Your wedding morning guide to getting to the church on time

Your wedding ceremony is booked for 2 pm, loads of time right? Well, time it wrong and you will be running out the door half an hour late before you know it.

Time and time again there are crowds of pretty miffed guests left sitting on a hard bench waiting. The bride, as usual, is half an hour late. You won't believe how quickly the wedding morning flies by. Enjoy every minute, take it all in and relax and all that but make sure you've got your timing to a T.

We have a simple guide to how you should run the wedding morning. Now, we're not saying you need to go all Monica on it with headsets, shouting orders, but simple things like having your hair and makeup team arrive early enough and making sure one of the bridesmaids is ready for them will help things move along smoothly.

• Give your hair stylist and makeup artist plenty of time to get your bridal squad ready
• Allow 45 minutes per person from the time the glam squad get started until the time you want to be ready. Your hair and makeup people will probably allow that long anyway when you tell them your bridal party numbers.
• Decide is the mother of the bride going first or last. Some MOTB's like to run around all morning and get ready last minute. Others prefer to be ready early so they can potter about for the morning. So consider will your mum want to help you into your dress? If so she shouldn't be last for makeup.
• Don't waste time. Have one of the bridesmaids or the MOTB ready for hair and another ready for makeup as soon as they arrive.
• Never leave the bride until last. The hair stylist may want to set your hair early, that's fine, but your makeup should never be left until last. You will want it fresh, however, there is always a chance of a rush at the end of the morning, and the last person that should be rushed is the bride. The bride should be made up somewhere in the middle, and her hair finished second last. If your makeup is done with an hour or two to go, it gives your makeup artist a chance to check it before you leave. She will check you for any areas that are getting shiny or mascara smudges and fix them.

It's simple, but it works. Here's our tried and tested timing schedule for a bridal party of five.

8.30 Bridesmaid no.1 makeup, mother of the bride's hair.

9.15 Mother of the bride makeup, bride's hair is set or put in rollers

10.00 Bridesmaid no.2 makeup, bridesmaid no.1 hair

10.45 The bride makeup, bridesmaid no.2 hair

11.30 Bridesmaid no.3 makeup, bride's hair finishing touches

12.15 Time to get into the dress, bridesmaid no.3 hair

12.45 Bride checked by makeup artist for any imperfections

1 pm Photos

1.30 You're goin' to the chapel, and your gonna get married

How many have you got in your wedding party? Do you feel you would have enough time in 45 minutes per person?