mix of various type of weddings I’ve encountered. No wedding day is going to have all these moments, the day is not long enough. They all start by 9am the latest and end early afternoon for the shortest of them.
Getting Ready
I hope you had a good sleep. The bride and the groom sometimes together bot most of the times in separate locations are getting ready, as early as 6am. The wheels are in motion now. The grooms men wake up, the brides maids arrive. There’s a lot of commotion in the house. If there’s food and coffee around it’s a good time to have some snack because the next good meal might be as far as the reception in the evening. Hair stylist and makeup artist should be knocking on your door. Photographers and videographers should be showing up too. Flowers are dropped off. The phone may start ringing with last minute problems to solve. How is the weather today? Is there a plan B? This is your first chance to mess up with the schedule of the day, will you be on time out of the door?
Leaving Home Ceremonies
The getting ready can be a ceremony on it’s own. There’s traditional attire, there’s rituals to be followed. The day has barely started and it’s already loaded with emotion. Brides and sisters and parents are crying already.
First Look
This is a moment I like a lot. It’s intimate, it has a preamble and a highly emotional moment, it’s short, it’s sweet, for me, the wedding could stop here because I see the love and the excitement, why complicate things? Well remember to dress nice and surprise each other kids every once in a while.
Pre Ceremony Rituals
Families meet. Prayers are said and games are played.
Ceremony
The guests must have arrived by now at the venue. There’s a lot of chatter but soon the MC, the officiant, the priest will quiet everyone down. Music plays grooms men come in, the groom follows. A few more words and the brides maids come in followed by the star of the show, the bride. This is in a way a second first look. Very emotional, one of my favorites parts. The ceremony could last anywhere from 20 minutes to hours. The vows, the I DOs, the first Kiss, the most complex rituals happen here. This is the core of the wedding day, any wedding, any type. This segment ends with a recessional and on to the next step!
Food and Photos
This is the time for formal photos. All the family photos, guests and newly weds, line up here. Some weddings have time for a snack or a drink here.
Photo and Video Session
A beautiful location is chosen and the bride and the groom together with the brides maids and grooms man head out for a 1-2h photo session. Choreographed or spontaneous, natural and guided a good portion of photos and video that’s will show up in the final deliverables are produced here. The bride and the groom will get the lion’s share of the photo and video team’s attention.
Cocktail Hour
The guests have moved from the ceremony location to the reception and probably changed the attire slightly. Hors d’oeuvres are served and likely drinks. The reception venue is probably almost ready to receive the guests. Soft music is playing, and I hear laughter and greetings and comments about the ceremony.
Grand Entrance
Everyone should be sitting by now. The MC is on with a few announcements but the big moment is coming. The grooms men come in, the bride’s maids too, and then the couple make their grand entrance.
Rituals, prayers, games, entertainment.
This can part can be very diverse. All kind of rituals are played here. Sometimes there’s group dancing, games are played, the night is too short for all the things that could be scheduled.
Speeches, Food is Served
The story of the day gets a lot of value from the receptions speeches. Parents, friends and the couple gets to express a few thoughts as do the newly weds. The humor is always present, but it’s always intertwined with deep emotion. More food is served, but the bar may occasionally be closed. You must plan for it!
First Dance, Cake Cutting
First dance can extend to 3-4 dances, the bride with the father, the groom with his mother and the couple together. Cake cutting usually happens soon after.
The Party
This is the loudest part of the day I want to say. The happiest moment of the day must be the cheer for the newly weds at the ceremony but this will be the loudest. Lasers lights, smoke, sparklers, strobes, it’s the most colorful part of the night.
Curtain drops, or not.
The MC must do their duty and call an end to the ceremonies, but not necessarily. Sometimes the party keeps on going until the early hours of the next day. The photographers and the videographers are gone by now.
