The question I get more than any other is “what time do we start?” The honest answer is that it depends on three numbers: how many people are getting styled, when you need to be in your dress, and how far your getting ready spot is from the ceremony. Here is how I build every wedding morning, with real timelines you can borrow.
Pricing is covered in the cost guide. This one is about the clock. I plan backward. We start from the moment you need to be completely ready, subtract photos and the dress, then subtract styling time for each person. The start time is whatever is left. It sounds simple, and it is, as long as nobody guesses at the numbers.
The numbers I plan with
45 minutes to an hour per person
Bridesmaids, moms, and attendants take about 45 minutes each. The bride takes closer to an hour, sometimes a little more for a detailed updo or Hollywood waves. I build the schedule on these numbers and I do not rush them.
The bride goes last
Your hair is finished last so it is the freshest for photos. Everyone else is done, the room has settled, and the final hour of the morning is yours.
30 minutes for the dress
Getting into a wedding dress with buttons, a corset, or a long veil takes longer than anyone expects, and it is where the photographer is usually shooting. I leave a full half hour between the last pin and the dress.
A buffer you will be glad you had
I add 15 to 30 minutes of slack to every schedule. Someone arrives late, a flower girl needs a redo, the mother of the bride wants one more pin. A buffer turns those moments into nothing.
Three sample timelines
A 4:00 PM ceremony, bride plus four
Bride, three bridesmaids, and mom, with a first look at 2:30 and getting ready photos at 1:45. This is the most common Sedona morning I see at L’Auberge, Enchantment, and Sky Ranch Lodge.
A sunrise elopement, bride only
Ceremony at 6:30 AM below Cathedral Rock, with a 20 minute drive and a short walk in. This is the one that surprises people.
Starts before 7:00 AM carry a $100 early morning fee. Every sunrise bride I have worked with has said the light was worth it.
A big party, bride plus eight
Bride, six bridesmaids, mom, and two flower girls for a 5:00 PM ceremony. Agave of Sedona and The Little Daisy weddings often look like this.
For very large parties I can bring an assistant so two people are styled at once and the morning starts at a civilized hour. Tell me your headcount and I will suggest which makes sense.
Where makeup fits in
A preview before the wedding is the other thing that keeps a morning on schedule, because the bride’s hour becomes a repeat rather than a rebuild.
If you have a makeup artist, we run side by side. One person is in my chair while another is in theirs, and we swap. This roughly halves the total time, which is why I ask for your makeup artist’s name and schedule early. Hair usually goes first for each person so makeup is the last thing touched before photos.
Five things that wreck a timeline
Wet or freshly washed hair. Hair needs to be clean and completely dry when I arrive. Damp hair adds 20 minutes per person and does not hold a style as well. My prep notes go out the week of the wedding so nobody is caught out, and this guide to styles that hold in Sedona weather explains why dry hair matters so much.
Nobody knows the ready by time. Ask your photographer when they want to start getting ready shots, then tell me. That single time is the anchor for the whole schedule.
The getting ready space is across town. Add the drive, parking, and the walk to the ceremony to your timeline, not just the styling. At Tlaquepaque on a weekend, parking alone can take 15 minutes.
Last minute additions. Grandma deciding at 11:00 that she would like her hair done is lovely and also 45 minutes. Count everyone in your inquiry and I will build the schedule with room.
No buffer. A schedule with zero slack is a schedule that is already late. Thirty minutes of nothing is the best thing on the timeline.
Common questions about timing
How early do you start for a sunset ceremony?
Count back from your photographer’s start time: 30 minutes for the dress, an hour for the bride, 45 minutes for each guest, plus a buffer. For a 5:30 PM Sedona sunset with a bride and four guests, that usually means a 10:30 AM start. Fall sunsets come early. The fall weddings guide has October and November start times.
Can you do everyone faster if we are running late?
I keep the bride’s hour protected and tighten elsewhere where I can. Building the buffer in from the start is what keeps us from needing to.
Do you stay for touch ups after the ceremony?
Touch up time can be added to your proposal if you would like me on hand through the first look and ceremony. Most brides do not need it, since every style is finished to hold through the night.
What if our venue has a bridal suite access time?
Tell me when the suite opens. If it opens later than the schedule needs, we start at your hotel or rental and finish at the venue, or I bring an assistant to compress the morning.
Send your ceremony time, your headcount, and where you are getting ready. I will send back a schedule with your proposal within 48 hours.