somethingprettyBy SomethingPretty editorial · Published · 7 min read
The quick answer
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Work backwards from the parts of your day that cannot easily move, then give each transition a person and a realistic duration. The ceremony-to-reception gap is a guest experience as well as a photography window. This guide shows how to connect the two without filling every minute or assuming suppliers have agreed to your draft.
Start with the fixed points you have actually booked
A useful wedding run sheet begins with confirmed constraints, not a sample schedule copied from another celebration. List the ceremony booking, reception access, food service, photography coverage, transport departures and final pack-down time. Mark which are agreed in writing and which are still preferences. A suggested dinner time is not yet a confirmed kitchen commitment.
Ask each supplier what their time means. Photography coverage may begin on arrival rather than when the first portrait is taken. A ceremony booking can include arrival and departure within a limited room slot. Venue access may need to cover all setup and removal. Put those definitions beside the times before trying to arrange the attractive moments. You will make better decisions when the run sheet describes what was booked, rather than what everyone assumed the booking would allow.
Keep legal ceremony needs separate from reception entertainment
Ask your authorised celebrant to confirm the legal and practical ceremony sequence, including arrival, signing and any required participants. The Attorney-General's Department explains that Australian marriages require an authorised celebrant and particular legal steps. Do not compress those steps because a photography location is available for only a short window. Raise any timing conflict with the celebrant early.
A cultural ceremony, personal vows and the legal marriage can be connected in different ways. Label each part clearly so suppliers know what is happening and who is responsible. NSW Registry ceremonies also have their own booking and preparation instructions, which should be followed where that is your chosen service. This guide is about the event handovers; it does not replace the celebrant's assessment of the legal ceremony or suggest that a reception schedule establishes eligibility to marry.
Sources: Attorney-General’s Department: getting married in Australia · NSW Government: booking a Registry ceremony
Give the ceremony-to-reception gap a job
A gap is not automatically a problem. It can allow travel, family photographs, a rest or a change of venue. The difficulty comes when guests do not know what to do, whether food is available or when they are expected somewhere else. Decide what the gap is for and who is invited to each part. Then communicate the simple guest version.
If the couple leaves for portraits, confirm whether guests remain at the ceremony site, move to a hosted space or make their own arrangements. Do not assume a nearby café can absorb the whole wedding without notice. If there is no hosted activity, say so politely in the information sent before the day. Guests can then plan their own meal, transport or rest rather than discovering an unplanned two-hour wait in formal clothes.
Model travel as a complete transition
Travel time is more than the estimated drive between two pins. Include gathering people, walking to vehicles, boarding, parking, unloading and reaching the next room. Ask the transport operator about the actual route and access arrangements. A vehicle's advertised seat count does not tell you whether all passengers can board comfortably or whether the same run suits guests using mobility equipment.
For a fictional transition, allow 10 minutes to gather and board, 25 minutes of driving and 10 minutes to unload and reach the room. That is 45 minutes before any additional contingency you choose. A reception welcome at 5 pm would require that group to begin boarding no later than 4:15 pm under those assumptions. These numbers are invented. Replace them with your operator's advice, the actual locations and a plan for people who cannot use that journey.
Test whether the venue access window still fits
Use the venue-access-window calculator to add your setup, event and pack-down hours, then compare them with booked access. It is a useful pressure test because the wedding can appear to finish on time while removal extends beyond the agreement. The tool cannot approve access or tell you whether several tasks can happen safely at the same time.
Suppose a fictional booking provides 10 hours of access. Setup takes three hours, guest use lasts six hours and removal needs two hours. The total is 11 hours, leaving a one-hour gap. That gap needs a real solution: additional agreed access, a changed setup method or a shorter scope. Do not simply make the pack-down line disappear from the run sheet. Ask the venue and affected suppliers to confirm the revised arrangement and any charges before treating the conflict as solved.
Assign one owner to each important handover
For every transition, write who gives the go-ahead and who receives it. The ceremony finishes; someone tells the transport lead. Guests enter the reception; someone checks that the room and catering team are ready. Speeches begin; the MC confirms with the service lead and photographer. A time printed on a document does not itself make those conversations happen.
