Wedding Day Timeline: What to do When Things Don't go as Planned

I had the honor of capturing Kaylee & Caleb’s wedding day from start to finish and it was as beautiful as it was chaotic (but in the best way). As most couples do when planning their wedding, these two had a set wedding day timeline or so they thought. They never expected the delays they would face on their wedding day but it didn’t matter. Through all of the chaos, Kaylee and Caleb were just so grateful to be getting married. In this blog, I talk about what to do when your wedding day timeline falls apart!

bride and groom at their wedding in Alabama

The “Perfect” Wedding Day Timeline

Let’s be real… there is no such thing as a perfect wedding day timeline. You can do your best to plan as much as possible, but in the end you can’t control certain things. People are late, weather turns, and sometimes vendors don’t show up, but how much you enjoy your wedding depends on how you handle these types of situations.

Kaylee and Caleb were a very unique wedding because they had a total of 20 people in their wedding party. For the getting ready portion of the day, 17 people crammed into a studio apartment and it was perfect chaos. These two are social butterflies and it wouldn’t be their wedding day without their 20 closest friends.

Okay so now let’s get into where things started to not go as planned. When I arrived at the wedding getting ready location, there was a bit of a problem. All 4 streets around us were blocked off by police for a parade. So… because we were unable to move our cars, we were trapped at the apartment for several hours. By the time we were able to leave, we were about 2 hours behind schedule.

What else could go wrong?

Just when we thought that nothing else could go wrong, we arrived at the ceremony site and it was 55 degrees, overcast, windy, and raining. Not only that, but the bridal party got stuck in traffic on the way making their arrival after sunset. Once they got there we got as many pictures as we could with the little light we had left.

By the time we got to the ceremony, it was completely dark outside. Thankfully Kaylee and Caleb’s family put up some string lights the night before so it ended up being really beautiful.

bride poses with bridesmaids in the their mismatched bridesmaid dresses

How to Handle your Wedding Day Timeline Falling Apart

While most brides would have freaked out about their schedule falling apart, Kaylee was completely calm and went with the flow. She knew that these were all problems out of her control and instead of fighting it, she decided to roll with it. That attitude allowed Kaylee and Caleb to have the BEST wedding day for them despite the many obstacles. They had the most epic reception outside under the stars. Yes it was freezing and windy, but everyone just bundled up and had the best time. It was a perfectly imperfect wedding day timeline for Kaylee and Caleb!

5 tips on how to handle delays/obstacles on your wedding day:

Don’t get upset over things you can’t change: Enjoy the day and understand that everything will happen exactly as it is supposed to!

Remember to give yourself a minute: Step away, take a deep breath, and relax.

Establish your priorities before the wedding day! Think about what is a MUST on your wedding day and what things could be thrown out the window if needed.

Remember what this day is truly about! It’s not about the wedding day timeline or the reception, it’s about you and the love of your life committing to one another in front of all your friends and family!

Don’t put so much pressure on staying exactly on track with the wedding day timeline! Things change, weather can unpredictable and you can’t predict the future! Just remember that your wedding timeline is just an outline. If it doesn’t go as planned, it DOES NOT MATTER!