Wedding day timeline builder

How it works

The builder starts at the ceremony and works out in both directions.

Going forwards, it adds the ceremony’s length, fifteen minutes for confetti and congratulations, any travel to the reception, then the drinks reception. Group photos start ten minutes into the drinks, once people have a glass in hand, and your couple portraits follow straight after them. Guests are called to their seats when the drinks end and the meal starts fifteen minutes later. The speeches go before or after the meal, as you choose. If the room is turned round for the evening, that comes next, and the evening guests arrive when it is done. The cake is cut half an hour after that, the first dance follows fifteen minutes later, and evening food comes out an hour and a half after the dance.

Going backwards, it allows for the journey from where you are getting ready, ten minutes to get out of the door, and an hour before that for being dressed with time in hand. The photographer arrives an hour before you are ready. Hair and make-up start early enough for one artist, or several working side by side, to get through everyone.

Add a date and a town and the builder adds golden hour and sunset, using the same sums as the sunset tool, plus a fifteen-minute slot for sunset portraits. Warnings never stop you; they point out clashes worth a second look.

Assumptions

• Ceremony: civil 30 minutes, Church of England 45, Catholic with Mass 60, humanist or celebrant-led 30.
• Meal: 2 courses 75 minutes, 3 courses 90, 4 courses 120, buffet 60.
• Confetti and congratulations 15 minutes; guests called to seats 15 minutes before the meal.
• Group photos start 10 minutes into the drinks reception; portraits follow them.
• Guests arrive 30 minutes before the ceremony; you leave 10 minutes before the journey and are ready 60 minutes before it.
• Photographer arrives 60 minutes before you are ready.
• Cake 30 minutes after the evening starts, first dance 45 minutes after, evening food 90 minutes after the first dance.
• Sunset portraits start 40 minutes before sunset.

Every figure here can be changed in the Assumptions panel above.

Questions

How long should the drinks reception be?

Ninety minutes is the default because it holds half an hour of group photos and twenty minutes of portraits with time to spare. If your photos add up to more than the drinks, the builder tells you by how many minutes.

Why does hair and make-up start so early?

Each artist works through people one at a time. Four people at 45 minutes each with one artist is three hours, which puts the start at 08:45 for a 13:00 ceremony. A second artist halves that.

Should the speeches go before or after the meal?

Either works. Put them first and the meal moves back by the length of the speeches; put them after and the evening starts later instead. Try both and see which timetable suits the room.

What if the evening runs past midnight?

Times after midnight show as the next day, for example 00:30 (next day), and the builder warns you if anything lands after your finish time.

Can I send this to my venue or photographer?

Yes. Copy the link and the same timeline opens for them with your choices filled in. Nothing is stored anywhere; the settings travel in the link itself.