Wedding day timeline maker

How to build your timeline in four steps

1. 1

   Answer five short questions. Enter your ceremony time and length, your town or venue, whether you are doing a first look, how many people need hair and makeup, how many family photo groups you want and how long each drive takes. Press Build my day and the whole day is laid out around your ceremony.

2. 2

   Add your date to see golden hour. Search for your venue's town or city and add your wedding date. We show sunrise, golden hour and sunset, and Fit golden hour places your portraits in the last light and tells you why.

3. 3

   Change anything that does not fit. Edit the time, length, who is involved and where it happens. A longer step moves the steps after it, and you can fix any time in place. Move the ceremony and the whole day moves with it.

4. 4

   Print it or share it with your vendors. Download a PDF or a calendar file, or print a clean copy. With a free account you can make a link for each vendor that shows only their lines, plus the big moments of the day. They can tap Looks good or leave a note, and you can turn a link off whenever you like.

Times are in the local time of your venue.

Sample wedding day timelines

Each table below is made by the same timeline maker you use above, with four people having hair and makeup, one artist, eight family photo groups and the ceremony and reception at the same place. Change any answer in the tool and the times change with it.

How long each part takes

Free wedding day timeline templates

Free downloads, no email needed.

• Blank wedding day timeline template (PDF, US Letter)
• A sample wedding day as a spreadsheet (CSV)

Frequently asked questions

What is a typical wedding day timeline?

Most weddings run in the same order: hair and makeup, getting dressed, an optional first look, the ceremony, cocktail hour, the grand entrance, dinner, toasts, cake, the first dance, dancing and a send-off. With a 4pm ceremony, hair and makeup often start in the late morning, cocktail hour runs to about 5:45pm, dinner follows, and the send-off is around 10pm. The sample days above show other start times. Every step can be changed.

What time should the ceremony start for sunset photos?

Plan for the ceremony to end 15 to 30 minutes before sunset, so your portraits can be taken in the last warm light. Sunset moves a lot through the year and with your latitude: in June it can be well after 8pm in much of the country, in December it can be around 4:30pm. Add your town and date to the tool and it shows sunset and golden hour, then Fit golden hour places your portraits and says why.

How long is cocktail hour?

Usually 60 to 90 minutes. The tool starts at 60 minutes and makes it longer if your family photos and couple portraits need more time, so guests are never left waiting with nothing to do. If the reception room needs resetting, ask your venue how long it takes and lengthen cocktail hour to match.

How long do family photos take?

Plan on about 3 minutes for each group. Eight groups takes about 24 minutes, and twelve takes about 36. Write the list of groups ahead of time and ask someone who knows both families to gather people, because finding relatives takes longer than taking the photo.

When do toasts happen?

Most often toasts come after dinner, which is how the tool lays them out (about 30 minutes). Some couples have them before dinner, so guests are not waiting to eat, or between courses. Ask your caterer which they prefer, and keep each toast to a few minutes.

How long does hair and makeup take?

A usual starting point is 45 minutes for each person, shared between the artists. Four people with one artist is 3 hours, and with two artists is about 90 minutes. The tool finishes the last person an hour before you leave for the ceremony, or an hour before a first look, and shows the sum so you can check it.

Should we do a first look?

A first look is a private moment before the ceremony when the two of you see each other, usually with the photographer nearby. Couples choose it for calmer portraits and more time at cocktail hour, because the couple portraits are already done. If you would rather keep the first sight for the aisle, leave it off. The timeline adjusts either way.

When should we send the timeline to vendors?

A few weeks before the wedding is about right, and a final copy about a week before. Share a link so everyone reads the same version: if you change something later, the link shows the update and marks the lines that changed. Vendors can tap Looks good or leave a note, so you know it has been seen.