Need help with Minimony timeline and details!

I think it really depends on what your goal is for the sunset

Procession Begins with “The Prayer” (04:25)

07:14

07:18

Stop music @ 02:15

Alex w/ Margo meet Matt and walk down aisle

07:15

Ceremony Starts @ Sunrise (0719)

07:17

07:45

Opening Reading complete 07:19

Recessional song as soon as ceremony ends

Wedding Photos after ceremony

07:45

Reception (open seating except M-A-M) – Music

08:00

Open Bar / Brunch Begins

08:30

Cutting of the Cake

10:00

End of Reception

11:00

We are also doing our minimony in October. I am going to wear my dress, bridesmaids will wear theirs as well. FH and groomsmen will just wear coordinatng suits and matching ties and pocket squares that we will buy for them, so they don't have to rent tuxes for our low key wedding. We will have bouquets, but only because we made them with fake flowers so they should keep for next year as well. We'll buy boutonnieres and corsages for GM and family as well. Since we are getting married in a church, we have an organist playing processionals and recessionals, but no DJ for when we go back to FILs' house, we'll just hook Spotify up to a speaker. We did write our own vows to recite at the ceremony as well.

3-3:30 Ceremony

3:30-4:15 Bridal Party Photos

4:15-5 Family Photos

5-6 Couple Photos

6-7 Travel to FILs House

7-8 Dinner, First Dance

9 Cut Cake

10 End Reception

Hello. I am having a minimony. So first things first is talk to your photographer. For me it was important to have pre, during and post sunset pics. Surprisingly even though sunset is set for 5:42 pm in FL on my date in November the photographer recommended to do the ceremony at 4 to get in a lot of pre sunset pics for better lighting. Here is roughly my timeline and plan but I only have three guests vs 20 so not sure what your post ceremony plans are:

3:30 p arrive at venue to put on dress (hair and make up will be done beforehand) and take getting ready pics

4 p ceremony starts (15 minute elopement ceremony which for both of us is more than enough time) we will have processional and recessional music. I have my BF as my MOH who will walk out before me.

4:15 - 7:30 pics (in there we will figure a time for cake cutting. I have a two tier cake and a cake topper)

8 p.m. roof top lounge dinner for us and our two guests (my brother will have left by then if I know him lol)

So I am still doing wedding-ish things. I will have a bouquet as will my MOH. She has her dress. My FH will have a three piece suit. I have two photographers because pics are important, we both agreed on a two tier cake with the flavor and fillings we chose and we will save the top tier for our first anniversary. I am wearing my dress the whole time. My friend's hubby and my big bro will sit as guests. Most of the time will be pics since I paid 4 hours. I knew I wanted "golden hour pics" as they call them. I wanted ceremony and some pics when it is light out and then some pics during sunset and some after sunset. Hope this helps.

I just did this about 30 minutes from of Boston! Obviously August weather is different than October weather, but aside from adjusting for sunset time (7:54 for us) and maybe adding a few heat lamps, a similar plan will probably work for you. To answer your questions: My cousin, who was planning to play the violin at our wedding, recorded herself and sent me the video. My dad gave a cue and my brother pressed play on my mom's laptop which was connected to a Bluetooth speaker. My uncle, who's a musician, also sent us a video (with special effects in the background) of himself playingWe may have gone a little overboard on the flowers, (boutonieres, corsages, or a bouquet for everyone, a floral arch, centerpieces on each table, an arrangement on the bar and one in the bathroom) but I'm glad we did because everything looked great. Our officiant was a family friend. He sent us a ceremony script and let us edit it. We wrote our own vows, but we wrote them together and repeated them after the officiant so we wouldn't get too nervous. I think he organized the guests to make sure they left an aisle, but I wasn't there for that part. Most of our bridal party is our siblings, so they were there, but if we'd had a processional, it would've started with an empty space, so we didn't do that. Our venue was my parents' back yard. My husband(!) came out of the basement just before the ceremony started and I came out a different door and walked down the "aisle" with my dad. We fist bumped at the end.

Timeline:
Friday- tent, tables, chairs, linens delivered. Saturday- 9:30-12:30 hair and makeup at a salon (this was earlier than necessary) 1:30 florist arrives to set up arch, deliver all other flowers.4:00 caterer arrives to finish cooking things/assemble everything (we did heavy appetizers in attractive individual containers so no one had to touch any shared food/utensils).4:15/4:30 photographer arrives. I gave her a quick tour of the space, she started taking detail shots. (She's my friend and this worked well, but you may want a little more time.)4:30-4:45 everyone else arrives. [The rest of this is approximate, we were pretty relaxed with the timeline and like 90% device-free so I don't know exactly when things happened.] 5:05-5:20 ceremony. 5:25-5:50 photos of just the two of us (socially distanced mingling and/or eating & drinking for everyone else) 5:50-6:05 masked group photos. 6:05-6:40 we sat down to eat & drink. 6:40-7:00 speeches (3 planned, 2 spontaneous) 7:00-7:20 ice cream and photos with the ice cream truck. 7:20-7:45ish final photos/end of usable daylight. 7:20-? yard games and socially distanced mingling/eating/drinking. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions or if you need vendor recommendations.

View Quoted Comment Wow thank you! Thank you! All of these details are great and so helpful. I spoke to my photographer and they agreed about 3pm to start.
My bridesmaids asked if they should wear their dresses. But I told them to save it for the big day next year. Love the homemade bouquet to save for next year too. Definitely looking into that option.
Congratulations to all the couples during these crazy times and also being so helpful!