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By Forever Farrah Published 2026-10-20.
When each wedding vendor should arrive, worked back from the ceremony time: venue, florist, photographer, caterer, DJ or band and officiant, with a 4pm example.
Work every vendor's arrival back from the ceremony time. As planning defaults: the florist arrives about three hours before the ceremony, the caterer three hours before cocktail hour, the DJ or band two hours before, the photographer three hours before with getting ready coverage (one hour without), the officiant 45 minutes before, and the venue opens 30 minutes ahead of the first vendor. For a 4pm ceremony that means doors at 12:30pm. Then confirm each time with the vendor, because their own setup needs win.
A vendor arrival schedule is not a separate plan. It is the run of show read from the vendor's side: when do they need to be finished setting up, and how long does setup take? Build the run of show first, then write arrivals from it. If the ceremony moves by an hour, every arrival moves with it, and a schedule written on its own will not.
The run-of-show builder does this for you: it works out each vendor's arrival from the day it lays out, and changes them when the ceremony time or the moments change.
The times below are the builder's defaults for a 4pm ceremony with getting ready coverage, a first look and a cocktail hour. They are planning defaults, chosen to give each vendor a sensible setup window. They are not industry statistics, and no published survey sets them.
| Vendor | Arrives | Needed until | Rule used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | 12:30pm | 11:30pm | Opens 30 minutes before the first vendor; load-out an hour after the send-off |
| Photographer | 1:00pm | 10:30pm | Three hours before the ceremony, starting with details and getting ready |
| Florist | 1:00pm | 5:45pm | Three hours before the ceremony; stays to move pieces to the reception |
| Caterer | 1:30pm | 10:30pm | Three hours before cocktail hour, to set the kitchen and the bar |
| DJ or band | 2:00pm | 10:30pm | Two hours before the ceremony, for setup and a sound check before guests arrive |
| Officiant | 3:15pm | 4:45pm | 45 minutes before; stays after the ceremony for the paperwork |
Without getting ready coverage, the photographer's default moves to an hour before the ceremony (3pm for a 4pm ceremony), or 30 minutes before a first look. When the ceremony is somewhere else and not on your run of show, the builder has the DJ or band arrive 90 minutes before cocktail hour instead.
Some vendors set their own times, and the schedule should simply record them.
Vendor contracts often state their own arrival windows, overtime rates and meal requirements. A schedule that asks a photographer to start at 1pm on an eight-hour contract that ends at 9pm has a 10:30pm send-off nobody is covering. Check every vendor's hours against the run of show and flag any gap to the couple before the week of the wedding, while there is still time to buy extra hours.
Check meals at the same time. The Knot's guide to vendor meals says vendors who are on site for most of the day should be fed, and notes that bands often eat before their set. Put the vendor meal count on the caterer's line and the meal time on the run of show.
Every arrival time has to fit inside the venue's access window. Ask the venue for:
If the florist's three hours do not fit because the venue opens at 1pm for a 4pm ceremony, the florist needs a bigger team or a simpler setup, not a later ceremony.
Put each vendor's arrival time next to their name, mobile number and on-site contact on the vendor contact sheet, and send each vendor their own line with the full run of show about two weeks out. Ask them to reply to confirm. On the day, the contact sheet is your check-in list: tick each vendor off as they arrive, and call anyone who is ten minutes late, not thirty.
Final payments and tips belong on the same sheet. The vendor tip calculator lists who is usually tipped and how much in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, as an envelope list for the couple.
Late arrivals cascade forward, so the schedule needs slack where setup is hardest to rush: the florist's ceremony pieces and the caterer's kitchen. If a vendor is late, tell the venue first (they may need to open another door or move a delivery), then the vendors whose setup depends on them. The DJ cannot sound check while the lighting team is still running cables.
The run-of-show builder is free and needs no signup. It works out the vendor arrival schedule from the ceremony time and the moments you choose, and with a free planner account you can print it or save it as a PDF. It is not yet saved to a client wedding inside the planner dashboard.
The dashboard itself covers the guest side: each client wedding's guest list, RSVPs and seating chart, with Matchmaker (automatic seating) and a QR seat finder for guests. On Pro and up, the print pack includes a caterer sheet with each table's meals. Your first 2 client weddings are free.
Most arrive two to three hours before the ceremony. As defaults: florist three hours before, caterer three hours before cocktail hour, DJ or band two hours before and officiant 45 minutes before, with the venue open 30 minutes ahead of the first vendor.
About three hours before the ceremony with getting ready coverage, to photograph details first. Without it, about an hour before the ceremony, or 30 minutes before a first look.
Every vendor, the venue coordinator and anyone helping coordinate on the day. Leave contract balances off the copy that goes to vendors.
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