For wedding planners and day-of coordinators
Day-of coordinator timeline template
The couple's timeline says when things happen. Yours also says who has to be where before it happens, who calls each cue, and where the slack is. Below is a master timeline template built that way, laid out against the ceremony time so it fits any wedding, and a quick way to turn it into a call sheet for each vendor.
The couple's timeline vs. the coordinator's
The timeline a couple sees is mostly moments: getting ready, first look, ceremony, dinner, first dance. A coordinator needs a second, more detailed version. Offbeat Wed's wedding-day schedule guide, written by a planner, suggests exactly that: "a second, more detailed timeline for the person coordinating your event," including vendor arrival times.1
What the coordinator's version adds:
- Arrivals and load-in. Each vendor's call time and the door or dock they use, before the first moment they work.
- Cue owner. Who starts each moment (you, the DJ, the venue captain, the officiant), so nobody waits for someone else.
- Buffers. Slack you control, placed in front of the moments that can't slide.
- Plan B. The alternative location or time for anything weather or venue dependent, written next to the line it replaces.
The master timeline template
Times are written relative to the ceremony start (C). "C − 2:00" means two hours before the ceremony. All offsets and durations are examples: replace them with what your contracts and the venue say.
| Time | What happens, where | Vendors involved | Cue owner | Notes / plan B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C − 5:00 | Hair and makeup start, bridal suite | Hair and makeup | Coordinator | Order of chairs from hair and makeup; who goes last |
| C − 4:30 | Coordinator on site; walk the venue with the venue contact | Venue | Coordinator | Confirm load-in doors and parking |
| C − 4:00 | Florist arrives, load-in at the service door | Florist | Coordinator | Personal flowers to the bridal suite first |
| C − 3:30 | Rentals delivered and set (chairs, tables, linens) | Rentals, venue | Venue contact | Plan B room set at the same time? |
| C − 3:00 | Photographer arrives: details and getting-ready photos | Photographer, videographer | Coordinator | |
| C − 2:30 | Caterer arrives, kitchen load-in | Caterer | Venue contact | |
| C − 2:00 | First look (if any), then wedding party photos | Photographer, videographer | Photographer | Location; indoor alternative |
| C − 1:30 | DJ / band arrives, load-in and sound check (ceremony first) | DJ / band | Coordinator | Power points; sound check done before guests arrive |
| C − 1:15 | Buffer (coordinator only) | none | Coordinator | Absorbs a late photo session |
| C − 1:00 | Officiant arrives; marriage licence and processional order checked | Officiant | Coordinator | |
| C − 0:30 | Guests arrive; prelude music | DJ / band, venue | DJ / band | Ushers and programmes |
| C − 0:15 | Wedding party lined up, out of sight | Photographer | Coordinator | |
| C | Ceremony starts | Officiant, DJ / band, photographer, videographer | Coordinator (to officiant and DJ) | Plan B location |
| C + 0:30 | Ceremony ends; family photos | Photographer | Photographer | Family photo list, a helper who knows the family |
| C + 0:30 | Cocktail hour starts; ceremony-to-reception flip | Caterer, DJ / band, venue, florist | Venue contact | Florist moves ceremony pieces |
| C + 1:30 | Guests seated; buffer (coordinator only) before entrances | none | Coordinator | |
| C + 1:45 | Grand entrance, first dance | DJ / band, photographer, videographer | DJ / band | |
| C + 2:00 | Dinner service; toasts between courses | Caterer, DJ / band, photographer | Coordinator (to caterer and DJ) | Speech order and mics |
| C + 3:15 | Cake cutting, parent dances, open dancing | Caterer, DJ / band, photographer | DJ / band | |
| C + 4:30 | Photographer and videographer coverage ends | Photographer, videographer | Per contract hours | |
| C + 6:00 | Last dance, send-off | DJ / band | Coordinator | Send-off items handed out |
| C + 6:15 | Vendor load-out; rentals and florist pick-up | Rentals, florist, DJ / band, caterer | Venue contact | Venue end time; who takes personal items |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Where the buffers go
A buffer is time on your sheet that isn't on the vendors' sheets, so it stays yours to spend.
- In front of the moments that can't slide: ceremony start, grand entrance, dinner service. Complete Weddings + Events puts it as "ten to fifteen minutes of buffer in the right places can protect the parts of the day that matter most."2
- Inside the ceremony slot. The Offbeat Wed planner books 30 minutes for the ceremony even when it's shorter, "so that a start time delay doesn't impact the rest of the reception."1
- After photos. Family and wedding party photos tend to run long, so the line after them should be one that can move.
- Give vendors the real times, not padded ones. If the DJ's sheet shows the buffer, the buffer becomes the DJ's.
Turn the template into a call sheet per vendor
The free vendor call sheet maker works today, in your browser, with no account:
- Fill in the couple, date, venue and address, and the day-of contact.
- Add your vendors (it starts with photographer, videographer, DJ / band, caterer, florist and officiant; add hair and makeup, rentals and venue as you need).
- Add one row per line of the template, with the clock time worked out from your ceremony start (a 4:00 pm ceremony makes "C − 1:30" 2:30 pm). Put what happens and where in the text field, with the cue owner and plan B too, for example "Ceremony starts, garden lawn. Cue: coordinator. Plan B: barn". Tick the vendors involved. Leave buffer rows unticked, so they print only on the full day.
- Pick a vendor and print or save a PDF, or copy the sheet as text for an email. Pick "Full day" for your own copy and the couple's.
What it doesn't do (yet): it doesn't store anything, so save the PDFs before you close the tab, and it has no import, so the rows are typed in. A downloadable CSV / Google Sheets copy of this template is planned, not available yet.
For when to send the sheets and how to handle last-week changes, see How to send the wedding-day timeline to vendors.
Tired of re-sending PDFs after every change?
We're building Vendor Call Sheet: the same timeline, but every vendor gets a personal link that is always up to date. $190 a year or $19/month for unlimited weddings, 14-day free trial; waitlist members pay half, for life. It isn't built yet; join the waitlist to hear first.
Join the waitlistSources
- Laura (Rebel Belle), "How to create a wedding day timeline – template included!", Offbeat Wed, first published 2013-06-05, updated 2026-07-14, offbeatwed.com (read 2026-10-19).
- Complete Weddings + Events, "How to Coordinate Wedding Vendors Well" (Colorado Springs), 2026-06-07, completewedo.com (read 2026-10-19).
General information for planning a wedding day, not contract advice: vendor arrival and end times come from each vendor's contract and the venue's rules.
Last updated 2026-10-19.