In regards to the toast/speeches, what my dad did for his wedding day was he broke up the speeches throughout the dinner courses. So one person would give a speech, then the appetizers would be served, another person would do a speech, then the mains were served, etc. I really liked how it flowed and it kept it more interesting than sitting through 30 minutes of speeches, which definitely gets quite boring. My fiance & I are planning on doing it this way at our wedding!
Thank you for this, it's a great idea! The wedding co-ordinator from our venue (UK) sent us a sample timeline in which all toasts happen with the cake cutting just after the meal, which I thought would make for a boring meal and squeeze all the speeches together like we're having a conference. So maybe parents can say a few words just as the starter is being served, then bride & groom can say something between the main course and the dessert, and then the best man and maid of honour can go last. Maybe that disturbs the flow of the conversation on the separate tables a bit, but it also makes sure there aren't awkward silences. I've been to weddings that had games (pub quiz, bingo, diy wishes) too, but I haven't thought of any that would be appropriate/fun enough for our crowd.
We did family and wedding party (best man & maid of honor) do speeches first and then opened up the opportunity for additional family and friends to say anything if they wanted after. It actually was really sweet to hear nice speeches throughout our meal.
If you wanted to still save time with photography after ceremony, you could do bridal part photos before the ceremony? Like maybe do the bridal party pictures, the groomsmen (separate obviously), maybe even your own photos with your parents just to help trim the time after if that's an issue (or not enough light if the sun is setting).
I really wish I had a First Look. My wedding was in Oct at 5:00 pm and it gets dark so quick around that time, my Husband and I could only take photos inside the venue as the outside was already too dark. The bridal party photos were amazing out in the sunshine, but unfortunately, ours were all dark and inside. We tried taking some photos in some added photography lighting but it didn't work out too well. Something to think about.
SAME! Getting married in 25 days and I would NEVER want a first look! Takes away from that beautiful moment when he sees you walking! I’m doing a “first touch” where we go back to back and hold a hand and say a few words but never see eachother!
I am SO sooo0o0o0o0 happy i found your videos! Im doing a $4k wedding in 6 months. No planner!!! Pinterest stressed me out. I enjoy how you explain things, and i love that you talk with your hands! It brings attention to what your saying. This day of timeline has been EXACTLY what I have needed!! You are Ahhh-mazing!!!
We just started planning our wedding a few weeks ago and our budget is about the same. As yours and we have about 5 and a half months. Any advice you can give me? Thank you!
Hi Jamie! I am an assistant event coordinator in South Africa! I found your blog and absolutely love it. So you mentioned start time of ceremonies and to not have a different time that your event starts compared to what is on your invite...Well in SA we have something know as SA time and it basically means that South Africans love to arrive late to an event - because of this we have come up with a solution! On our invites we say "2:30 FOR 3:00 in the afternoon" this means that we want you to arrive at 2:30 however we know that you'll be late so we are giving a margin of error of 30 minutes! If you are going to be "late" at least be earlier than 3:00. I can tell you honestly from experience that this actually works!
Sooo DJ here. 😀 Great video. We are on the same page for the most part. Intro’s First Dance Welcome and/or Blessing Dinner Cake Toast Parent Dances Open Dancing Bouquet/Garter (can’t wait til these die) Open Dancing Last Group Dance Private last Dance Send off Like you said, I hate hate hate cake to be in the middle of dancing. Cut it early, go straight into toast, and let chartering make it available in the background. Let people take their own break to get cake later. And put the cakes near the dance floor. :)
Summary -Hair and makeup 5-7 hours before the wedding depending on the size of the bridal party, etc… -First look about 1-2 hour before wedding -If no first look put dress on between 1 hour-30 min from ceremony for pictures with bridesmaids and detailed pictures of dress + travel time -Entire bridal party on sit ready to go, hidden, 30 minutes before ceremony starts -10 minutes before ceremony starts lineup family and bridal party -Ceremony between 15 min-30 min -Cocktail hour for all the guests while family and bride and groom take pictures in ceremony area -15 minutes before reception actually starts- begin to usher people into the reception space -10 minutes before reception starts- the bride and groom begin to get ready for the grand entrance (can be with full bridal party or just bride and groom) -Either grand entrance right into first dance or grand entrance straight into dinner -Dinner about 45-1:30 -toasts after everyone has received their dinner (about 5-10 min after last person got their food) -Recommends no more than 5 toasts (tell people who are going to do toast 2-3 min but plan for them to take 5 min) Ex. 4 toasts = 20 minutes -If first dance wasn't before now is an opportunity -Perfunctory family dances (father/daughter, mother/son, etc…) (give 2 min but plan for 5 min) -Open dancing (45 min-1 hour) -Cake cutting (about 5 min) -Bouquet toss (about 5 min) -Garter toss (about 5 min) -Put cake cutting at the beginning of the reception (ex. after speeches) if you’re not doing bouquet, garter, etc.. to not take attention or groove out of the dancing -Last call 15-30 min before end -10 minutes before end, guests line up for grand exit
One thing that happens often in Mexican culture is a dollar dance towards the end of the night. The bride and groom will come out on the dance floor and the guests will line up to dance with them. In order to cut in and take their turn the guest hands cash to the Maid of Honor (for the bride) and Best Man (for the groom) to contribute to the honeymoon fund.
Also, for Mexican weddings before you throw the bouquet all the single ladies run in a line holding hands super fast (can't think of a better way to describe it) then the single men do the same before the groom throws the garter. Meanwhile the bride and groom are standing in chairs and using the bride dress almost like a limbo stick
Im planning my whole wedding alone, i got three weeks and 1500$ to spend for 50 guest, now i have 9 days til the wedding day.. you are the light in the end of this surely dark tunnel. Thanks girl. I may also become a planner someday if I am able to pull this off smoothly. Btw Im in the Philippines. Xoxo
In Slovenia we have a tradition that all the guests from bride's side meet at her parent's place and the groom's guests meet at his parent's place. Then all the groom's guests come to pick up the bride and her guests. Before the groom can get the bride, he has a bunch of tests to do (like change a tire on a car and stuff like that), to show he can take care of the handy stuff. It's called "šranga". Only then the bride comes, the groom gives her the bouquet and then everyone goes to the ceremony. Not everybody does that anymore, but I think it's an interesting tradition :) Btw loooove your videos! They helped me when I was planning the wedding of my best friend and I'm rewatching them all again now that I'm engaged 🤩❤
Hi Jamie ! I'm a French wedding planner and it's a delight for me to watch your videos ! In France, weddings are veeery long (foreigners are always so shocked) : we usually start the preparations for the bride and the bridal party, just like you, early in the morning, then we sometimes have pictures /first look, the ceremony and the cocktail in the afternoon, and then dinner from about 8pm to midnight. During dinner, friends and family do toasts but also games, songs, they show videos and slideshow photos (it's basically a little dinner show). Midnight is usually time for cake cutting and first dance, and then everyone hits the dancefloor...until 3 to 6am (depending on on how much families and friends like to dance!)!! As a wedding planner, but also as a guest, I have to say it's a pretty exhausting timeline !
The first look thing is such a good idea! Your makeup is still fresh, and doesn't make your guests wait too long while you take pictures after the ceremony.
I'm from the United Kingdom, Scotland specifically. We are due to get married next October and your videos have been extremely helpful. It sounds so strange to me to have a 6 hour wedding, most Scottish Weddings start at 8am and finish around 3am the following day!
Well in Mexico weddings are way longer... Like 10 hours at least! Mine is going to be next year! So all your videos are helping a lot! Thank you Jamie!!
Girl, you are in for a treat :D In Poland, a wedding (In Wielkopolska anyway, more north of Poland) Weddings usually last about 12 hours. Ceremony starts at the church at 3/4pm. It's done in about an hour. Then we arrive at the venue. The parents greet the couple with bread and salt at the door, couple goes in first (bride is usually carried over the doorway for good luck) Then everyone has a chance to talk and congratulate the couple, hand in the gifts, find their seats and the dinner starts! The food is continuously served over the course of the whole night. Many different meats, side dishes along side with alcohol and music in the background (typically around 0.5 or a 1 Liter per person of vodka, at least at the last wedding I went to) We have the usual bouquet toss (usually happens at midnight), first dance, different wedding games depending on the couple, cake cutting. We get a break from savory food and it's dessert time, tea and coffee is offered too. After that more food is brought to the tables. More cold style appetizers and salads. Mind you, everything is served on massive platters at each table so anyone can eat what they like. We don't stop dancing, drinking or eating for basically 12 hours or sometimes more. Now, the day before the wedding, people often have 'buteltki' or bottles party for good luck. The day after the wedding you would have 'poprawiny' which is another, smaller dinner (with alcohol as well) using up some left overs from the day before, more casual vibe party. So essentially 3 days of partying, if you are very close to the couple. One thing about this though, usually all guests give money as gift, the least minimum is the amount the couple payed per guest. Parents, grandparents, siblings etc usually give more in the 'envelope' so the couple themselves don't actually go broke over having a wedding because everyone contributes. Even if some guests can't afford to give too much money, overall it all equals out and all the money the newlyweds spent comes back to them in the end.
