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Wedding Timeline Calculator — Day Schedule
Plan your wedding day schedule from ceremony to last dance.
How We Calculate This
This calculator builds a forward wedding day timeline from your ceremony start time, working through each stage and adding the buffers below. These are typical UK planner and venue conventions, not fixed rules — adjust the advanced options to match your own venue.
Standard timings used
- Guest arrival: 30 min before the ceremony
- Ceremony length: church ~45 min, civil ~30 min, humanist ~40 min
- Confetti & photos: 15 min, plus 5 min per 40 day guests for the larger group shots
- Drinks reception: 60 min (60–90 min is typical)
- Ceremony-to-seating turnaround: 15 min
- Wedding breakfast: ~30 min per course, plus a 15 min service buffer (an extra 5 min per 50 guests for larger covers)
- Settle before speeches: 5 min
- Speeches: ~10 min each (3 speakers ≈ 30 min)
- Cake cutting: 30 min after speeches
- Evening guests arrive: 15 min later
- First dance: 30 min after that
- Evening party: ~3 hours of dancing to last orders/carriages
Heuristics follow UK wedding-day timeline guides from Bridebook and Country House Weddings, and ceremony lengths from UK wedding photographers; speeches at ~10 min each per Bridebook. Always confirm finish times with your venue and registrar.
Frequently Asked Questions
1pm: guests arrive. 1:30pm: ceremony. 2:15pm: photos & drinks reception. 3:30pm: wedding breakfast. 5:30pm: speeches. 6pm: cake cutting. 7pm: evening guests arrive. 7:30pm: first dance. 11pm: last dance. Total: approximately 10 hours from arrival to end.
Each speech should be 5-10 minutes. Traditional order: father of the bride, groom, best man. Allow 30-45 minutes for 3 speeches including reactions and transitions. Warn speakers about time limits - a 15+ minute speech loses the audience.
Evening guests typically arrive 30-60 minutes after speeches end, around 7-7:30pm. This gives day guests a breather and the venue time to rearrange for dancing. Send evening invitations with a 7pm or 7:30pm arrival time.
Allow 60-90 minutes for drinks and canapes between the ceremony and meal. This gives time for group photos, greeting guests, and enjoying champagne. Too short feels rushed; too long and guests get hungry and tired of standing.
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Last updated: February 2026
All calculations are estimates. Adjust quantities based on your guests and event type.