Is there a good template to plan the timeline for my wedding day?

• Hi Kristine,
• The tea ceremony should take at least one hour to respect each set of parents.
• It should be unhurried, leisurely, and conducted with good grace.
• The afternoon ceremony will be timed depending on the rituals you wish to honour in your ceremony. Your Celebrant will help you with this.
• As a guide somewhere between 35-45 minutes.
• The gap between the afternoon ceremony and reception should not be longer than an hour, as it can appear to be disrespectful to guests to keep them waiting for a long time, unless you have planned something for them to do.
• I hope this has been helpful, be guided by your Celebrant, and savour every moment of your wedding day.
• Best Wishes
• Gwen Ford, Shoreline Ceremonies

Tea ceremonies at weddings I have officiated at, were planned and organised by the senior female members of the family.  Both weddings had a Chinese Bride.  One was performed the afternoon before the wedding, and the other, in the morning the day after.  They were very colourful and conducted in Chinese, with drums, bells and lots going on. It was considered an honour for the senior ladies to be doing this.  I didn't participate, but observed from afar. 

On the internet are many WEDDING CEREMONY TIME GUIDELINES. They are many and varied, some are very extensive and some very simple. I present my Brides and Grooms with quite an extensive one with the time line being one year. I advise they can take all on board or only what they need. If you look at "WEDDING CALENDAR CHECKLIST" I sure you could find one to suit you OR of course ask your celebrant.

Hi Kristine.

A Tea Ceremony normally takes between 30-60 minutes depending on how many members of the family you will be serving tea too. It can be done before the ceremony or after. I have even done tea ceremonies as part of the wedding ceremony. It also depends on who you want to be present at the tea ceremony. You may not want all your wedding guests to be present.

The legal ceremony takes approximately 30 minutes depending on what you want to be included in your ceremony. Your celebrant will discuss with you and guide you as to what you would like to include in your ceremony. Apart from the two legal components that must be included you can include what you want in a ceremony. It is often a good idea to have the ceremony fairly close to the reception so that your guests are not waiting around unsure what to do. Normally an hour to 11/2 hours between the ceremony and the start of the reception is plenty of time to do photos.

I make up Pinterest Boards which have a lot of information about timelines and wedding planning. I also have a board on doing tea ceremonies. Please feel free to access it from my website.

hi Kristine, a plan can be made up easily, but more information is needed. Wedding ceremonies are very personal and your celebrant should be able to ask a few questions about what you want to do and set up a schedule for me. If you would like some help please email me direct and will give you some guidelines. kind regards Mario Treasured Ceremonies?

Hi Kristine,

There are so many options for a Chinese Tea Ceremony. It can take place before your wedding, the day after your wedding, or even after your wedding ceremony & before your reception (if you're not going to houses). It depends on how traditional you want to be, and how any people you want to be involved.

My wedding ceremonies take approximately 30 minutes, but again there are variables such as whether you have asked anyone to do a reading. Most people tell me they only want a short ceremony with 'no rambling on' so this type of service would be 30 minutes max (including the signing of all paperwork).

Reception packages are generally 4 - 5 hours but this is up to the venue you select, and how their packages are designed.

There are so many variables these days as we move away from traditional church ceremonies and into weddings which are truly tailored for what the bride & groom wish for their wedding day. Just make sure you select providers who understand what you want, and can make that happen for you!

Rach Michael

Hunter Valley Celebrations, NSW