I went to my Polish friend's wedding years ago and it was just as you describe - we're from the UK and it was so different and SO MUCH FUN. Wonderful weekend of celebrations 😍
I'm from Canada and live there still but my family is Polish and all the weddings were like that too haha In fact I didn't know it wasn't the way typical weddings in Canada went until I was much older and when I started going to non-Polish weddings and I was honestly disappointed at the lack of food and that everything ended at midnight.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! I am telling you, a day of timeline is a lot harder to create than most people think!😅 I can’t wait for my big day... I’m marrying my high school sweetheart next October!😍💍👰🏼
In France we have an extra step in our typical wedding days called "Vin d'honneur". Basically it is between the ceremony and the reception. In big weddings, some people (extended family, parent's friends...) are only invited to the ceremony and to the Vin d'honneur
Ok so im so excited!!! I've been watching your channel for a while and today my boyfriend finally proposed! First thing I do??? Rewatch all your videos 😂😂😂
May I just say...YOU ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I am one of the single most awkward, quirky, and goofy people on the planet, and I am magnetized to your energy. I am binging your videos and I keep having to rewind because your word vomits crack me up. Also...your tips are great. From one coordinator to another, you are so amazing. 😘
I love you so much my sweet cousin! I’m so darn proud of you!!! This channel has come so far since when you asked me if you thought you could do it!! Look at you Jamie! 10k!!! Love you Jamie forever 😘
IM SCOTTISHHH!!!! I love youuu!!! I want to be a wedding planner when I leave school and I would love a video (if you haven’t done already) of how you became a planner and your first wedding you planned! Xx
Jamie, I just want you to know you have been my saving grace through my wedding planning process. I'm in New Jersey, my wedding is in 17 days. Both my fiance and I are artists and ive attributed our scatterbrained, disorganized personalities to that. Your video on 25 things to not forget on your wedding day helped me so much. This video helped me so much. I wish I could just hire you full-time to organize my life and be a hint of optimism throughout my day. Thank you for being awesome. Have the best time in England I've never been so I don't have any suggestions for you but if you ever come up to New Jersey or anywhere in New England I have a laundry list of cool places to go. (Not as cool as England) thanks again! can't wait for your next video
I just want to say a BIG thank you. With the covid and the big crisis, I have to plan my wedding in three weeks ( yeap... with no professionals anymore because they cancelled during march). So your videos are just what I need. THANK YOU ! Because you asked, I am French, and a wedding party, it's 10-12 hours. ( 15H00 to 3H00) ... It's a lot. BUT my timeline is ready now ! Ps - Sorry for my poor english.
I love your time line in regard to photos. The photographer for my daughters wedding showed up about 2 hours late and that meant almost no photos before the ceremony and it felt like a very long wait between the ceremony and the reception. We had given him a list of the photos we wanted and the one I wanted the most was the photo between me and my daughter and he never took that one. I bawled when we got the proofs back and I mean bawled.
I think a first look and doing pictures before the ceremony begins and before guests arrive is a brilliant idea. Everyone is freshly made up and it doesn't get better as the timeline progresses. The wedding I attended was my nieces. It was just this past Saturday, August 28th (2021). 90 degree heat with 50% or, more humidity and little to no breeze. It was outdoors in a tent. Also, there were two small fans that were on the ground but the breeze from them didn't go past the first tables. There was a heat advisory that day.
I live in Canada but I'm Sikh and Indian weddings are just on another level! There's ALL the ceremonies/ parties I honestly don't even know how people manage .. 1) Mendhi (aka henna ceremony) - bride and the ladies get their henna done 2) Ladies party - I THINK that during the ladies party their's also the "jago" which basically is a way of telling people that your daughter is getting married ? (correct me if i'm wrong) and then there's also the "batna" which is tumeric mixed with dough that is traditionally been thought to clear and prepare the bride's skin for her wedding day. All of these traditions are smooshed together with dancing and good food. 3) Wedding Day - The day usually starts at 4:00 am for the bride as the traditions begin around 10:00 am and will end around 4pm for immediate family and extended family will generally only attend the ceremony part at the temple. There's a pre - wedding meeting where significant members of the grooms' side and the brides' side meet for the first time, followed by tea and snacks, followed by the wedding ceremony and then another meal after the wedding ceremony. During the ceremony the sister in laws of the groom attempt to steal his shoes (IDK WHY but you can't argue with traditions). When the couple leaves the temple they usually go to a nice location to take pictures with the bridesmaids while immediate family heads over to the girls house. At this point it's the final farewell and the bride is now heading to her "new" home. 4) Reception - party and stuff yenno There's a bunch of little things i'm missing but this would turn into an essay ... i think you get the gist ... they are VERY complex ... but also sooo much fun and amazing :) This is why I always tell my other friends to ENJOY their wedding because at least if we have one off day we have a plethora of events to make up for it (LOL)
Getting married in 2 and a half months and I started watching your channel to calm my anxiety, but it's somehow making me more stressed! I've been wanting to figure out my timeline very soon so this is perfect!!
Wow you guys have a short wedding day in America! Here the party keeps going until the resident bar closes at 4am and then there is the after party the day after the wedding. Irish weddings are incredibly long and naturally that means guests get fed a lot! 😂 there is the arrival food, dinner itself, evening buffet, resident bar snacks and then there's bar food the day after.
Nikkie if you can see this I wanted to like your comment but for some reason I can't see it when I click in. That's a very fair point and thank you for correcting me! 😊 what's the norm where you are from?
I think all cultures have long wedding except in America 😂 Here its traditionally 4 hours, and the first hour is cocktail hour, and another hour is for eating. So when you think about it you only get 2 hours. In college I did a paper on traditional Mexican weddings, and they were 4 DAYS long. Its still done in rural parts, but now we party until they kick us out 😂
Jamie, I thank you so so so much for your superb work in putting together these videos! I'm a Nigerian bride, our wedding will be next June. Most of our planning is being done virtually and remotely. Your videos have been INSTRUMENTAL! I'm so grateful for you! God bless you!
Currently engaged and although I haven't started planning I am getting familiar with anything wedding related. I was just thinking about this. So glad you have a video about the timeline.
Definitely a little different from the weddings I usually have gone to while growing up (I’m Catholic)! Saturday weddings usually can’t start later than 2pm, so there’s always going to be a break of a few hours between the ceremony and the reception. But we definitely need it to rest up for the party coming up or pregame 😅
THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED!! I’m getting married in 11 days and I have been, not so low key, binging all of your videos!! This has come in the nick-of-time for me!! I love all of your suggestions and considerations! Thanks so much! You’ve saved this DIY Brides sanity! Hehe 💯♥️😍
Thanks for this video! My future hubby is Chinese so we are adding a traditional Chinese tea ceremony to our wedding day. I'm so excited to be merging our cultures together
YESYES PLEASE do an entire first look video. I'm one of those people who can't decide. Part of me has always wanted to not do one because of "tradition" or that "moment" during the ceremony. However, lately I'm really thinking about doing one. Mainly for the sake of a timeline and not making people wait for photos (so less cocktail hour spending for us), plus my hair hopefully wont fall out as much lol. I also kind of want to prank my fiance and have him turn around and see his best friend in a white dress first 😂😂😂 Also... What are your thoughts on say... NOT doing a grand entrance? Also... CONGRATS ON 10K, LADY!!!
