A written, hour-by-hour plan is the cheapest thing you can add to a wedding and the most useful. It tells the makeup artist when to finish, the driver when to leave and the caterer when to open the counters. Here are two sample plans to adapt. The times are examples, not rules: your priest's muhurat and your venue decide the real ones.
Sample plan: evening wedding with baraat
Time
What happens
8:00 am
Breakfast. Light rituals at home, such as the chooda ceremony or a puja.
11:00 am
Photographer arrives for family pictures at home.
1:00 pm
Lunch. The bride starts makeup and hair.
4:00 pm
Groom gets ready. Sehra bandi with the family.
5:00 pm
Bride is ready. Portraits before the guests arrive.
6:30 pm
Baraat leaves. Guests begin to arrive at the venue.
7:30 pm
Baraat arrives. Milni and welcome.
8:15 pm
Jaimala on the stage, followed by photographs with guests.
8:30 pm
Dinner opens.
10:30 pm
Couple and close family eat.
11:30 pm
Pheras in the mandap, at the time given by the priest.
1:30 am
Vidaai.
Sample plan: morning wedding
Time
What happens
5:00 am
Bride starts makeup and hair.
6:30 am
Groom and family get ready.
7:30 am
Family reaches the hall or gurdwara. Tea and breakfast for early guests.
8:30 am
Welcome of the groom's party. Opening rituals.
9:30 am
Main ceremony at the auspicious time: the thali, the laavan or the vows.
10:30 am
Blessings and photographs with guests.
12:00 noon
Wedding lunch.
2:00 pm
Farewell of the bride, or rest before an evening reception.
7:00 pm
Reception, where one is held.
How to write your own
Start from the fixed point. Write the time of the main ritual first, then work backwards.
Ask each vendor how long they need. Bridal makeup and hair commonly take three hours or more. Decoration needs the hall for several hours before guests arrive.
Add a buffer of 20 to 30 minutes before every move from one place to another. Baraats are never early.
Give the couple a meal time and name the person who will make sure they eat.
Plan the photographs: portraits before guests arrive, family groups right after the garlands, with a list of groups in the photographer's hand.
Share one page with both families, the venue manager and every vendor, with phone numbers at the bottom.
Rules the day will thank you for
Check the venue's closing time for music and for the hall itself, and plan the end of the function around it.
Keep one car and driver free for emergencies and forgotten things.
Elders and small children need to eat on time. Open one counter early for them.
Decide in advance who collects the gifts and envelopes, and where they are kept.
Wedding