Your wedding day will likely somehow be one of the longest and shortest days of your life. From waking up in the morning and getting your hair and makeup done to partying the night away at the reception, there are many steps and things to do in between.

If you have a wedding planner or someone executing the wedding activities, we highly suggest meeting specifically to coordinate the flow and progression of the wedding events. Organizing these in a smart, efficient way will eliminate guest frustration and awkward breaks in between the fun festivities. If you don’t have a wedding planner, this can be done by

For example, wedding photos may be done at one location at the venue while guests are waiting for the next festivity, there may be a transition in between a cocktail hour and dinner service, or cake cutting may be separate from the dance floor. There are ways to smoothly make a transition-- simplifying the wedding process for both yourself and your guests.

1. Plan By Location

The first and best piece of advice to help your wedding flow smoothly is to plan activities together by location. If your wedding photos need to be done in a separate location from the reception, do them before the ceremony or during a time in which guests will be preoccupied with food or dancing. What you don’t want to do in this situation is make your guests wait for your photos to be done to proceed to have fun at the reception or awkwardly stand around.

2. Execute Activities in the Venue

Try and do as many wedding activities within the reception venue as you possibly can. This includes cake cutting, eating, dancing, first dances, special family moments, cultural traditions, etc. It would be easiest if the guests can watch and participate in important moments from inside the venue once they are there. This will eliminate going back and forth from spot-to-spot, such as from reception venue to outside, to back inside for cake cutting, and you get the gist.

3. Organize a Map/Checklist

It may help you to organize these activities by laying out a coinciding map and checklist for your wedding day. Visually seeing how the events of the day will unfold will help you adjust according to what would work best for you, and double-check that the layout of the day is acceptable for the venue. Some venues have strict rules on how they want the events of the day to go, but if done far ahead, something can likely be worked out in everyone’s favor. For example, maybe mark where people will go directly after the ceremony. Will they go to the reception? Will they have cocktails and wait for wedding photos to conclude? Be sure to think about how your guests will be spending their time when you’re making your way through your own checklist for the day.

Making sure that your wedding has a smooth flow/ transition is courteous to your guests and will help you get the most out of the time and money that you put into your special event.

©CTW Features