I'm getting married in punta cana in Nov. Definitely doing 1st look I feel like 1st look us, me and my honey. Even thinking about it makes me tear up. Its private between us and intimate. U will have tons of more pictures
I agree, the first look is one of the only moments you get to your partner and yourself alone during the wedding as everyone will be around for most of the night
Assyrian here (originally from the middle east, but now we're all over the world) 🙋♀️ Our receptions are pretty much like American receptions. But everything before is a bit extra lol. We don't have traditional proposals. Although it is pre-planned now, but traditionally, the women from the groom's side "visit" with the women from the bride's side and try to play "matchmakers." So they'll set up another day for the entire groom's family to come over for dinner. The bride and groom are not present. When the groom's family arrives they are offered food and drink, but before they taste anything, they say something along the lines of, "thank you for your hospitality, but we have not come for food or drink. We have come with the intentions of asking for your daughter's hand in marriage for our son." Then EVERY MEMBER of the bride's family has to give their blessing before they go to the bride's room and ask her, herself. She agrees, then the groom is called over. He typically brings her flowers and a cross necklace and the families party all night. Then there's an engagement party (like a mini wedding) on a separate day where the groom's family comes into the venue with a grand entrance, a bunch of jewelry for the bride, flowers and sweets. They drape all the jewelry on the bride and party all night. Finally, on wedding day, the groom's family comes to the bride's house before the wedding ceremony and ceremoniously walks her out of her house to symbolize her leaving her family and joining theirs. The bride's little brother (or young family member) will block the door and not let them take his sister until they pay up! So they bribe the kid with money or something of value so that he will let them pass. Nowadays, the money is typically gifted back to the bride and groom. It is traditional in our culture for the groom's family to pay for the wedding instead of the bride's to show that they are able to support her financially, and thus, her family would be more willing to allow the marriage. Once the ceremony (typically at a church) is done, guests go home for a few hours, eat some lunch, rest, then change into fancier clothes for the reception in the evening. This also allows the photographer plenty of time to take bridal party photos and a portrait session.
WOW that's a lot but also sounds so amazingly fun and special. As a regular white girl in america, I must say, i get jealous of other cultures traditions. 💕
Great tips! Loved it. In the the Filipino culture, we love the opportunity to get more money LOL so usually, there’s always a money dance where girls line up to dance with the groom and guys line up for the bride. They pin money on their wedding dress/suit in any denomination they choose and dance for about 30 seconds.
I just got done watching your Q and A video, and I have a question! What are some ideas you would suggest for a wedding reception with a small guest count? Max amount of people I will have at my wedding is 60, and for the ones I’m inviting I know that open dancing is not something most of the people will jump to. Video about small weddings?? Thanks!
thirding this!! our guest list is gonna be about 50, including a lot of children, and i don't think a dance party club vibe would work at all for our reception so i am freaking out.
I'm going to be the same! Both of our families enjoy cards and games so we have decided that when we get married we will have different games to play together throughout the night. We are also thinking of hiring someone for childcare to be at the venue so parents can socialize
This is GOLD! Thanks so much for sharing this. I have yet to find anyone as detailed as you. I am an organization freak so I truly needed this! Thanks so much! 💕
I am so grateful for your videos. They ease my mind and let me think of every detail without hassle. I am so appreciative, and I love that I have your content and your smiling face in my wedding planning adventure!💕
I have just discovered this channel and have been binge watching this like crazy. I used to live in the USA but I live in Brazil now and I have a wedding orchestra and have just started working with wedding coordination. The big difference I see is definitely the lack of punctuality in events here. When we start a ceremony 30min after the invitation time, it's considered early.
I love your videos I’m newly engaged and I’m a mess but your videos are helping me organize and prioritize . I would love to see a day in your life as a wedding planner/day of coordinator video!! That would be amazing to watch you in the works!
I really appreciate you giving sooo many of your valuable tips especially for women who are trying to plan things on their own if they can't afford a wedding planner, or whatever it may be. Seriously, i appreciate your videos and the QUALITY tips/info!!! Subscribed instantly after watching the first video (which was today) and now Ive seen almost all of them (2 hrs later) 🌚😂. THANKS JAMIE!
30 days out from the wedding! This is super helpful! Would LOVE the next video to be about first looks. We’ve decided to do it but want to make sure it’s a good idea for us
My boyfriend talked about proposing yesterday (well we've been talking about it for a while), but I got so excited I have been binge watching you. lol!
Chinese and Indian weddings have more traditions to follow. It starts as early as 5am. I just started my wedding coordinator service and learning tips from you. Thanks alot :)
Thank you for a very useful and interesting video! The wedding timeline seems to be a lot different then the one in my country. We have weddings starting at 1pm and lasting until 5 in the morning on the next day, the cake cutting is usually at midnight and some guests leave shortly after that, while the young crowd usually stays to party... You are great and so fun, the behind the scenes videos are so cool. If I had the money I would fly you to Croatia to coordinate my wedding!
So helpful!!! Thanks!!! In Costa Rica there’s usually a short carnaval show to end the night; so loud drummers, trumpets, dancers, whistles, booty shaking, funky hats, accesorios, sunglasses and flashy Mardi Gras type stuff. Everyone dances and it’s kind of the official end of the night!
My ceremony started late mostly because everyone was on "Baptist" time. No one was there when I arrived and my planner made us drive around for about twenty minutes. My wedding was in Australia, by the way. It may have been a different culture. In Australia, it's really common to be invited to the ceremony but not the reception afterwards. Usually that's a separate invite and/or only people invited to both events know where the reception is. They usually have an afternoon tea or something for guests who aren't invited to the reception to say 'Thank you" but they don't have to. We chose to because we had an open invite for my hubby's church family and since it was an afternoon wedding we figured it was a nice gesture to serve food before those guests went home. We did a dry wedding because our reception was actually in the sanctuary of our church that they dressed up. We're not drinkers anyway though. We had volunteers from the church prepare, and serve the food buffet style. Our worship pastor's son was assigned to my hubby and I's sweetheart table to get whatever drinks we wanted and also attend to the family and bridal party's table. The DJ was a friend who was not a actual DJ and I had a few problems with song selection. I had literally every song picked out but he proceeded to try and play whatever he wanted at certain times. All he had to do was hit "play" and then pause for the event songs (first dance, garter toss, bouquet toss, ect). I did like the inclusion of group dances but otherwise I was a little annoyed that he played songs I didn't like, but didn't have the heart to complain. It wasn't like I was paying him very much to do it, and he wasn't a pro. I also would have taken leftover food to our honeymoon afterwards, as we had a big spread and things left over. We had chicken Parmesan, baked ziti, quinoa salad (for the gluten free/dairy free folks), roast chicken, and roast lamb with green salad, and roasted veggies I believe. We also packed appetizers for our photographer and videographer to eat while we did photos. I didn't want anyone to starve apparently. Haha!
Congrats on your Channel! Really nice to see all these comments from all over the world and from different cultures. You are helping so many people, including me. Thank you!
I literally had to stop myself from tearing up. Just imagining the best day of my life, with the one I love as you went through the event really did something to me.
I absolutely love your videos!!! I've been watching for a few months as we were talking about a wedding but now we're engaged so I'm ready to go into this planing thing full force! You've definitely convinced me of the value of a wedding planner/coordinator!
Great video! Very informative and good reminders! This really helped open my eyes to what is involved and think about what tweaks I need to include or adjust for my own wedding which is happening in 3 weeks!!! In another country! Thanks Jaime for keeping your videos super lively and entertaining. I’ve only discovered you a few days ago and been binge watching since. Many of your videos have help reassure me I’m on the right path or remind me I need to still address some things. Bless you! :)
So glad I found this! My husband is not helpful at all and I'm Soo overwhelmed! He is also not a happy person to be around if he's hangry also! Thank you soo much! I feel like a team of one and then I have you. Thank you for the tips and suggestions even though I have a different culture this small sample definitely gives me an idea of what to consider and what not to do.
If you go to Brighton have a wander around the lanes! I live about 40 minutes away and love them, they are fab for shopping, pubs and cafes! And go somewhere for afternoon English tea......its soooooo good!! x
I’m watching this from Amman, Jordan. Muslims usually do the ceremony days or months before the party. The time between the ceremony and the party is the engagement period, but technically they’re married. A lot of the things you mentioned in the reception are applicable to our parties too, except we DON’T do a garter toss 😳 and not everyone does a bouquet toss 💐. Also, we have a part for the groom to put gold jewelry on the bride- necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring(s), the whole works.
Follow up video part 2 idea: I’m not sure if you help in planning bridal showers/bachelorette parties/rehearsal dinners but it would be so helpful to have a timeline of these as well! This video was on a suggested list by UA-cam and I am so thankful as I help prep as a (hands on) bridesmaid in my sisters wedding!
Currently planning a wedding in Scotland, slightly different to English wedding, fewer rules when it comes to location and such. Binged watched several of your videos and they have been a great help, still plenty to go! When you are over this side of the world should visit Edinburgh, beautiful city (freezing even in May) only 4.5 hours on the train from London.
