Wedding day timeline builder.
The run sheet is the difference between a calm wedding day and a sprint. Build yours block by block below — every block gets a start time and a duration, the end time is worked out for you, and the builder flags the two mistakes that wreck most timelines: blocks that overlap, and dead gaps where the couple stands around while the light goes.
Start from a template if you want realistic bones — a classic 3pm church ceremony, a first-look day, or a small elopement — then shift the times around your actual constraints. Ceremony start, room flip, first dance: those are fixed. Everything else flexes. Two rules from too many Saturdays: buffer every transition by 15 minutes, because cars run late and hair runs long; and protect your portrait light — check sunset for the date and make sure the couple isn't seated for dinner during the best half hour of the day.
When it reads right, print it. The print view strips the controls and leaves a clean chronological run sheet for the couple, the venue, and your second shooter. Everything saves in your browser as you go — nothing uploaded, no account needed.
Coverage 09:00 – 22:00 · 13h on site · 15 blocks
Wedding day run sheet
Built with the free timeline builder at theframeflow.com/tools
Run sheet
Chronological · what the print gives you| Time | Block | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 – 11:30 | Getting-ready coverage & detail shots | Getting ready |
| 11:30 – 12:30 | Partner 2 prep & candids | Getting ready |
| 12:30 – 13:00 | Buffer / photographer lunch | Break |
| 13:00 – 13:30 | Travel to church | Travel |
| 13:30 – 14:15 | Venue pre-shots: flowers, programmes, signage | Other |
| 14:15 – 15:00 | Guest arrivals & candids | Other |
| 15:00 – 15:45 | Ceremony | Ceremony |
| 15:45 – 16:00 | Confetti exit & congratulations | Other |
| 16:00 – 16:45 | Family group photos (planned set) | Family photos |
| 16:45 – 17:30 | Couple portraits | Portraits |
| 17:30 – 18:00 | Cocktail-hour candids | Break |
| 18:00 – 18:30 | Reception entrance, guests seated | Reception |
| 18:30 – 19:30 | Speeches | Reception |
| 19:30 – 20:30 | Dinner service | Reception |
| 20:30 – 22:00 | First dance & open dance floor | Reception |
Goes deeper
The full guide behind this tool — minute-by-minute reference timeline, buffer recommendations, and the three places most timelines fail.
Wedding-day timeline in FrameFlowThe in-app version — pre-filled from the couple's questionnaire, sunset-aware, shareable with the venue and second shooter.
Timeline questions, answered.
- How long should a wedding day timeline be?
- Most full-coverage days run 8 to 10 hours for the photographer — getting-ready coverage from mid-morning through to the first dance, roughly 09:00 to 21:00. Elopements are usually 4 to 6 hours. Work backwards from the fixed points (ceremony start, room flip, first dance) and let everything else flex around them.
- How much buffer should I build into a wedding timeline?
- About 15 minutes after every transition. Cars run late, hair runs long, the celebrant overruns, and venue staff need time to flip the room. A timeline with zero buffer is running late by 11am. This builder flags dead gaps over 45 minutes — a deliberate 15–30 minute buffer between blocks is healthy and won't trigger a warning.
- How long do family group photos actually take?
- Budget 90 seconds per grouping, not the 30 seconds most timelines assume. A 20-set family list is a realistic 30 minutes, not 10. Agree the list with the couple beforehand, put one loud family member in charge of wrangling, and give the block its honest duration in the timeline.
- When should we schedule couple portraits?
- Protect the light first: look up sunset for the wedding date and make sure the couple isn't seated for dinner during the 30 minutes before it. On a first-look day you can shoot the main portrait session before the ceremony and keep golden hour for a short 15–20 minute slip-out. Without a first look, portraits usually land between the family photos and the reception entrance.
- Does this tool save my timeline?
- Yes — in your browser. The timeline is stored locally on your device (localStorage), so it's there when you come back on the same browser. Nothing is uploaded and there's no account. For a keepable copy, use the print button and save it as a PDF.
- Is the timeline builder really free?
- Completely — no signup, no email gate, no watermark on the print. It's the stand-alone version of FrameFlow's in-app timeline, which goes further: pre-filled from the couple's questionnaire, sunset-aware golden-hour blocks, and a shareable read-only link for the venue and second shooter.
Next time, start with the questionnaire already filled in.
FrameFlow builds this timeline from the couple's own answers — ceremony time, reception time, first dance, sunset — and shares it as a read-only link with the venue and your second shooter. Free plan, no card.