№ 01
The budget reckoner
Destination × guests × tone
№ 02
Guest travel estimator
Flights + lodging, by city
№ 03
The planning timeline
Reverse-engineered calendar
№ 04
The checklist
Atelier notes, downloads to PDF
№ 05
The bar reckoner
Bottles by guests × hours
№ 06
The dress reckoner
Wording + what to wear
№ 07
The day reckoner
Hour by hour, from a time
№ 08
The RSVP code
A QR to your RSVP page
№ 09
Who pays for what
Split the budget by party
Tool № 07·The reckoners·Revised 30 June 2026
Free · no account
The reckoners — day-of timeline

Wedding day timeline
for a 6 PM ceremony.

The full run of the day around a 6 PM ceremony — from hair and makeup to the send-off. Adjust the first look and reception length below; the schedule re-times itself.

Based on
5,962 venues
Destinations
40 covered
Time to result
~40 seconds
Basis
Modeled estimate
Your day · ceremony at 6:00 PM
6:00 PM ceremony

From 1:00 PM when hair and makeup begins to 11:30 PM at the send-off — here is the run of the day, set around your ceremony.

  1. 1:00 PM
    Hair & makeup begins
    Allow five hours for a party of four to six.
    1
  2. 4:00 PM
    Photographer arrives
    Details, dress, and getting-ready frames.
    2
  3. 4:30 PM
    First look & couple’s portraits
    A private moment before the guests.
    3
  4. 4:45 PM
    Wedding party & family photos
    Done early so you join your own cocktail hour.
    4
  5. 5:30 PM
    Guests arrive & are seated
    Doors open; ushers seat the front rows.
    5
  6. 6:00 PM
    Ceremony begins
    Processional to recessional, about thirty minutes.
    6
  7. 6:30 PM
    Cocktail hour begins
    Drinks and canapés while the room is turned.
    7
  8. 7:30 PM
    Grand entrance & guests seated
    Introductions, then everyone finds their table.
    8
  9. 7:45 PM
    Dinner is served
    Courses out; the room settles in.
    9
  10. 8:30 PM
    Toasts
    Keep them to three; warn the speakers in advance.
    10
  11. 8:50 PM
    First dance
    Then straight into the night.
    11
  12. 9:00 PM
    Parent dances
    Optional — many couples fold these in.
    12
  13. 9:15 PM
    The floor opens
    Band or DJ takes it from here.
    13
  14. 10:00 PM
    Cake cutting
    A quiet lull, then back to dancing.
    14
  15. 11:30 PM
    Last dance & send-off
    Sparklers, a getaway car, or simply the lights up.
    15
Atelier note · what most couples miss

The timeline lives or dies on photography, not dinner. The single biggest cause of a day running late is family photos with no first look — a 30-guest extended family can eat 45 minutes you scheduled 15 for. Either do a first look, or assign a bossy relative a printed shot list and a hard stop. And build in a 20-minute buffer before the ceremony you tell no one about; it absorbs the late hairstylist, the missing boutonnière, and the dress that needs one more pin.

Sample · 6 PM ceremony · first look · 5-hour reception

A 6 PM ceremony,
hour by hour.

1:00 PM
Hair & makeup begins
Allow five hours for a party of four to six.
4:00 PM
Photographer arrives
Details, dress, and getting-ready frames.
4:30 PM
First look & couple’s portraits
A private moment before the guests.
4:45 PM
Wedding party & family photos
Done early so you join your own cocktail hour.
5:30 PM
Guests arrive & are seated
Doors open; ushers seat the front rows.
6:00 PM
Ceremony begins
Processional to recessional, about thirty minutes.
6:30 PM
Cocktail hour begins
Drinks and canapés while the room is turned.
7:30 PM
Grand entrance & guests seated
Introductions, then everyone finds their table.
7:45 PM
Dinner is served
Courses out; the room settles in.
8:30 PM
Toasts
Keep them to three; warn the speakers in advance.
8:50 PM
First dance
Then straight into the night.
9:00 PM
Parent dances
Optional — many couples fold these in.
9:15 PM
The floor opens
Band or DJ takes it from here.
10:00 PM
Cake cutting
A quiet lull, then back to dancing.
11:30 PM
Last dance & send-off
Sparklers, a getaway car, or simply the lights up.
1 PM ceremony2 PM ceremony3 PM ceremony4 PM ceremony5 PM ceremony7 PM ceremony
The full set of reckoners

Four tools, quietly kept.

№ 01
The budget reckoner
A destination-aware estimator built on cost research across thousands of destination venues.
Open →
№ 02
Guest travel estimator
Price the flights and lodging for each guest by their departure city.
Open →
№ 03
The planning timeline
Backs from your wedding date to today with 43 milestones across eight phases.
Open →
№ 04
The checklist
44 items across eight phases with an Atelier note on each — the one thing most couples miss.
Open →
№ 05
The bar reckoner
A wedding alcohol calculator: feed in the guest count, the hours of service, how the crowd drinks, and your mix of wine, beer and spirits — leave with a shopping list of bottles and cases, rounded up so you never run dry.
Open →
№ 06
The dress reckoner
Every wedding dress code decoded — black tie, cocktail, semi-formal, beach formal and the rest — with what guests should wear and ready-to-paste wording for your invitation and website.
Open →
№ 07
The day reckoner
A wedding day timeline generator: set your ceremony time and get the whole run of the day, from hair and makeup to the send-off, adjusted for a first look and your reception length.
You are here
№ 08
The RSVP code
A free wedding RSVP QR code generator.
Open →
№ 09
Who pays for what
Who pays for what at a wedding — the traditional etiquette decoded, plus a tool that splits your budget across the bride’s family, the groom’s family, and the couple under whichever model you choose.
Open →