Event Program Builder

Sample

Sample day — 4pm ceremony, separate venues

Adapted from a real, tested run sheet. Shift the whole column, not individual rows.

Sample

Sample day — single venue, private first look

Guidance

How to build a timeline that survives contact with the day

1. 01Start with the times that cannot move: ceremony, venue access, curfew, vendor arrival and departure.
2. 02Work backwards from the ceremony, not forwards from the morning.
3. 03Add fifteen-minute buffers between blocks — you recoup them all day.
4. 04Write hydration, snack and bathroom breaks into the schedule; they vanish otherwise.
5. 05Put vendor start and stop times inside the main schedule so everyone shares one document.
6. 06Make a version for each group — honour party, parents, children, vendors — from the master.
7. 07If a garment needs bustling or changing, schedule the minutes for it.
8. 08Name one person per room whose only job is watching the clock.

Checklist

Ceremony order — the beats to place

• ✓Pre-service music while guests are seated
• ✓Ushers confirm aisle seats are full
• ✓Officiant takes position
• ✓Seating of honoured guests and grandparents
• ✓Processional of the honour party
• ✓Principal processional, escorted
• ✓Welcome and opening remarks
• ✓Reading, scripture or blessing
• ✓Address or message
• ✓Vows, personal or traditional
• ✓Exchange of rings
• ✓Unity ritual — candle, wine, cloth or knot
• ✓Prayer of dedication
• ✓Declaration, pronouncement and kiss
• ✓Introduction of the couple or celebrant
• ✓Recessional music

Guidance

Ceremony craft

1. 01Ask ushers to fill the aisle seats right before you begin — photographs read as a full house.
2. 02At the end of the aisle, hand your flowers to one person while another settles the dress and veil.
3. 03Share the ceremony order with everyone involved: officiant, musicians, parents, ushers, children's parents.
4. 04Keep a spare copy of the vows in the day-of folder.
5. 05Ask the officiant to step aside for the kiss so they are not in the frame.
6. 06Mark standing positions with discreet floor tape at the rehearsal so the line is even.
7. 07Tell the party to stand naturally and not lock their knees — people faint at ceremonies.
8. 08Stock tissues in pockets and on the front rows.
9. 09An uneven party is fine: walk people singly, pair one with two, or have one side enter from the side.

Checklist

Music and announcements

• ✓Pre-ceremony seating music or genre chosen
• ✓Processional songs chosen for the party and the principal
• ✓Register-signing music chosen, if needed
• ✓Recessional song chosen
• ✓Fade-out points timed for every ceremony song
• ✓Cocktail hour: live or playlist, and the vibe named
• ✓Grand entrance songs for the party and the couple
• ✓First dance, father-daughter and mother-son songs chosen
• ✓Cake cutting, bouquet and any special recognition songs chosen
• ✓Must-play list written
• ✓Do-not-play list written
• ✓Last dance and send-off songs chosen
• ✓Sound system and microphone setup confirmed with the vendor
• ✓MC confirmed for every announcement
• ✓Final timeline shared with the DJ or band
• ✓Backup playlist saved offline in case of equipment failure

Guidance

Music that lands

1. 01For special dances, choose about ninety seconds of the song and fade — then open the floor.
2. 02Give the DJ a vibe brief in plain words: 'no line dances', 'a nineties hour at ten'.
3. 03Many DJs and bands have a portal for must-plays and do-not-plays; fill it in early.
4. 04If you want to walk to a particular part of a song, time your aisle walk at the venue first.
5. 05Decide whether you want special dance-floor lighting before the night, not during it.

Checklist

The photograph list

Your photographer will catch the obvious. This list is for the frames only you know to ask for.

• ✓Details flat-lay: invitation suite, rings, perfume, jewellery, shoes, cloth
• ✓Getting ready, both suites, natural light
• ✓Principal with each attendant individually
• ✓Principal with the full honour party
• ✓Each principal with their mother, father and siblings
• ✓Both families together
• ✓Grandparents' portraits
• ✓Godparents and elders
• ✓The room before anyone enters
• ✓Ceremony: processional, vows, ring exchange, first kiss, recessional
• ✓Register or licence signing
• ✓Cocktail hour candids
• ✓Grand entrance
• ✓Speeches and the faces listening
• ✓First dance and the parent dances
• ✓The dance floor from above
• ✓Cake cutting
• ✓Golden-hour portraits away from the crowd
• ✓A group photograph of every guest
• ✓The send-off
• ✓One quiet frame of just the two of you

Questions

Questions for the photographer

1. 01Are we doing a first look, and how does that change the schedule?
2. 02How many hours of the day do we want covered, and when do you stop?
3. 03Will there be a second shooter?
4. 04How long after the day will the gallery and album arrive?
5. 05Do you deliver sneak-peek images the following day?
6. 06Are there family dynamics you need to know about in advance?
7. 07What is the backup plan if you cannot make the day?

Guidance

Getting the photographs you imagined

1. 01Review an entire gallery, not a highlight reel — that is what your whole day will look like.
2. 02Decide whether you want posed, candid, documentary or editorial before you shortlist.
3. 03Prepare a flat-lay box of stationery and details the night before to save morning time.
4. 04Be honest about anything you are self-conscious about; a good photographer will angle around it.
5. 05Delegate someone from each family to round up relatives for group photographs.
6. 06Keep water, a snack and lip balm beside the family photo station.
7. 07Name the special photo-ops you want: dance-floor group shot, private last dance, the exit.

Checklist

Reception layout — the floor plan decisions

• ✓Where the top table sits, and what is behind it in every wide photograph
• ✓Dance floor position — central enough that the room does not split in two
• ✓Bar placement away from the entrance so arrivals do not bottleneck
• ✓Cake table, gift and card table, guest book — all in sight of a named guardian
• ✓Band or DJ power, load-in route and speaker throw away from elder seating
• ✓Buffet or station flow: two lines, not one, and no crossing service paths
• ✓Aisle width for the entrance procession and for staff carrying plates
• ✓Where children sit, and where the quiet corner for elders is
• ✓Photographer's shooting lane kept clear of a service route
• ✓Exits, extinguishers and the route the emergency kit lives on

Checklist

The final month, day by day

Print this as a calendar and hang it where both hosts can see it.

• ✓Day 30 — final headcount chased; every unanswered RSVP called personally
• ✓Day 25 — final payment schedule confirmed with each vendor in writing
• ✓Day 21 — seating chart drafted; meal choices attached to seats
• ✓Day 18 — run of show sent to every vendor for comment
• ✓Day 14 — final counts to the caterer; place cards ordered or written
• ✓Day 12 — beauty trial, final fittings and garment collection
• ✓Day 10 — delegation roles assigned by name and confirmed by reply
• ✓Day 7 — rehearsal; ceremony walked end to end with the readers
• ✓Day 5 — cash for gratuities drawn and put in labelled envelopes
• ✓Day 3 — emergency kit packed; day-of bags packed; binders printed
• ✓Day 2 — deliveries and setup access confirmed with the venue
• ✓Day 1 — hand the phone to the coordinator and stop planning

Checklist

The events around the main day

Each one has a host, a budget and a guest list that is not the main list.

Guidance

Running the satellite events without exhausting everyone

1. 01Never place the bachelor or bachelorette night in the final week.
2. 02Invite to a shower only people who are invited to the celebration itself.
3. 03At the rehearsal dinner, do the toasts that will not fit on the day.
4. 04Give travelling guests one optional gathering — not four obligations.
5. 05Put every satellite date on the website so families plan their flights once.
6. 06Book the first night of the after-trip within two hours of home; you will be too tired to fly far.