Congratulations on getting engaged! Planning the day of your wedding doesn’t have to be stressful. This is a big moment in your life, and you don’t need to schedule it alone. Celebrating your big day at the Club has lots of benefits included for you. Here, you have a professional onsite Catering Team that has planned hundreds of weddings at your disposal. We are experts in our occupation so please feel free to ask us anything or if you have any concerns in regarding the planning process. The secret to having your wedding run as smoothly as possible is to plan all your details ahead of time. Six months before your wedding, we will schedule a meeting with you to plan out all your details and create your timeline. To get an inside scoop of how we typically plan our Country Club weddings, continue reading below to find the ideal itinerary.

9AM | Getting Ready for the Biggest Day of Your Life

It’s best for you to drop off all your decorations, favors, name cards, dress, and shoes the day before your wedding, if you are getting ready at the Club, so that it’s one less thing you need to think about. Ask your Club about utilizing our Bridal Suite to get your hair and make-up done before you take pictures. Getting ready with your bridesmaids, mother, & mother-in-law while sipping on champagne or a mimosa can become a memory that you will remember for a lifetime. Make sure that your Photographers and Make-Up Artists are at the venue at least 30 minutes before you get there. This will allow time for your vendors to set up and be prepared for you to arrive. This will also allow the photographer to get shots of little details such as your wedding dress, shoes, rings, invitations, and any other accessories you are wearing on your special day.

1PM | Bride Portraits

Now that you have had your hair and make-up done, it’s now time to get into your dress and take some portraits before your soon to be husband arrives! These are just pictures of you showing off your beauty around our gorgeous Club. Ask the photographer to capture details in your dress, hairstyle, or even nails. This is time for you to be alone and get a minute to relax and focus on you. The photographer may also take some pictures of you getting you make up done and buttoning up your dress. These types of shots are truly stunning in morning light.

1:30 PM | The Groom Arrives

During this time, your handsome groom will arrive after getting ready at the hotel with his groomsmen. Once they arrive, they will settle into another room away from the bride. The photographer can take pictures of him while he prepares himself to gaze upon his perfect bride at your first looks. This is also a moment for the groom to relax and hang with his groomsmen before seeing you.

2:30 PM | First Looks

The time has come to reveal your transformation to your soon to be husband. This step is totally optional, and it comes down to whither or not the couple would like to see each other before their ceremony. Traditionally, the bride and groom would wait to see each other before they walk down the aisle. However, time is changing, and more and more couples have broken the tradition. This allows the couple to share a special moment in a more private setting. However, it is perfectly okay to wait for the ceremony and share the big reveal with your entire family. If you do decide to arrange a first look, the photographer or videographers will capture you walking up to your groom. Typically, the bride, groom, photographer, and videographers are the only ones there in this moment. But in the past, we have seen your bridesmaids and groomsmen watch from a far, so they can watch and not interfere.

4:30PM | Your Wedding Ceremony

After you and your bridesmaids are finished getting ready its now time to make your way down to the ceremony space. You will want to be sure to pick out a song for everyone walking down the aisle and a different song for the bride. The priest, groom, and best man will walk down the first. Next will be the bridesmaids, groomsmen, maid of honor, flower girl & ring bearer, and finally the father of the bride and the bride. Once everyone is in the correct place, the officiant will thank the guests for coming. The officiant will then introduce you and tell your guests a little bit about your love story. They will then talk about the obligations of the marriage and sanctity of the vows you are about to tell each other. After, the two of you will exchange your vows. If you wrote them yourselves then this part of the ceremony can be very touching. You will then place rings of one other’s fingers. Finally, after the I do’s, you will seal your marriage with the kiss.

5:00PM | Cocktail Hour

Congratulations! You are now officially married! It’s time for your guests to move into cocktail hour to grab a few drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Our club has a full list on various warm and cold hors d’oeuvres and stationary displays that you can include for your guests. Signature drinks have also been extremely popular at our weddings. This is another way to convey the theme of your wedding and show what type of a couple you are through the cocktail hour. Lots of times couples will pick out signature drinks that is their favorite type of cocktail. We have also seen cocktail named after the couple’s pets! This would be a great idea if you wanted to have your dog at the ceremony and in your pictures.

5:00PM | More Time for Photos

While your guests are busy drinking and munching on some delicious hors d’oeuvres, this is the perfect opportunity to sneak some more pictures in of just you and your husband. Ask us about taking some shots on the golf course as well as where are some picturesque spots around the Club. This is also a great time to change into your second dress for the reception if you have one!

6:00PM | The Reception

Once cocktail hour is over, your guest will make their way over to your reception area, find out what number their table is, and head to their seats. Typically, right near the reception door you can find the card box, guest book, tables number, memorial table, and more! This is where you can get creative and Pinterest different ideas you can do to decorate the tables! Something that I have seen that couples are now doing instead of a guest book is having the guests leave voice messages. As an alternative to the book, the couple put an old phone on the table. When you pick up the phone, it plays a message left by couple, then after the beep the guest can leave a message wishing all the best for the couple.