Our wedding will sort of be a 3 day event lol. Rehersal and dinner party the day before, then obvs wedding, and then a brunch and coctails the day after. Unfortounately, the only day our venue had available until NEXT OCTOBER (2019) was June 15th. Which really stinks, but we got $300 off the price because it was a holliday weekend. Not to mention we can have our intimate cerimony and invite as many people to our reception as we can afford, because its outdoors on 66 acres! This wedding planning stuff is har, thanks so mich for your videos! You're a god-send.
me, 18, single and not planning to get married anytime soon: *binge watches your videos and takes tons of notes* haha, seriously though, I LOVE your content. one cultural wedding tradition I wanted to tell you about is the Vietnamese Tea Ceremony! it celebrates the marriage while honoring the families' ancestors and relatives. the couple serves tea to family members, starting with the eldest, as a sign of respect, and then they will give gifts and wishes for a long-lasting marriage. this is also usually when vows and rings are exchanged. my mom and stepdad did this, skipped the usual wedding ceremony, and went to the reception, but I know lots of Vietnamese-American people will do all three, with the tea ceremony preceding the wedding ceremony!
Woòoopp! You will love the UK. I went to uni and lived in Brighton for 3 years! You will love It! Don't forget to walk through the Lanes and visit the Pavilion too. I worked on the pier too- magical whimsical place! Enjoy! Love from London xx
You are coming to the UK for a wedding?! How exciting! You have to go to Bath and visit the Royal Crescent and also go to the rooftop spa, you will love it!
So I subscribed. I like your videos an have been going through one of my pseudo wedding "planning" phases :) I haven't been to that many weddings, but this is some insight to a mostly traditional wedding in Denmark :) You can go to (protestant) church (it is mostly because of tradition, since most of our citizens leans toward an atheist kind of living). It will take about 1-1.5 hours. When the bride and groom leaves the church, we will throw rice at them (originally to up their fertility). Then the couple will drive away to their photography session. (I don't know what the guests normally do from here until they arrive at the "place of the party"). At the "party place" people will get a beer/soda/"welcome drink" depending of the vibe of the party. Then we will all be seated and traditionally eat 3 meals (dessert included). During the eating process homemade songs (which are often poorly written with anecdotes of the couple) are being sung by all the guests, or toasts are being given. The homemade songs are (luckily) going out of fashion, so it is mostly in the more traditional families they still use them. After dinner people can dance or mingle. At some point the wedding cake is being cut, if the cake doesn't get used as replacement for dessert. Before midnight the couple have to dance "The wedding waltz". So they dance and the guests claps along to the melody of the music while moving closer in on the couple, to limit their dancing space. When the couple can't dance anymore, they usually kiss and then the male guests catches the groom, take of his shoes and clips the toe part of his socks off. It is meant to symbolize that the groom no longer can be with other women. Wow! This have been such a long post. During dinner the guest will make noise by hitting their cutlery on the drinking glasses. This means the couple have to stand on the seat of their chairs and kiss each other. If the guests are stomping under the table. The couple must crawl down and kiss under the table. I'll stop now since that was a lot and I covered most of the classic danish wedding traditions.
Wow this is very interesting ! Especially the wedding waltz part, seems like a lot of fun ! Here in Canada, we also have the tapping on glasses etc to have the couple kiss, but not the kiss under the table hahaha
Hahaha, guests being on time or 30 minutes early 😂😂😂... If you start on time for any Carribean event, you'll walk down that aisle with two birds looking at you... Also, dinner is the sign that the event is over... We do everything before dinner...
I'm from the Caribbean and this is so true but I definitely dislike the idea of making your guests wait till the end for dinner. Especially because Caribbean people like to start late
I find it so interesting to see how other cultures does their weddings! In Norway a wedding can last for at least 14 hours (with a small break when the bride and groom take pictures), without problem! The ceremony often start between 12 and 1, then the dinner starts around 4 or 5, and then the partying starts around 9 or 10 and can last until the morning next day. I went to a wedding where the bride and groom left the party at 3.30 in the morning! Of course this vary from couple to couple, but all the weddings I’ve been to has been like that and I feel like that’s the traditional Norwegian wedding 🙈 Our wedding will probably last for 14 hours, the dinner alone will most likely last for 4 hours, and that’s pretty normal here😊 (That’s 14 hours with a break while we get photographed, during the “break” it will be served food and we’ll have some sort of entertainment)😊
Getting married in April of 2023... Country wedding in a Baptist Church. Sure wish I could hire you to decorate and make this day the best ever... I really enjoy watching you and learning what I can. Weddings are so expensive!!
how about doing one big entrance with your whole wedding party? or you can be n your reception area first before everyone else? if that even works out with your other plans?
I saw a wedding where the cocktail hour was in a different area so the bridal party and parents went into the reception hall and just greeted and welcomed everyone when they came in. Maybe that would help?
We didn't want to do a grand entrance either, so we're just going to be there during cocktail hour to welcome people in, like you would for any other kind of party. We're hoping that will help us get through saying hi to more people earlier, too, so that we get more time to eat and dance later.
Just discovered you and your tips have been amazing!!! Have so much more knowledge now than when i first got engaged, thank you sweet. Love from Norwich, England xx
I am 10 months away from my wedding day (May 23,2020) and I am already stressed out about what needs to be planned/booked and etc. It didn't even cross my mind that I needed to have a timeline for the day of. I am so glad that I found this video because with my type A personality, my wedding day without a timeline would have definitely stressed me the heck out. Something extra that we do in the south that you did not mention is the money dance. The DJ will play whatever song(s) the bride and groom choose and the guest will have the opportunity to dance with the bride and/or groom and pin money on the veil, dress, tux wherever. The bride and groom can use this money on the honeymoon, future home, etc. I am thinking the money dance would be great to insert after the 45-minute dance timeframe to give some of the guests a time to rest. Especially if the music chosen for the money dance is slower.
In regards to the toast/speeches, what my dad did for his wedding day was he broke up the speeches throughout the dinner courses. So one person would give a speech, then the appetizers would be served, another person would do a speech, then the mains were served, etc. I really liked how it flowed and it kept it more interesting than sitting through 30 minutes of speeches, which definitely gets quite boring. My fiance & I are planning on doing it this way at our wedding!
Thank you for this, it's a great idea! The wedding co-ordinator from our venue (UK) sent us a sample timeline in which all toasts happen with the cake cutting just after the meal, which I thought would make for a boring meal and squeeze all the speeches together like we're having a conference. So maybe parents can say a few words just as the starter is being served, then bride & groom can say something between the main course and the dessert, and then the best man and maid of honour can go last. Maybe that disturbs the flow of the conversation on the separate tables a bit, but it also makes sure there aren't awkward silences. I've been to weddings that had games (pub quiz, bingo, diy wishes) too, but I haven't thought of any that would be appropriate/fun enough for our crowd.
I love this idea! Might steal this!
We did family and wedding party (best man & maid of honor) do speeches first and then opened up the opportunity for additional family and friends to say anything if they wanted after. It actually was really sweet to hear nice speeches throughout our meal.
That's basically what my mom did at her wedding, it worked really well! We're having a whole 2 speeches, so we're gonna keep em together. :)
Will you do a video about fun activities to have to entertain guests that you've seen or know to be crowd pleasers?
Just a tipp, google "german wedding games" you should find a variety of fun things to plan for your guests. :)
@@natibet7546 es ist dämlich was sie da machen
I’m planning on hosting a Who’s Who awards for the guests as a fun entertainment. We’re doing a Best Dressed Guest, Best Dancer and Best Toast
@@princesschi7689 why is it stupid?
@@natibet7546 0
I’m definitely not wanting a first look. I really want the first time we see each other to be the aisle 🥺😍
Same!!!
If you wanted to still save time with photography after ceremony, you could do bridal part photos before the ceremony? Like maybe do the bridal party pictures, the groomsmen (separate obviously), maybe even your own photos with your parents just to help trim the time after if that's an issue (or not enough light if the sun is setting).
I really wish I had a First Look. My wedding was in Oct at 5:00 pm and it gets dark so quick around that time, my Husband and I could only take photos inside the venue as the outside was already too dark. The bridal party photos were amazing out in the sunshine, but unfortunately, ours were all dark and inside. We tried taking some photos in some added photography lighting but it didn't work out too well. Something to think about.
SAME! Getting married in 25 days and I would NEVER want a first look! Takes away from that beautiful moment when he sees you walking! I’m doing a “first touch” where we go back to back and hold a hand and say a few words but never see eachother!
@@2008MrsKim weird! Most photographers can take beautiful photos outside at night
I am SO sooo0o0o0o0 happy i found your videos! Im doing a $4k wedding in 6 months. No planner!!! Pinterest stressed me out. I enjoy how you explain things, and i love that you talk with your hands! It brings attention to what your saying. This day of timeline has been EXACTLY what I have needed!! You are Ahhh-mazing!!!
We just started planning our wedding a few weeks ago and our budget is about the same. As yours and we have about 5 and a half months. Any advice you can give me? Thank you!
Same! Also planning for 6 months. Any tips?
How'd it go??
