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The
Key to a Successful Event? Timing!
You've
been to events where everything seemed to happen effortlessly. The night's
events moved forward as if on cue: The cocktails moved to dinner to toasts
to cake cutting without hesitation. Everyone was having so much fun they
don't even notice how well-orchestrated the evening was.
Events
like that don't just happen. Behind the scenes is precise planning with
a detailed timeline.
We've
put together a sample timeline for a wedding reception
and a sit-down dinner/party. Use these timelines
as a guide for creating your own, keeping the following tips in mind:
- The
timeline should cover the entire day, from when the facility opens to
break-down and clean-up.
- Don't
be afraid to schedule the timeline in 5-minute increments if needed.
- Take
nothing for granted! Include a step for every action, regardless of
how minor it may seem.
- Be
clear about whom is responsible for what.
- Give
copies to everyone involved. Caterers, florists, set-up crew, clean-up
crew, musicians, DJs, and all speakers should receive a copy at least
two days before the event. Have extra copies for them on the night of
the event.
- Have
one person designated to coordinate the schedule who is not personally
involved in the event. If you're planning a wedding reception, this
person is often a close family friend. It should not be the mother of
the bride or anyone in the wedding party. At a business function, it
should not be anyone who is expected to speak or have a role in the
event itself.
- Once
you have selected your "coordinator," be sure that person knows to whom
he or she should be giving directions. Have a quick run-through of the
night's events with that person to make sure you and the coordinator
are comfortable with the order.
- In
order to make sure the events end on time, close the bars 15-30 minutes
before the event is scheduled to end. This usually causes people to
leave!
- Musicians
and DJs are notoriously late to events. Ask them to arrive 45 minutes
before the event begins. This gives time for them to set up and begin
playing.
- If
you are having music, it should begin 15 minutes before the event is
scheduled to begin, setting the tone and atmosphere as people arrive.
Business
Dinner or Party Timeline
This timeline is based on a sit-down dinner with a program of speakers
followed by dancing.
| Time |
Action |
| 2
p.m. |
Facility
Opens. |
|
Rental
company delivers tables, chairs and stage. |
|
Room
set up according to layout. |
| 3
p.m. |
Decorations
arrive and decorating begins. |
| 4
p.m. |
Caterer
arrives and sets up. |
| 5:30
p.m. |
Check
of room layout and decorations. |
|
Bartenders
arrive and set up. |
| 6
p.m. |
Band
arrives and sets up. |
| 6:45
p.m. |
Music
begins. |
|
Bars
open. |
|
Waiters
ready with trays of hors d'oeuvres. |
| 7
p.m. |
Guests
begin arriving. |
|
Cocktails
and hors d'oeuvres served to guests. |
|
Music
inside dinner hall, wait staff begins setting salads on tables. |
| 8
p.m. |
Band
breaks. |
|
Announcement
made that dinner is beginning. |
|
Guests
begin moving to dinner hall. |
| 8:30
p.m. |
Guests
welcomed. |
| 8:35
p.m. |
Guests
begin salad course. |
| 8:45
p.m. |
Wait
staff serves main course. |
| 9
p.m. |
Wait
staff serves desserts. |
| 9:10
p.m. |
Introduction
of speaker. |
| 9:15
p.m. |
Speaker
begins. |
| 9:45
p.m. |
Speech
ends. |
|
Band
begins. |
|
Bars
open again. |
| 9:45
to 11:30 |
Guests
dancing. |
| 11:30
p.m. |
Bars
close. |
| Midnight |
Last
guests leave. |
|
Breakdown
begins. |
| 2
a.m. |
Building
locked and secured. |
Wedding
Reception Timeline
The same general timeline applies to a wedding reception, if it's a sit-down
dinner. Below is an outline of how a buffet dinner reception would proceed.
| Time |
Action |
| 7:45
p.m. |
Wedding
party arrives and waits in back room. |
|
Cocktail
music begins to play. |
| 8
p.m. |
Guests
begin to arrive. |
|
Drinks
and hors d'oeuvres served. |
| 8:20
p.m. |
Wedding
party announced. |
| 8:25
p.m. |
Buffet
opens . |
| 8:45
p.m. |
First
dance held by bride and groom. |
| 8:50
p.m. |
Father
and daughter dance. |
| 8:55
p.m. |
Wedding
party joins dance floor. |
| 9
p.m. |
Dance
floor open to all. |
| 9:20
p.m. |
Wait
staff begins serving champagne. |
| 9:25
p.m. |
Toasts
begin. |
| 9:40
p.m. |
Bride
and groom cut cake. |
| 9:45
p.m. |
The
cake is cut and served. |
|
Dancing
resumes. |
| 10
p.m. |
Bride
tosses her bouquet (some receptions include a garter toss following
the bouquet toss. It is up to the bride to decide. |
| 10:15
p.m. |
Dancing
and visiting with guests resumes. |
| 10:45
p.m. |
Bride
and groom leave to change into their "going away clothes." |
|
Bridesmaids
pass out birdseed. |
|
Going
away car arrives. |
| 11
p.m. |
Bride
and groom leave under a shower of birdseed. |
| 11:05
p.m. |
Guests
begin to leave. |
| 11:15
p.m. |
Clean
up begins! |
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