Most timeline templates assume your guests will instantly stand up and walk to the cocktail hour the exact second your ceremony ends. They absolutely will not.
I built my own wedding timeline and gave everyone fifteen minutes to move from the outdoor patio to the indoor bar. It took them almost forty minutes. People stop in the aisles to hug each other. They leave their coats on their chairs and have to go back for them. Someone always needs to use the restroom. You have to physically herd one hundred people through a single set of double doors.
I always tell couples to add a solid thirty minute buffer block right after the recessional. Do not schedule your family photos to start immediately. Let the guests clear out of the ceremony space first. Give them time to find their drinks and start talking.
If you rush the transition, your photographer will spend twenty minutes politely asking your college roommate to step out of the background of your family portraits. Put the buffer in the spreadsheet. You can always start the photos early if the room empties out faster than expected.