Hi Jamie! I am an assistant event coordinator in South Africa! I found your blog and absolutely love it. So you mentioned start time of ceremonies and to not have a different time that your event starts compared to what is on your invite...Well in SA we have something know as SA time and it basically means that South Africans love to arrive late to an event - because of this we have come up with a solution! On our invites we say "2:30 FOR 3:00 in the afternoon" this means that we want you to arrive at 2:30 however we know that you'll be late so we are giving a margin of error of 30 minutes! If you are going to be "late" at least be earlier than 3:00. I can tell you honestly from experience that this actually works!
There's a Puerto Rican time too!! .... and it's an hour late!! 😂🎉😅
Brilliant!!! I am going to do this for dinner guests from now on simply brilliant!! Thank you :)
Sooo DJ here. 😀
Great video. We are on the same page for the most part.
Intro’s
First Dance
Welcome and/or Blessing
Dinner
Cake
Toast
Parent Dances
Open Dancing
Bouquet/Garter (can’t wait til these die)
Open Dancing
Last Group Dance
Private last Dance
Send off
Like you said, I hate hate hate cake to be in the middle of dancing. Cut it early, go straight into toast, and let chartering make it available in the background. Let people take their own break to get cake later. And put the cakes near the dance floor. :)
Summary
-Hair and makeup 5-7 hours before the wedding depending on the size of the bridal party, etc…
-First look about 1-2 hour before wedding
-If no first look put dress on between 1 hour-30 min from ceremony for pictures with bridesmaids and detailed pictures of dress + travel time
-Entire bridal party on sit ready to go, hidden, 30 minutes before ceremony starts
-10 minutes before ceremony starts lineup family and bridal party
-Ceremony between 15 min-30 min
-Cocktail hour for all the guests while family and bride and groom take pictures in ceremony area
-15 minutes before reception actually starts- begin to usher people into the reception space
-10 minutes before reception starts- the bride and groom begin to get ready for the grand entrance (can be with full bridal party or just bride and groom)
-Either grand entrance right into first dance or grand entrance straight into dinner
-Dinner about 45-1:30
-toasts after everyone has received their dinner (about 5-10 min after last person got their food)
-Recommends no more than 5 toasts (tell people who are going to do toast 2-3 min but plan for them to take 5 min) Ex. 4 toasts = 20 minutes
-If first dance wasn't before now is an opportunity
-Perfunctory family dances (father/daughter, mother/son, etc…) (give 2 min but plan for 5 min)
-Open dancing (45 min-1 hour)
-Cake cutting (about 5 min)
-Bouquet toss (about 5 min)
-Garter toss (about 5 min)
-Put cake cutting at the beginning of the reception (ex. after speeches) if you’re not doing bouquet, garter, etc.. to not take attention or groove out of the dancing
-Last call 15-30 min before end
-10 minutes before end, guests line up for grand exit
I’m not engaged but I’m binging your videos! I find them so interesting and I love your personality! X
Ola Lincoln Oh, good. I’m not the only one. 😬
Same!!
Same!
One thing that happens often in Mexican culture is a dollar dance towards the end of the night. The bride and groom will come out on the dance floor and the guests will line up to dance with them. In order to cut in and take their turn the guest hands cash to the Maid of Honor (for the bride) and Best Man (for the groom) to contribute to the honeymoon fund.
Also, for Mexican weddings before you throw the bouquet all the single ladies run in a line holding hands super fast (can't think of a better way to describe it) then the single men do the same before the groom throws the garter. Meanwhile the bride and groom are standing in chairs and using the bride dress almost like a limbo stick
Im planning my whole wedding alone, i got three weeks and 1500$ to spend for 50 guest, now i have 9 days til the wedding day.. you are the light in the end of this surely dark tunnel. Thanks girl. I may also become a planner someday if I am able to pull this off smoothly. Btw Im in the Philippines. Xoxo
Hycee Ramos how was your wedding? I would love to know!🥰
omg sounds like my kinda wedding
In Slovenia we have a tradition that all the guests from bride's side meet at her parent's place and the groom's guests meet at his parent's place. Then all the groom's guests come to pick up the bride and her guests. Before the groom can get the bride, he has a bunch of tests to do (like change a tire on a car and stuff like that), to show he can take care of the handy stuff. It's called "šranga". Only then the bride comes, the groom gives her the bouquet and then everyone goes to the ceremony. Not everybody does that anymore, but I think it's an interesting tradition :)
Btw loooove your videos! They helped me when I was planning the wedding of my best friend and I'm rewatching them all again now that I'm engaged 🤩❤
I love that tradition 😍
I’m Tongan and our weddings can go for like 3-4 days. It’s a lot of work but it’s so worth it and so beautiful.
That sounds SO stressful for the planners but SO fun for the guests lol
Hi Jamie ! I'm a French wedding planner and it's a delight for me to watch your videos ! In France, weddings are veeery long (foreigners are always so shocked) : we usually start the preparations for the bride and the bridal party, just like you, early in the morning, then we sometimes have pictures /first look, the ceremony and the cocktail in the afternoon, and then dinner from about 8pm to midnight. During dinner, friends and family do toasts but also games, songs, they show videos and slideshow photos (it's basically a little dinner show). Midnight is usually time for cake cutting and first dance, and then everyone hits the dancefloor...until 3 to 6am (depending on on how much families and friends like to dance!)!! As a wedding planner, but also as a guest, I have to say it's a pretty exhausting timeline !
When do the bride and groom go around to the tables and say hello? During dinner?
Good question!!!
We plan to be the first at the buffet to eat then walk around as everyone else is eating. Hoping this works.
The first look thing is such a good idea! Your makeup is still fresh, and doesn't make your guests wait too long while you take pictures after the ceremony.
I'm from the United Kingdom, Scotland specifically. We are due to get married next October and your videos have been extremely helpful. It sounds so strange to me to have a 6 hour wedding, most Scottish Weddings start at 8am and finish around 3am the following day!
Well in Mexico weddings are way longer... Like 10 hours at least! Mine is going to be next year! So all your videos are helping a lot! Thank you Jamie!!
Same here mine is in march an my father in law is more worried about the RECALENTADO PARTY then the actual wedding lol
@@abigailvalencia1518 Recalentado after and Rompehielo before hahaha
My in laws are white, so they are used to the the 4 hour reception. But im booking an extra hour, we need time to dance!
Girl, you are in for a treat :D In Poland, a wedding (In Wielkopolska anyway, more north of Poland) Weddings usually last about 12 hours. Ceremony starts at the church at 3/4pm. It's done in about an hour. Then we arrive at the venue. The parents greet the couple with bread and salt at the door, couple goes in first (bride is usually carried over the doorway for good luck) Then everyone has a chance to talk and congratulate the couple, hand in the gifts, find their seats and the dinner starts! The food is continuously served over the course of the whole night. Many different meats, side dishes along side with alcohol and music in the background (typically around 0.5 or a 1 Liter per person of vodka, at least at the last wedding I went to) We have the usual bouquet toss (usually happens at midnight), first dance, different wedding games depending on the couple, cake cutting. We get a break from savory food and it's dessert time, tea and coffee is offered too. After that more food is brought to the tables. More cold style appetizers and salads. Mind you, everything is served on massive platters at each table so anyone can eat what they like. We don't stop dancing, drinking or eating for basically 12 hours or sometimes more.
Now, the day before the wedding, people often have 'buteltki' or bottles party for good luck. The day after the wedding you would have 'poprawiny' which is another, smaller dinner (with alcohol as well) using up some left overs from the day before, more casual vibe party. So essentially 3 days of partying, if you are very close to the couple.
One thing about this though, usually all guests give money as gift, the least minimum is the amount the couple payed per guest. Parents, grandparents, siblings etc usually give more in the 'envelope' so the couple themselves don't actually go broke over having a wedding because everyone contributes. Even if some guests can't afford to give too much money, overall it all equals out and all the money the newlyweds spent comes back to them in the end.
Great traditions!
I went to my Polish friend's wedding years ago and it was just as you describe - we're from the UK and it was so different and SO MUCH FUN. Wonderful weekend of celebrations 😍
I looooooooove polish weddings. The best parties ever !
I'm from Canada and live there still but my family is Polish and all the weddings were like that too haha In fact I didn't know it wasn't the way typical weddings in Canada went until I was much older and when I started going to non-Polish weddings and I was honestly disappointed at the lack of food and that everything ended at midnight.
