This wedding run of show template is a sample day from 3:30 to 11:00 PM, with a time, a length, an owner, a place and the cues on every row. Download it in Word or Excel below, overwrite the times, and send the same version to every vendor. The photographer checks it for when the couple’s free, the kitchen for when to fire dinner, and the DJ for when to stop talking. For any other event, the free run of show template builds one from your own times and exports it to Word, PDF or a spreadsheet.
Download in Word Download for Excel or Google Sheets
Both files hold the sample day below, ready to overwrite: time, length, what happens, owner, place and cues. The Word version adds vendor contacts and a rain plan. Free, no account.
The free wedding timeline template lays out the whole day from the ceremony time; this page covers how to run it. For who sits where at dinner, use the free seating chart maker.
Wedding run of show sample: a day laid out by who owns what
This is a Saturday wedding with a 4:00 ceremony and an 11:00 clear time. For other start times, the wedding day timeline generator has 3pm, 4pm and 5pm days. Each colored block belongs to one person. If a block has two owners, nobody is.
The wedding run of show template, with a sample day
Download it above, copy it into a doc, or print the page. Each row needs a time, what happens, one owner, and the cues: the song, the mic, the lights, the kitchen.
| # | Time | What happens | Owner | Cues and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:30 to 4:00 (30 min) | Guests arrive and are seated | Coordinator | Prelude music at 3:45. Ushers in place by 3:15. |
| 2 | 4:00 to 4:25 (25 min) | Ceremony | Coordinator | Processional on the coordinator’s signal; officiant mic live. Allow 10 minutes of slack in case the start runs late. |
| 3 | 4:25 to 5:25 (60 min) | Cocktail hour | Caterer | Bar open, appetizers out before guests walk in. Guests directed from the ceremony by ushers. |
| 4 | 4:25 to 5:15 (50 min) | Family and couple photos | Photographer | Family list read by a named helper. Shot list given to the photographer a week ahead. |
| 5 | 5:25 to 5:40 (15 min) | Guests to the reception room, grand entrance | Coordinator | Entrance song cued; DJ announces. Doors stay closed until the room is ready. |
| 6 | 5:40 to 5:50 (10 min) | First dance | DJ or band | Song cued, dance floor lights set. Photographer in position before the song starts. |
| 7 | 5:50 to 6:50 (60 min) | Dinner served | Caterer | Kitchen fires on the coordinator’s word. Dietary meals served first, by seat. |
| 8 | 6:50 to 7:10 (20 min) | Toasts | Coordinator | Handheld mic tested at 5:00; music down. Three speakers, three minutes each. |
| 9 | 7:10 to 7:25 (15 min) | Cake cutting | Coordinator | Cake table lit; song cued. Cake knife and plates ready. |
| 10 | 7:30 to 10:30 (180 min) | Open dancing | DJ or band | Last call announced at 10:15. Music ends at 10:30, per the contract. |
| 11 | 10:30 to 10:45 (15 min) | Last dance and send-off | DJ or band | Last song cued; lights up at 10:45. Sparklers or bubbles staged outside by 10:20. |
| 12 | 10:45 to 11:00 (15 min) | Venue clear, lights up | Venue | House lights up. Vendors out by 11:30. Walk the room with the couple’s family. |
What a wedding run of show includes
- A header: event name, date, venue, the day-of contact’s phone number and a version number.
- One row per block, in time order: start, end or length, what happens, where, and one owner.
- Cues: what has to happen for the block to start. A song, a mic going live, lights down, the kitchen told to fire.
- Vendor contacts: name, phone and arrival time for everyone working the day.
- The rain plan: where each outdoor block moves, who decides, and by what time. Draw the indoor setup in the free event floor plan maker so the crew can flip the room without guessing.
Corporate events and conferences use the same layout with more cue columns (slides, video, stage), since a speaker program runs on AV. For a conference, gala or launch, our free run of show template builds one with samples for each. For a wedding, one cues column is usually enough.
Build it backward from dinner
Start with when dinner has to be on the table, because the kitchen can’t move that and everything else can. Count back: toasts and first dance before it, the grand entrance before that, then cocktail hour, photos and the ceremony. Pencil each block, then add the buffers.
Add 10 to 15 minutes for the walk from ceremony to cocktails, another 10 for photos that always run long, and a few minutes of slack before the kitchen starts plating.
Five things that go wrong
- Two people think they’re in charge of the same moment. Name one owner per row.
- The kitchen works from the clock. Tell them to fire on the coordinator’s word, since toasts and photos drift.
- Sunset isn’t on the schedule. If the couple wants golden-hour photos, look up the actual sunset time for the date and protect 20 minutes around it.
- Vendors get an old version. Number every revision and send the new one to everybody, the way you would with a BEO.
- Nobody knows what happens if it rains. Write the backup for each outdoor block next to the original.
For the rain backup, the free wedding day emergency kit checklist adds umbrellas, towels and signs for moving indoors when you switch on rain.
Run of show, timeline or BEO?
They overlap but they aren’t the same. The wedding timeline is the couple’s version of the day, often shared with the wedding party. The run of show is the crew’s version: the same clock with owners and cues on every row. The BEO is the venue’s internal instruction for the room, the menu and the staff, and it carries the guest count and the setup. The free wedding timeline template builds the couple’s version, our banquet event order guide explains the BEO, and the free BEO template builds one you can download in Word.
For how long each part of a wedding takes, read how long a wedding is.
If you run weddings, wedding venue management software like MyVenueHQ keeps the contract, floorplan and BEO for each wedding in one dashboard.
Sample times and names only. Every venue and couple runs a different day, so treat this as a starting point.
Free wedding timeline template 
Free run of show template 
Free seating chart maker 
Free event planning checklist