Wedding day schedule
Wedding Day Timeline Generator
Enter your ceremony time and get a printable wedding day timeline: hair and makeup start, photos with or without a first look, cocktail hour, toasts, dances and send-off.
Wedding day: 11:15 AM to 9:30 PM
| Time | What happens | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 11:15 AM | Hair and makeup begins | 4 people, 2 artists, about 45 min each. |
| 12:15 PM | Photographer arrives: details | Rings, invitation, shoes and flowers while everyone gets ready. |
| 12:45 PM | Get dressed | Leave 30 minutes; buttons, ties and boutonnieres take longer than expected. |
| 1:30 PM | First look | About 20 minutes, just the two of you and the photographer. |
| 1:50 PM | Couple portraits | |
| 2:15 PM | Wedding party photos | |
| 2:40 PM | Family photos | Have a written list of groupings and someone who knows each family. |
| 3:15 PM | Couple out of sight; touch-ups | |
| 3:30 PM | Guests arrive; prelude music | Ushers seat guests. |
| 4:00 PM | Ceremony | 30 minutes. |
| 4:30 PM | Recessional; receiving line or quick congratulations | |
| 4:30 PM | Cocktail hour | 60 minutes. Guests find their seats from the seating chart. |
| 5:30 PM | Grand entrance | |
| 5:40 PM | Welcome, blessing or thank-you | |
| 5:45 PM | Dinner service | Plated service usually takes longer than a buffet. |
| 6:30 PM | Toasts | Ask each speaker to keep to a few minutes. |
| 6:45 PM | First dance | |
| 6:55 PM | Parent dances | |
| 7:05 PM | Dancing opens | |
| 8:00 PM | Cake cutting | |
| 9:15 PM | Last dance | |
| 9:30 PM | Send-off |
Your guest list stays in this browser. It is not uploaded, saved or used for ads or analytics, and files you import are read on your device. Refreshing or closing the page clears the chart, so use “Save project file” to keep working later. The seat finder link carries the names inside the link itself: anyone who has the link or QR code can read the list, so share it only with your guests.
How the timeline is built
It works backward and forward from your ceremony time. Hair and makeup time is the number of people divided among your artists, times the minutes per person, finishing 30 minutes before everyone needs to be dressed. With a first look, photos of the couple, wedding party and family happen before the ceremony; without one, family and wedding party photos move into cocktail hour.
- Reception events (entrance, dinner, toasts, first dance, cake) are spaced as a starting plan; your venue, caterer and DJ or band will have their own order.
- Add travel time if the reception is at a different place, and look up your local sunset time for golden-hour photos.
Common questions
How long before the ceremony should hair and makeup start?
It depends on how many people and artists you have. Four people with two artists at 45 minutes each take about 90 minutes; the timeline adds 30 minutes to get dressed and, with a first look, about two and a half hours of photos before the ceremony.
Also on this site
More tools to try.
Seating chart maker
Drag-and-drop seating plan with round, rectangular, head and desk tables, guest list import, group auto-assign, keep-apart pairs, print to PDF, CSV export and a QR seat finder.
Wedding Seating Chart Maker
Plan your reception seating with a head or sweetheart table, round guest tables and family groups, then print a seating chart sign and an A–Z escort list or share a QR code.
Classroom Seating Chart Maker and Random Seat Generator
Make a classroom seating chart with desks in rows, pairs or groups. Paste your class list, generate random seats in one click, keep certain students apart and print it.
Wedding Budget Calculator
Split your total wedding budget across venue and catering, photography, attire, flowers, music and more, and see the cost per guest. Adjust every share to your priorities.
Find My Seat
Guests: scan the QR code from the welcome sign, type your name and see your table. Hosts can make the code with the free seating chart maker.
The studio notebook
A useful place to begin.
Clear steps, considered details, and ideas you can put to use.
How to Make a Wedding Seating Chart, Step by Step
A practical order of work for turning a final RSVP list into a printed wedding seating chart, with timing, grouping tips and what to check before you print.
Wedding Seating Etiquette: Common Conventions and Your Options
How couples usually handle the head table, parents, divorced families, plus-ones, kids and tricky guests, with alternatives when the usual approach does not fit.
How Many People Fit at a Table: Round and Rectangular Sizes
Typical seat counts for round, rectangular and square tables from a party rental company, plus space per guest and aisle widths to plan around.
Classroom Seating Arrangements: Rows, Pairs, Groups and U-Shapes
When rows, pairs, groups of four, a horseshoe or stations work best, how to rotate seats, and practical tips for building a seating chart you can change.
Escort Cards, Place Cards and Seating Displays: What Each One Does
The difference between escort cards, place cards and a seating chart sign, how to choose between alphabetical and by-table displays, and when a QR code helps.
Import a Guest List From a Spreadsheet or RSVP Site
How to export a CSV from Google Sheets, Excel or an RSVP site, which columns the seating chart tool reads, and how to clean the list before importing.