This sounds amazing 🤤🤤
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! I am telling you, a day of timeline is a lot harder to create than most people think!😅 I can’t wait for my big day... I’m marrying my high school sweetheart next October!😍💍👰🏼
By the way Jamie, your personality is totally enough to carry me through this whole video, even if it didn’t apply to me. ❤️
In France we have an extra step in our typical wedding days called "Vin d'honneur". Basically it is between the ceremony and the reception. In big weddings, some people (extended family, parent's friends...) are only invited to the ceremony and to the Vin d'honneur
My wedding is in September and we’re doing a very small (30 person) wedding and this was super helpful! Thank you ❤️
Ok so im so excited!!! I've been watching your channel for a while and today my boyfriend finally proposed! First thing I do??? Rewatch all your videos 😂😂😂
May I just say...YOU ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I am one of the single most awkward, quirky, and goofy people on the planet, and I am magnetized to your energy. I am binging your videos and I keep having to rewind because your word vomits crack me up.
Also...your tips are great. From one coordinator to another, you are so amazing. 😘
You really help take some stress off of wedding planning. Thank you!
I love you so much my sweet cousin! I’m so darn proud of you!!! This channel has come so far since when you asked me if you thought you could do it!! Look at you Jamie! 10k!!! Love you Jamie forever 😘
IM SCOTTISHHH!!!! I love youuu!!! I want to be a wedding planner when I leave school and I would love a video (if you haven’t done already) of how you became a planner and your first wedding you planned! Xx
Omg a fellow young scot!!!!!
Would you provide a hard copy template of time line blocks for the various events?! Would love a visual and be able to write it out!!
Ff
This is so helpful! My wedding is in 3 weeks and I’ve been binging your videos to reduce stress 😂
Mine is also in 3 weeks! Congrats fellow Bride!
How'd it go?
Jamie, I just want you to know you have been my saving grace through my wedding planning process. I'm in New Jersey, my wedding is in 17 days. Both my fiance and I are artists and ive attributed our scatterbrained, disorganized personalities to that. Your video on 25 things to not forget on your wedding day helped me so much. This video helped me so much. I wish I could just hire you full-time to organize my life and be a hint of optimism throughout my day. Thank you for being awesome. Have the best time in England I've never been so I don't have any suggestions for you but if you ever come up to New Jersey or anywhere in New England I have a laundry list of cool places to go. (Not as cool as England) thanks again! can't wait for your next video
Oh my God can you read my mind? I've been stressing over our timeline all day today! This was so helpful!
Same!!!
I just want to say a BIG thank you. With the covid and the big crisis, I have to plan my wedding in three weeks ( yeap... with no professionals anymore because they cancelled during march). So your videos are just what I need. THANK YOU ! Because you asked, I am French, and a wedding party, it's 10-12 hours. ( 15H00 to 3H00) ... It's a lot. BUT my timeline is ready now ! Ps - Sorry for my poor english.
Where would we be without you Jamie?!?! I have tears in my eyes this is so helpful. You are a lifesaver 😘
I love your time line in regard to photos. The photographer for my daughters wedding showed up about 2 hours late and that meant almost no photos before the ceremony and it felt like a very long wait between the ceremony and the reception. We had given him a list of the photos we wanted and the one I wanted the most was the photo between me and my daughter and he never took that one. I bawled when we got the proofs back and I mean bawled.
Awww, I know this was four years ago, but just watching this now as a bride to be and I LIVE IN BRIGHTON!! I hope you had a lovely time!
I think a first look and doing pictures before the ceremony begins and before guests arrive is a brilliant idea. Everyone is freshly made up and it doesn't get better as the timeline progresses. The wedding I attended was my nieces. It was just this past Saturday, August 28th (2021). 90 degree heat with 50% or, more humidity and little to no breeze. It was outdoors in a tent. Also, there were two small fans that were on the ground but the breeze from them didn't go past the first tables. There was a heat advisory that day.
I live in Canada but I'm Sikh and Indian weddings are just on another level! There's ALL the ceremonies/ parties I honestly don't even know how people manage ..
1) Mendhi (aka henna ceremony) - bride and the ladies get their henna done
2) Ladies party - I THINK that during the ladies party their's also the "jago" which basically is a way of telling people that your daughter is getting married ? (correct me if i'm wrong) and then there's also the "batna" which is tumeric mixed with dough that is traditionally been thought to clear and prepare the bride's skin for her wedding day. All of these traditions are smooshed together with dancing and good food.
3) Wedding Day - The day usually starts at 4:00 am for the bride as the traditions begin around 10:00 am and will end around 4pm for immediate family and extended family will generally only attend the ceremony part at the temple. There's a pre - wedding meeting where significant members of the grooms' side and the brides' side meet for the first time, followed by tea and snacks, followed by the wedding ceremony and then another meal after the wedding ceremony. During the ceremony the sister in laws of the groom attempt to steal his shoes (IDK WHY but you can't argue with traditions). When the couple leaves the temple they usually go to a nice location to take pictures with the bridesmaids while immediate family heads over to the girls house. At this point it's the final farewell and the bride is now heading to her "new" home.
4) Reception - party and stuff yenno
There's a bunch of little things i'm missing but this would turn into an essay ... i think you get the gist ... they are VERY complex ... but also sooo much fun and amazing :)
This is why I always tell my other friends to ENJOY their wedding because at least if we have one off day we have a plethora of events to make up for it (LOL)
Getting married in 2 and a half months and I started watching your channel to calm my anxiety, but it's somehow making me more stressed! I've been wanting to figure out my timeline very soon so this is perfect!!
Wow you guys have a short wedding day in America! Here the party keeps going until the resident bar closes at 4am and then there is the after party the day after the wedding. Irish weddings are incredibly long and naturally that means guests get fed a lot! 😂 there is the arrival food, dinner itself, evening buffet, resident bar snacks and then there's bar food the day after.
Nikkie if you can see this I wanted to like your comment but for some reason I can't see it when I click in. That's a very fair point and thank you for correcting me! 😊 what's the norm where you are from?
That is so cool! I wish it was like that here in the US.
but there is no open bar! lol
Irish weddings seem so cool !
Same in France, it is long and we dance (& drink) 'til the end of the night
I think all cultures have long wedding except in America 😂 Here its traditionally 4 hours, and the first hour is cocktail hour, and another hour is for eating. So when you think about it you only get 2 hours. In college I did a paper on traditional Mexican weddings, and they were 4 DAYS long. Its still done in rural parts, but now we party until they kick us out 😂
Your hair is always on point 👍👍
Jamie, I thank you so so so much for your superb work in putting together these videos! I'm a Nigerian bride, our wedding will be next June. Most of our planning is being done virtually and remotely. Your videos have been INSTRUMENTAL! I'm so grateful for you! God bless you!
Currently engaged and although I haven't started planning I am getting familiar with anything wedding related. I was just thinking about this. So glad you have a video about the timeline.
Definitely a little different from the weddings I usually have gone to while growing up (I’m Catholic)! Saturday weddings usually can’t start later than 2pm, so there’s always going to be a break of a few hours between the ceremony and the reception. But we definitely need it to rest up for the party coming up or pregame 😅
THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED!! I’m getting married in 11 days and I have been, not so low key, binging all of your videos!! This has come in the nick-of-time for me!! I love all of your suggestions and considerations! Thanks so much! You’ve saved this DIY Brides sanity! Hehe 💯♥️😍
BriMyselfAndEye 11 days?! Me too!!! Congratulations, wedding day buddy!!! I wish you the very best day!
I just got engaged so I am STUDYING your videos! There are so many things I didn't think about for planning our wedding 😱
Thanks for this video! My future hubby is Chinese so we are adding a traditional Chinese tea ceremony to our wedding day. I'm so excited to be merging our cultures together
How are you guys going to do food?
YESYES PLEASE do an entire first look video. I'm one of those people who can't decide. Part of me has always wanted to not do one because of "tradition" or that "moment" during the ceremony. However, lately I'm really thinking about doing one. Mainly for the sake of a timeline and not making people wait for photos (so less cocktail hour spending for us), plus my hair hopefully wont fall out as much lol. I also kind of want to prank my fiance and have him turn around and see his best friend in a white dress first 😂😂😂
Also... What are your thoughts on say... NOT doing a grand entrance?
Also... CONGRATS ON 10K, LADY!!!
Yes! I need a first look video also!
I'm getting married in punta cana in Nov. Definitely doing 1st look
I feel like 1st look us, me and my honey. Even thinking about it makes me tear up. Its private between us and intimate.
U will have tons of more pictures
I agree, the first look is one of the only moments you get to your partner and yourself alone during the wedding as everyone will be around for most of the night
OMG the prank idea is so good!!
Brianna Grace right
This is sooooooo incredibly helpful!!!!!! My wedding is in 25 days and you are literally a lifesaver. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!