Use named roles where possible so you can update a contact without rewriting every line. 'Venue duty manager' is useful if the person on shift may change. Keep one private contact sheet and a shorter version for people who only need their own section. Friends can help with clearly agreed tasks, but ask before allocating them work. A guest who offered to carry flowers has not necessarily agreed to supervise a room change or solve a delayed supplier delivery.
Make the guest schedule shorter than the supplier schedule
Guests usually need the address, arrival time, ceremony start, reception start, transport information and any important access instructions. They do not need the floral delivery slot or a private family photography list. A shorter schedule is easier to use on a phone and less likely to expose information that was intended only for suppliers.
The Human Rights Commission's event guidance includes accessible invitations and communication. Ask how guests would prefer to receive essential information, and offer a contact for questions. If a person needs an arrangement that is not obvious from the general timetable, confirm it directly. A beautiful image of the schedule should not be the only source if the text is too small or cannot be read with assistive technology. Keep place names and street addresses consistent across every version.
Source: Australian Human Rights Commission: accessible in-person events
Decide what can move when something runs late
Mark your priorities before the day. Some are fixed by safety, legal requirements or the contract; others are personal choices. If portraits take longer, would you shorten an optional location stop, delay an entrance within the agreed service window or reduce another activity? Ask the suppliers what is genuinely possible. You cannot independently move dinner without considering the food and staff plan.
Give a nominated decision-maker permission to make defined small changes. They should know which choices need the couple and which can be handled with the venue. Avoid a rule that every minor adjustment must wait for a person who is in the middle of the ceremony. Keep the update process simple: revise the relevant time, tell affected leads and use the same current version. A last-minute text to one supplier is not a complete schedule update.
Rehearse the handovers, then stop adding detail
Read the run sheet from arrival to departure as if you have never visited the site. Can each person find the next place? Is there food, seating or a rest opportunity where needed? Does someone hold any item that must move between locations? Are the couple's bags, documents and personal belongings assigned to a person rather than a vague 'someone'?
Put the agreed schedule into SomethingPretty's timeline and keep a dated backup. Share only the extracts each supplier needs; the tool does not automatically distribute changes or coordinate the event. Confirm the important handovers in the final supplier conversations. Once the plan is coherent, resist adding so many tiny instructions that nobody can find the essential one. The purpose of a run sheet is to create room for the day to happen, not to prevent every spontaneous moment.
FAQ: How long should the gap between ceremony and reception be?
There is no single correct gap. Work from your ceremony, travel, photographs, guest needs and confirmed venue access. Explain any unhosted period before the day. If the gap only works for the couple, revisit what the rest of the guests will do.
FAQ: Does a run sheet replace the venue's schedule?
No. Your plan needs agreement with the venue and relevant suppliers. Their access, food, staffing and safety requirements still apply. Resolve differences before distributing one accepted version rather than expecting a document to override the booking.
FAQ: Should all guests receive the complete run sheet?
Usually a short guest timetable is more useful. Keep supplier contacts, private notes and detailed family instructions in a separate working version. Give guests the information they need to arrive, participate and get home comfortably.
FAQ: Can SomethingPretty notify suppliers when a time changes?
The current workspace is browser-based planning with exports and backups. It does not send supplier notifications or run the event. Share the revised extract yourself through an agreed channel and confirm that the affected person has received it.
Bring the details into your plan.
Use confirmed figures, keep unknowns visible and record the dates agreed with your providers.
Sources and editorial notes
Sources checked 25 October 2026. Worked examples are fictional illustrations. Rules and provider terms can change; check the official source for your circumstances.
- Attorney-General’s Department: getting married in Australia ↗
- NSW Government: booking a Registry ceremony ↗
- Australian Human Rights Commission: accessible in-person events ↗
General information, not an individual legal, financial or contract assessment. AI-assisted drafting with source checks; independent professional review has not been completed. About our guides · Suggest a correction