Why Wedding Mornings Run Late, and How to Plan Around It

Nobody plans to be late to their own wedding, and yet the getting-ready morning is where lateness is manufactured. It almost never comes from one big disaster. It comes from five small delays, each ten minutes, that nobody accounted for.

Here are the five, in the order they usually happen.

The aunt who was not on the list. Someone's plus-one's mother decides she would also like her hair done. Saying yes is the single most common cause of a late ceremony. The answer is always the same: we would love to, and we will need to add it to the schedule and the invoice. If there is no room, there is no room. Nobody has ever been angry about that answer on a wedding day.

The dress that takes longer than expected. Brides budget five minutes for getting dressed. It takes twenty-five, minimum, with a corset back or buttons and two people helping. Put twenty-five minutes on the schedule.

The photographer who wants "just one more." Your photographer will want the getting-ready shots, the robe shot, the detail shot, the mother-daughter shot, and the window shot. That is thirty minutes of hair time, and it needs to be on the printed schedule or it will be taken out of your styling time.

The steamer. Someone always needs the dress steamed and the steamer always takes longer than anyone believes. Assign it to one person and start it before the first chair.

The goodbye. When the bride's mother leaves the room, the room stops. Build in ten minutes for that.

Our recommendation: send us the schedule your planner has built and let us pressure-test it. We do this every weekend and we can tell you in four minutes whether it works. inquire with your timeline and headcount, and we will tell you the truth about your morning.