Assyrian here (originally from the middle east, but now we're all over the world) 🙋♀️
Our receptions are pretty much like American receptions. But everything before is a bit extra lol. We don't have traditional proposals. Although it is pre-planned now, but traditionally, the women from the groom's side "visit" with the women from the bride's side and try to play "matchmakers." So they'll set up another day for the entire groom's family to come over for dinner. The bride and groom are not present. When the groom's family arrives they are offered food and drink, but before they taste anything, they say something along the lines of, "thank you for your hospitality, but we have not come for food or drink. We have come with the intentions of asking for your daughter's hand in marriage for our son." Then EVERY MEMBER of the bride's family has to give their blessing before they go to the bride's room and ask her, herself. She agrees, then the groom is called over. He typically brings her flowers and a cross necklace and the families party all night. Then there's an engagement party (like a mini wedding) on a separate day where the groom's family comes into the venue with a grand entrance, a bunch of jewelry for the bride, flowers and sweets. They drape all the jewelry on the bride and party all night. Finally, on wedding day, the groom's family comes to the bride's house before the wedding ceremony and ceremoniously walks her out of her house to symbolize her leaving her family and joining theirs. The bride's little brother (or young family member) will block the door and not let them take his sister until they pay up! So they bribe the kid with money or something of value so that he will let them pass. Nowadays, the money is typically gifted back to the bride and groom. It is traditional in our culture for the groom's family to pay for the wedding instead of the bride's to show that they are able to support her financially, and thus, her family would be more willing to allow the marriage. Once the ceremony (typically at a church) is done, guests go home for a few hours, eat some lunch, rest, then change into fancier clothes for the reception in the evening. This also allows the photographer plenty of time to take bridal party photos and a portrait session.
Hey Arbella! I'm Assyrian and watching this to plan my wedding in August! Thanks for describing our traditions. Spread the word!!
WOW that's a lot but also sounds so amazingly fun and special. As a regular white girl in america, I must say, i get jealous of other cultures traditions. 💕
Great tips! Loved it. In the the Filipino culture, we love the opportunity to get more money LOL so usually, there’s always a money dance where girls line up to dance with the groom and guys line up for the bride. They pin money on their wedding dress/suit in any denomination they choose and dance for about 30 seconds.
Maaaannnnn 😂 a black & Hispanic wedding can go the whole weekend
Facts 😂😂😂
You are the saving grace of DIY brides with control issues like myself! Love your videos!! Thank you!
I just got done watching your Q and A video, and I have a question! What are some ideas you would suggest for a wedding reception with a small guest count? Max amount of people I will have at my wedding is 60, and for the ones I’m inviting I know that open dancing is not something most of the people will jump to. Video about small weddings?? Thanks!
I would also like this!
thirding this!! our guest list is gonna be about 50, including a lot of children, and i don't think a dance party club vibe would work at all for our reception so i am freaking out.
Fourthing this!!!! 47 guests here!
I'm going to be the same! Both of our families enjoy cards and games so we have decided that when we get married we will have different games to play together throughout the night. We are also thinking of hiring someone for childcare to be at the venue so parents can socialize
My fiance and I are getting married Aug2020 and are also having 60ppl or less, would LOVE a video with small wedding suggestions!!!!!!
This is GOLD! Thanks so much for sharing this. I have yet to find anyone as detailed as you. I am an organization freak so I truly needed this! Thanks so much! 💕
I stumbled across your videos and now I don’t know how I was planning without you!! Your videos are SO helpful and are all I watch now! Subscribed!!
I'm watching from South Africa 😊 I get so excited whenever you upload!! 💃💃
I am so grateful for your videos. They ease my mind and let me think of every detail without hassle. I am so appreciative, and I love that I have your content and your smiling face in my wedding planning adventure!💕
I have just discovered this channel and have been binge watching this like crazy. I used to live in the USA but I live in Brazil now and I have a wedding orchestra and have just started working with wedding coordination. The big difference I see is definitely the lack of punctuality in events here. When we start a ceremony 30min after the invitation time, it's considered early.
I love your videos I’m newly engaged and I’m a mess but your videos are helping me organize and prioritize . I would love to see a day in your life as a wedding planner/day of coordinator video!! That would be amazing to watch you in the works!
Okay but anyone else getting SERIOUS SJP vibes!? 😍
You give so much very valuable information on these videos BUT your outfits are always FIRE
Love this! Also love the point about doing a first look! Most of my couples are so thankful that they did one!
What do you do during cocktail hour for your guests? Where are they hanging out if not in reception room yet?
I really appreciate you giving sooo many of your valuable tips especially for women who are trying to plan things on their own if they can't afford a wedding planner, or whatever it may be. Seriously, i appreciate your videos and the QUALITY tips/info!!! Subscribed instantly after watching the first video (which was today) and now Ive seen almost all of them (2 hrs later) 🌚😂. THANKS JAMIE!
30 days out from the wedding! This is super helpful! Would LOVE the next video to be about first looks. We’ve decided to do it but want to make sure it’s a good idea for us
My boyfriend talked about proposing yesterday (well we've been talking about it for a while), but I got so excited I have been binge watching you. lol!
She’s talking about how your invitation time is your start time... I agree but *laughs in nigerian*
I attended a wedding in Ghana and we were a few hours behind schedule. We just call it Ghana Time - we'll get there when we get there lol
Laughs in latino
Grace Okoro Ifykyk😭
Laughs in Indian
😂😂😂😂😂
Chinese and Indian weddings have more traditions to follow. It starts as early as 5am. I just started my wedding coordinator service and learning tips from you. Thanks alot :)
Thank you for a very useful and interesting video! The wedding timeline seems to be a lot different then the one in my country. We have weddings starting at 1pm and lasting until 5 in the morning on the next day, the cake cutting is usually at midnight and some guests leave shortly after that, while the young crowd usually stays to party...
You are great and so fun, the behind the scenes videos are so cool. If I had the money I would fly you to Croatia to coordinate my wedding!
So helpful!!! Thanks!!! In Costa Rica there’s usually a short carnaval show to end the night; so loud drummers, trumpets, dancers, whistles, booty shaking, funky hats, accesorios, sunglasses and flashy Mardi Gras type stuff. Everyone dances and it’s kind of the official end of the night!
Brenda Rojas that is amazing! What a celebration! I wish we did that in Australia!
My ceremony started late mostly because everyone was on "Baptist" time. No one was there when I arrived and my planner made us drive around for about twenty minutes. My wedding was in Australia, by the way. It may have been a different culture. In Australia, it's really common to be invited to the ceremony but not the reception afterwards. Usually that's a separate invite and/or only people invited to both events know where the reception is. They usually have an afternoon tea or something for guests who aren't invited to the reception to say 'Thank you" but they don't have to. We chose to because we had an open invite for my hubby's church family and since it was an afternoon wedding we figured it was a nice gesture to serve food before those guests went home. We did a dry wedding because our reception was actually in the sanctuary of our church that they dressed up. We're not drinkers anyway though. We had volunteers from the church prepare, and serve the food buffet style. Our worship pastor's son was assigned to my hubby and I's sweetheart table to get whatever drinks we wanted and also attend to the family and bridal party's table. The DJ was a friend who was not a actual DJ and I had a few problems with song selection. I had literally every song picked out but he proceeded to try and play whatever he wanted at certain times. All he had to do was hit "play" and then pause for the event songs (first dance, garter toss, bouquet toss, ect). I did like the inclusion of group dances but otherwise I was a little annoyed that he played songs I didn't like, but didn't have the heart to complain. It wasn't like I was paying him very much to do it, and he wasn't a pro. I also would have taken leftover food to our honeymoon afterwards, as we had a big spread and things left over. We had chicken Parmesan, baked ziti, quinoa salad (for the gluten free/dairy free folks), roast chicken, and roast lamb with green salad, and roasted veggies I believe. We also packed appetizers for our photographer and videographer to eat while we did photos. I didn't want anyone to starve apparently. Haha!
Thank you so much for this! I'm getting married this October and I needed so much help with this!
Watching from Australia!! Would love to see a video about having a cocktail reception.
I'm also having a handfasting during my ceromony. So excited!!
Congrats on your Channel! Really nice to see all these comments from all over the world and from different cultures. You are helping so many people, including me. Thank you!
I literally had to stop myself from tearing up. Just imagining the best day of my life, with the one I love as you went through the event really did something to me.
I absolutely love your videos!!! I've been watching for a few months as we were talking about a wedding but now we're engaged so I'm ready to go into this planing thing full force!
You've definitely convinced me of the value of a wedding planner/coordinator!
