Build your wedding day schedule in 60 seconds.

It is not, exactly. This generator creates the same kind of starting timeline an experienced photographer or planner would draft for you, using the same industry pacing standards. The advantage is you can build it the moment you set your ceremony time, before you have hired vendors. Use it to validate quotes you receive, sanity-check vendor proposals, and walk into your planning meetings already familiar with how a wedding day flows. Your final timeline should be reviewed by your day-of coordinator or photographer, who will adjust it for venue-specific factors.

The generator works for any ceremony time. Set your ceremony to 11:00 AM for a brunch wedding and the prep time backs up to early morning automatically. Brunch weddings typically use shorter receptions (3 hours instead of 4 to 5) and skip some traditional moments like cake cutting. Toggle the moments you do not want.

Hair and makeup typically takes 45 minutes per person, working in parallel with usually 2 stylists at once. The "# getting ready" dropdown reflects how many people are getting hair and makeup done. The generator backs up the start time so the last person finishes about 30 minutes before the photographer arrives, leaving margin for getting dressed and any small touch-ups.

A first look is a private moment between the couple before guests arrive, scheduled 90 minutes before the ceremony. This unlocks the schedule because the wedding party photos and most family photos can happen before the ceremony rather than during cocktail hour, which means the couple can actually attend their own cocktail hour. If you toggle first look off, those photos move to cocktail hour and the prep time pushes back accordingly.

Add 15 to 30 minutes of buffer between ceremony end and reception start to account for travel time. The generator does not handle this automatically since travel time depends on your specific venues, so you may need to mentally add the gap. If your travel time exceeds 30 minutes, set your cocktail hour to a longer duration (90 minutes instead of 60) so guests have time to arrive comfortably.

No. The timeline runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is stored, no signup required. The "Copy Timeline" button copies the formatted result to your clipboard so you can paste it into a notes app, email, or shared planning doc. For full wedding planning (vendor tracking, RSVP, seating chart, guest list), Zennvue's free customer-side app keeps everything in one place. Learn more.

Not in this version. The generator covers the standard moments most U.S. weddings include. For fully custom moments (cultural traditions, religious rituals, multiple receptions), use the timeline as a base, copy it to your notes, and add your custom moments where they fit. Many planners use the generator's output as a starting template and edit it for the specific wedding.