Wedding 101 · Tool

Run of Show Builder

Type your ceremony time and the venue's hard stop. Get the whole night, timed the way I time it, and see exactly how much dance floor you are left with.

Print the worksheet All of Wedding 101

Three times in, the whole night out. I start at the ceremony and work forward the way I do it on the day: the cocktail hour covers your photos, the cake goes about a half hour after the last plate, the parent dances follow the cake while the room is still seated, and whatever is left is your dance floor. Change anything and the clock moves with it.

Saved on this phone as you go. Nothing leaves it.

Dance floor 105 min · Music ends 10:00 PM · 5 h 30 m from cocktails to last song

Anchors

Your names Wedding date

Venue

Ceremony starts Music must end by

Everyone out byThe venue's contract line. Information only; the music line above is the one that runs the night.

One tap to start from

The presets fill the anchors and stay editable.

Pace

Relaxed adds five minutes of air after every formality. Mixed, my usual, adds it after the toasts and after dinner. Fast adds none, and I advise against it unless the night is short.

Work backward from the venue's end time

For the couple whose venue fixed the end before the church fixed the start. The ceremony time becomes the answer.

Dance floor you wantminutes

Ceremony and photos

Ceremony lengthminutesTwenty to thirty is most ceremonies. A full religious service runs an hour or more.

Ceremony outdoors

Outdoors turns on the sunset warnings once you set a date.

Ceremony at the same site as the reception

Travel timeminutes, door to door

Receiving line at the ceremony

First look before the ceremony

With a first look, most of the portraits happen before the ceremony and the cocktail hour is yours.

Family groupings15 groupings is about 45 minutes at three minutes each. Photo time after the ceremonyminutesAsk the photographer for this number. Forty-five minutes to an hour is what I see; twenty with a first look.

We want sunset portraits

Set a date and the schedule marks where the step-out lands. If it lands on the toasts, you will hear about it.

Reception doors openLeave it blank unless the venue opens later than your guests arrive. If there is a gap, it shows up on the clock, because your guests will notice it.

Photographer's coverage starts Hours bookedThe schedule marks where coverage ends. Blank is fine.

Cocktail hour

Cocktail hour lengthminutesThe hour covers your photos. When the photos need more, the hour stretches and I tell you by how much.

Cocktail hour in a different room from dinner

Moving a room takes longer than turning one: seating goes from fifteen minutes to twenty-five.

Guest countguestsDinner gets ten minutes longer for every fifty guests over a hundred. Two hundred or more takes longer to seat.

Dinner and toasts

Grand entrance

Five minutes for the two of you, a minute for every two pairs announced, never more than fifteen. It sets the tone, so I never rush it.

Pairs or people announced before you

First dance

Right after the entrance is the East Coast habit: the room is standing and cheering anyway. After the cake makes it the start of a dance set.

Welcome or blessing

Toast speakers Minutes eachThe Toast Planner fills these in when you use it.

Toasts happen

Before dinner gets them done while everyone is seated and sober. Between courses only works with a plated meal.

Dinner stylePlated two courses runs about an hour, three courses seventy-five minutes, a buffet forty-five. Ask your caterer how long they take to feed your count and type it into the clock if they say different.

Buffet line

Table release orderThe order the MC sends tables up. It prints on the vendor copy.

Dancing and moments

Cake cutting

Gap between the last plate and the cakeminutesI put the cake about a half hour after the last plate goes. Served right at the end of the meal, it goes uneaten; wait a bit and people have a sweet tooth.

Parent dances

Each of you with a parent or whoever you choose. I put them right after the cake, while everyone is seated and already watching.

Moments inside open dancing

Pick your moments in the events picker and they show up here with a place in the dancing.

The ending

Last song

End on a high note while people still have some energy. The last song sits five minutes before the music has to stop.

An encore after a slow last dance

A private last dance while guests line up outside

Send-off

Send-off typeThe MC lines guests up ten minutes before the last song ends. Sparklers are fireworks under Massachusetts law; the events picker has the detail.

Print which copy

The couple's copy has a blank column for changes on the day. The vendor copy carries who cues what, their day-of numbers from the Team Sheet, the table release order, and the rain plan.

The night

4:00 PMCeremony30 mincue: officiant, DJ or MC
4:30 PMCocktail hour60 mincue: caterer, photographer. Photos 45 min.
5:30 PMGuests seated15 mincue: DJ or MC, caterer
5:45 PMGrand entrance10 mincue: DJ or MC. 4 pairs, then the two of you.
5:55 PMFirst dance5 mincue: DJ or MC
6:00 PMWelcome or blessing5 mincue: DJ or MC, the couple
6:05 PMToasts10 mincue: DJ or MC. 2 speakers at 4 min.
6:15 PMBreathing room5 minthe mixed pace adds five here
6:20 PMDinner, plated, two courses60 mincue: caterer
7:20 PMBreathing room5 minthe mixed pace adds five here
7:25 PMTable visits, floor opens30 mincue: the couple
7:55 PMCake cutting5 mincue: caterer, DJ or MC, photographer
8:00 PMParent dances10 mincue: DJ or MC
8:10 PMOpen dancing105 mincue: DJ or MC
9:55 PMLast song5 mincue: DJ or MC
10:00 PMSend-off, bubbles10 mincue: DJ or MC, planner

Tap a row to open the step that sets it. The note button adds a line that prints.

Load a copy

This builder does its math in your browser, and JavaScript is off here. The night above is my default clock for a 4:00 PM ceremony with the music ending at 10:00 PM. The blank worksheet prints from the printable page.