Great video! Very informative and good reminders! This really helped open my eyes to what is involved and think about what tweaks I need to include or adjust for my own wedding which is happening in 3 weeks!!! In another country! Thanks Jaime for keeping your videos super lively and entertaining. I’ve only discovered you a few days ago and been binge watching since. Many of your videos have help reassure me I’m on the right path or remind me I need to still address some things. Bless you! :)
So glad I found this! My husband is not helpful at all and I'm Soo overwhelmed! He is also not a happy person to be around if he's hangry also!
Thank you soo much! I feel like a team of one and then I have you. Thank you for the tips and suggestions even though I have a different culture this small sample definitely gives me an idea of what to consider and what not to do.
This was one of the most helpful videos I’ve had on coordinating my wedding! Thank you! Now it will be a little less stressful! ❤️
Anyone have advice on making a brunch wedding day (ceremony starts at 10:30/11am) timeline or could give examples of your timeline if you had one?
I love your videos! I’ve watched them all at least once! I’m getting married next May and you have been such a huge help! 💜💜 thank you!
If you go to Brighton have a wander around the lanes! I live about 40 minutes away and love them, they are fab for shopping, pubs and cafes! And go somewhere for afternoon English tea......its soooooo good!! x
THANK YOU FOR THIS... Wedding is in August and we are almost done finalizing our timeline... God bless!
I’m watching this from Amman, Jordan. Muslims usually do the ceremony days or months before the party. The time between the ceremony and the party is the engagement period, but technically they’re married.
A lot of the things you mentioned in the reception are applicable to our parties too, except we DON’T do a garter toss 😳 and not everyone does a bouquet toss 💐. Also, we have a part for the groom to put gold jewelry on the bride- necklace, bracelet, earrings, ring(s), the whole works.
They’ve actually got whole songs dedicated to the wearing of the gold. That’s something I didn’t know until I moved to Jordan.
Sounds different and fun !
Follow up video part 2 idea: I’m not sure if you help in planning bridal showers/bachelorette parties/rehearsal dinners but it would be so helpful to have a timeline of these as well! This video was on a suggested list by UA-cam and I am so thankful as I help prep as a (hands on) bridesmaid in my sisters wedding!
Currently planning a wedding in Scotland, slightly different to English wedding, fewer rules when it comes to location and such. Binged watched several of your videos and they have been a great help, still plenty to go! When you are over this side of the world should visit Edinburgh, beautiful city (freezing even in May) only 4.5 hours on the train from London.
I live in the Lake District in the UK, it’s definitely worth a visit!! Getting married in April, soo excited x
Our wedding will sort of be a 3 day event lol. Rehersal and dinner party the day before, then obvs wedding, and then a brunch and coctails the day after.
Unfortounately, the only day our venue had available until NEXT OCTOBER (2019) was June 15th. Which really stinks, but we got $300 off the price because it was a holliday weekend. Not to mention we can have our intimate cerimony and invite as many people to our reception as we can afford, because its outdoors on 66 acres!
This wedding planning stuff is har, thanks so mich for your videos! You're a god-send.
This made me feel so much more confident about my wedding day timeline! Thank you so much, Jamie!
me, 18, single and not planning to get married anytime soon: *binge watches your videos and takes tons of notes*
haha, seriously though, I LOVE your content. one cultural wedding tradition I wanted to tell you about is the Vietnamese Tea Ceremony! it celebrates the marriage while honoring the families' ancestors and relatives. the couple serves tea to family members, starting with the eldest, as a sign of respect, and then they will give gifts and wishes for a long-lasting marriage. this is also usually when vows and rings are exchanged. my mom and stepdad did this, skipped the usual wedding ceremony, and went to the reception, but I know lots of Vietnamese-American people will do all three, with the tea ceremony preceding the wedding ceremony!
Woòoopp! You will love the UK. I went to uni and lived in Brighton for 3 years! You will love It! Don't forget to walk through the Lanes and visit the Pavilion too. I worked on the pier too- magical whimsical place! Enjoy! Love from London xx
You are coming to the UK for a wedding?! How exciting! You have to go to Bath and visit the Royal Crescent and also go to the rooftop spa, you will love it!
So I subscribed. I like your videos an have been going through one of my pseudo wedding "planning" phases :)
I haven't been to that many weddings, but this is some insight to a mostly traditional wedding in Denmark :)
You can go to (protestant) church (it is mostly because of tradition, since most of our citizens leans toward an atheist kind of living). It will take about 1-1.5 hours. When the bride and groom leaves the church, we will throw rice at them (originally to up their fertility). Then the couple will drive away to their photography session. (I don't know what the guests normally do from here until they arrive at the "place of the party"). At the "party place" people will get a beer/soda/"welcome drink" depending of the vibe of the party. Then we will all be seated and traditionally eat 3 meals (dessert included). During the eating process homemade songs (which are often poorly written with anecdotes of the couple) are being sung by all the guests, or toasts are being given. The homemade songs are (luckily) going out of fashion, so it is mostly in the more traditional families they still use them.
After dinner people can dance or mingle. At some point the wedding cake is being cut, if the cake doesn't get used as replacement for dessert. Before midnight the couple have to dance "The wedding waltz". So they dance and the guests claps along to the melody of the music while moving closer in on the couple, to limit their dancing space. When the couple can't dance anymore, they usually kiss and then the male guests catches the groom, take of his shoes and clips the toe part of his socks off. It is meant to symbolize that the groom no longer can be with other women.
Wow! This have been such a long post. During dinner the guest will make noise by hitting their cutlery on the drinking glasses. This means the couple have to stand on the seat of their chairs and kiss each other. If the guests are stomping under the table. The couple must crawl down and kiss under the table.
I'll stop now since that was a lot and I covered most of the classic danish wedding traditions.
Wow this is very interesting ! Especially the wedding waltz part, seems like a lot of fun ! Here in Canada, we also have the tapping on glasses etc to have the couple kiss, but not the kiss under the table hahaha
Hahaha, guests being on time or 30 minutes early 😂😂😂... If you start on time for any Carribean event, you'll walk down that aisle with two birds looking at you...
Also, dinner is the sign that the event is over... We do everything before dinner...
This makes so much sense. I'm Caribbean as well.
I'm from the Caribbean and this is so true but I definitely dislike the idea of making your guests wait till the end for dinner. Especially because Caribbean people like to start late
I find it so interesting to see how other cultures does their weddings! In Norway a wedding can last for at least 14 hours (with a small break when the bride and groom take pictures), without problem! The ceremony often start between 12 and 1, then the dinner starts around 4 or 5, and then the partying starts around 9 or 10 and can last until the morning next day. I went to a wedding where the bride and groom left the party at 3.30 in the morning! Of course this vary from couple to couple, but all the weddings I’ve been to has been like that and I feel like that’s the traditional Norwegian wedding 🙈 Our wedding will probably last for 14 hours, the dinner alone will most likely last for 4 hours, and that’s pretty normal here😊 (That’s 14 hours with a break while we get photographed, during the “break” it will be served food and we’ll have some sort of entertainment)😊
Can you make a video of what to ask the venue coordinator once you purchase the venue?
Getting married in April of 2023... Country wedding in a Baptist Church. Sure wish I could hire you to decorate and make this day the best ever... I really enjoy watching you and learning what I can. Weddings are so expensive!!
My fiance and I are waaaay too shy to do a 'grand entrance'. How can we avoid that? Can we sneak in? Lol
176Blue just walk in when everyone walks in for food and sit I'm guessing. If you get your pictures done before the ceremony
how about doing one big entrance with your whole wedding party? or you can be n your reception area first before everyone else? if that even works out with your other plans?
I saw a wedding where the cocktail hour was in a different area so the bridal party and parents went into the reception hall and just greeted and welcomed everyone when they came in. Maybe that would help?
This comment. 😂🤣
We didn't want to do a grand entrance either, so we're just going to be there during cocktail hour to welcome people in, like you would for any other kind of party. We're hoping that will help us get through saying hi to more people earlier, too, so that we get more time to eat and dance later.
Just discovered you and your tips have been amazing!!! Have so much more knowledge now than when i first got engaged, thank you sweet. Love from Norwich, England xx
I am 10 months away from my wedding day (May 23,2020) and I am already stressed out about what needs to be planned/booked and etc. It didn't even cross my mind that I needed to have a timeline for the day of. I am so glad that I found this video because with my type A personality, my wedding day without a timeline would have definitely stressed me the heck out. Something extra that we do in the south that you did not mention is the money dance. The DJ will play whatever song(s) the bride and groom choose and the guest will have the opportunity to dance with the bride and/or groom and pin money on the veil, dress, tux wherever. The bride and groom can use this money on the honeymoon, future home, etc. I am thinking the money dance would be great to insert after the 45-minute dance timeframe to give some of the guests a time to rest. Especially if the music chosen for the money dance is slower.
Just curious how your day worked out?