A wedding day run-of-show, hour by hour

A run-of-show is the minute-by-minute plan for the day, shared with everyone who has a job to do. It is less romantic than a mood board and far more useful on the day: the DJ knows when to play the entrance song, the kitchen knows when to open the buffet, and the couple can stop checking their phones.

Below is an example for a wedding with a morning ceremony at a gurdwara and an evening reception at a hall. Every wedding is different. Use it as a template, change the times to suit your ceremony and your venue, and keep the buffers.

Before you write the times

• Fix the ceremony time first — gurdwaras, temples, mosques and churches set their own schedules
• Work out travel time between home, ceremony, photo locations and the hall, and add more in winter or during Stampede
• Count the outfit changes and give each one at least half an hour
• Check sunset for your date if you want outdoor photos — around half past four in December, after half past nine in late June
• Decide what cannot move, such as the ceremony and dinner service, and what can, such as photos and some speeches
• Ask your venue for its own timings — when vendors can get in, and when the evening must finish

Example: the morning

The times below are an example only, for a Punjabi Sikh wedding. Your ceremony time, travel and venue will set the real ones.

1. 7:00 a.m.

   Hair and makeup

   The bride and bridal party begin. Allow more time than the artist quotes — something always needs redoing.

2. 8:00 a.m.

   Chooda and family blessings

   At the bride's home, with close family. The photographer arrives to cover getting ready.

3. 8:30 a.m.

   Groom's side gets ready

   The sehra is tied and the baraat prepares to leave.

4. 9:30 a.m.

   Arrival and Milni

   The families meet at the gurdwara, followed by tea and a light breakfast.

5. 10:30 a.m.

   Anand Karaj

   The four laavan. Phones away; the photographer works within the gurdwara's guidance.

6. 12:00 p.m.

   Langar and greetings

   Guests eat, and the couple greets family who will not be at the reception.

7. 1:00 p.m.

   Couple and family photos

   Outdoors if the weather allows, indoors if it does not. Keep a written list of family groupings.

8. 2:30 p.m.

   Rest and outfit change

   The most important gap of the day. Eat something.

Example: the reception

1. 5:00 p.m.

   Final checks

   Decor, DJ and photographer set. Place cards checked against the final list; reserved tables marked.

2. 6:00 p.m.

   Guests arrive

   Appetisers and drinks. Someone from each family at the door to greet elders.

3. 7:00 p.m.

   Family and bridal party entrances

   Entrance songs cued in order. Give the DJ every name with its pronunciation.

4. 7:15 p.m.

   The couple's entrance

   Straight to the stage, with the lights brought up on them.

5. 7:30 p.m.

   Welcome and first speeches

   Two or three short ones before dinner, so the kitchen is not waiting.

6. 7:45 p.m.

   Dinner

   Buffet released table by table, starting with elders and the head table.

7. 8:45 p.m.

   Remaining speeches and performances

   Family performances while dessert and tea go round.

8. 9:15 p.m.

   Cake and first dance

   Then the floor opens to everyone.

9. 9:30 p.m.

   Open dance floor

   Lighting shifts from dinner to dancing.

10. 11:00 p.m.

    Late-night food

    If you are serving it, arranged with the kitchen in advance.

11. 11:45 p.m.

    Last song and send-off

    The Doli, if your family holds it at the end of the reception, or the couple's exit.

For a Hindu wedding, the morning might hold the baraat, jaimala and pheras instead. For a Nikah, the ceremony may be the same day as the reception or earlier in the week. Many Western ceremonies take place in the afternoon, with drinks straight after. The reception half of the day changes less than the morning. Our wedding week timeline covers the days leading up to this one.

Where the day usually slips

• Hair and makeup — the most common reason for a late start
• Family photos — long lists of groupings and relatives who cannot be found. Give the list to a cousin who knows every face
• Travel between ceremony, photos and the hall, especially on snowy roads or in Stampede traffic
• Entrances — members of the bridal party missing at the moment their song starts
• Speeches — the most reliable overrun of the night. Agree times and ask speakers to rehearse aloud
• Dinner — without someone releasing tables in order, everyone queues at once

Building in buffer

Add fifteen minutes between each block in the morning and thirty before guests arrive at the reception. If you finish early, people rest; if you finish late, nothing collapses. Put the buffers into the shared version, not only your private copy — vendors plan to the times they are given.

Decide in advance what can be cut if the evening runs long — a second round of speeches, a slideshow, a performance — and give one person the authority to make that call on the night. Not the couple, and ideally not a parent.

Who needs a copy

When the date is set, book a tour to walk the room against your timeline, or contact us to check availability. See also wedding receptions and our 12-month checklist.