6:15PM | Introductions & First Dance

As your guests have moved into the reception space and are now seated, it’s time to reveal everyone! Introductions are a time where you walk into the room full of your friends and family for the first time as Mr. & Mrs. Some people decided to change their dress into another one that is more comfortable and suitable for dancing and having a great time. The traditional order of introductions are parents of the bride, parents of the groom, flower girl & ring bearers, bridesmaids & groomsmen, & finally the bride and groom. The best man and maid of honor will be introduced last in the bridesmaid/groomsmen group. You will want to select a song for everyone walking in and a different song for when you and your partner make your big reveal. After you walk into the room, you will proceed straight away to your first dance.

6:25PM | The Welcome Toasts & Speeches

Once you are finished with your first dance, the welcome toasts are next. As you make your way to the sweetheart table, your friends and family will prepare themselves to make speeches. You can choose whatever you like to make speeches at your wedding reception. Typically, these people are the couple’s parents, friends, siblings, maid of honor, best man, groomsmen, or bridesmaids. We recommend sticking from 1-4 speeches. If there are too many or if they are too long, your guests could get less interested.

6:30PM | Salads

For your salad course you have a few options on how you would like it executed. One way you could plan it is to have all your guest’s salads preset at their setting so that it is already there. Another way is having them served right after your welcome toasts & speeches. In our experience, preset salads are preferred so that none of the servers are moving in the way of listening to the speeches. It is also convenient to have your first course waiting for you right when you get to your table.

6:40PM | Dinner

It’s now time for dinner to be served. Our professional servers will go around to each table and ask your guests what they marked down for their entrée on your invitation. Sometimes couples will add what each guest choose onto their name card to make it easier for the server. Our Club has lots of different entrees that you can choose from for your wedding. The most popular choice that we have seen is chicken or steak. But don’t be afraid to splurge and upgrade your wedding to offer a third choice.

6:55PM | Sunset Photos

After you have some time to eat your dinner. This is a perfect time to sneak away and take some final sunset photos of just the two of you. Removing yourself from the reception to catch a little break can be just the breath of fresh air that you need before going back in and dancing the night away. These photos are entirely optional, so if you don’t want to do them and you feel as though you have plenty of pictures, you may skip this all together.

7:20PM | Cake Cutting

It’s time for dessert! Our Club has different cake vendors that we have worked with and that we have thought did an amazing job. Please feel free to choose one of them or you may use a licensed baker that you prefer. When it comes time to cut the cake, the bride will place her hand over the cutting knife. Then the groom will place his hand over hers and gently cut the cake together. Once you remove the cake and place it onto the plate, the groom will feed a bit to his bride and the bride will feed a bite to her groom. Sometimes it can get a little crazy and cake can end up on someone’s face! If you don’t want to serve cake on your wedding, there are definitely some alternatives. Some other things we have seen are cupcake towers, donuts, macarons, cake pops, croquembouche, cannolis, or crème puffs! Don’t be afraid to break away from tradition and do something unique for your special day.

7:25PM | Parent Dances

When the chefs are busy cutting your wedding cake, parent dances are next to follow. Typically, there is a father-daughter and mother-son dance. When the bride and father take the dance floor, it symbolizes all the appreciation and love they have for one another and the assistance they received during their life. The mother-son dance is also important because it’s a pleasant moment to acknowledge his mom or mother figure in life.

7:35PM | Time to Dance!

After the cake has been cut and the parent dances are over, it’s time to let loose and show your wild side on the dance floor! This is when the real party starts, and the DJ starts to play popular party hits. Feel free to add a basket of flip-flops near the DJ so that your guests can take off their high heels and celebrate comfortably! During this time, we typically turn off all the lights and leave up-lighting on. Adding on some foam glow sticks to you event can bring your wedding to the next level.

9PM | Late Night Bites

Need a break from dancing? Adding a late-night snack station to your wedding is just the thing you need! Our Club has loads of different food choices you can pick from. Late night stations have become very popular and will satisfy your guests! It’s best to bring out your snack station an hour before your event ends so your guests have time to munch before it’s time to go. Just imagine all the smiles on your guests face when they grab a bit to eat after dancing all night. It will definitely hit the spot!

10PM | Your Grand Exit

We have seen lots of different ideas for your grand exit. One of the most common exits we have seen is a sparkler sendoff. As you walk out of the venue, your guests will light a path for you to send you off to your honeymoon. This is a great photo opportunity! But you don’t need to use sparklers if you don’t want to. Some other ideas that you can do are having your guests blow bubbles, wave ribbon wands, wave glow sticks, toss flower petals, or release floating lanterns. There are so many other ideas out there for grand exits so be sure to pick one that you feel is perfect for you wedding.

When you’re ready to start touring our Club and planning out your big day, please do not hesitate to contact the Club today at catering@carrollwoodcc.com. Here we take the time to work with you and make sure that every detail in your wedding is what you imagined it to be. Reach out to us about any questions that you might have, and we cannot wait to work with you to piece together your picture-perfect day!