Event day schedule: a run of show with a time for every block
Pick the kind of event and the start time, change how long each block lasts, and every block gets its start and end time. Print it or put it in your calendar.
Each block starts when the one before it ends: add the lengths in minutes to the start time. A 14:00 start with a 60-minute set-up and a 30-minute sound check puts the check at 15:00 and the next block at 15:30.
3:00 PM to 8:50 PM · 5 h 50 min · 9 blocks
To download the calendar file, enter your event date in the planning timeline or on the home page first. The lengths are our own suggestions, not standards. Change them to fit your venue.
Birthday party: day-of schedule (eventfellows.com)
3:00 PMto 4:00 PM
4:00 PMto 4:30 PM
4:30 PMto 5:00 PM
5:00 PMto 5:45 PM
5:45 PMto 6:45 PM
6:45 PMto 7:05 PM
7:05 PMto 7:45 PM
7:45 PMto 8:05 PM
8:05 PMto 8:50 PM
The blocks you edit here stay on this page and are not sent anywhere. The event date and type are the ones kept in this browser for the other tools.
How to build the schedule for the day
Work forward from the first thing that must happen.
A run of show is the day cut into blocks. Each block has one owner, one start and one length. This page keeps the arithmetic honest: the start of a block is the start time plus the lengths of all blocks before it, so when you make one block ten minutes longer, every later block moves ten minutes with it.
Where the time usually goes wrong
- Set-up before guests: put suppliers’ arrival and checks in the schedule as blocks, so the first guest never walks into unfinished work.
- Transitions: moving from the ceremony to the meal, or from the last session to lunch, takes time even when nothing is “scheduled”. Give moves their own block.
- Open blocks: “mingling” or “free time” absorb delays. If everything is back to back, one late supplier shifts the whole evening.
The lengths we start with are suggestions we wrote ourselves for four kinds of event. They are not averages and no source backs them, so edit every one. When the plan is final, send it to each supplier; the planning timeline has this as a task two weeks before the event.
- Final set-up, 60 minutes: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
- Guests arrive, 30 minutes: 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM.
- Welcome drink and mingling, 30 minutes: 4:30 PM to 5:00 PM.
- If the set-up needs 15 more minutes, make it 75: every later block moves 15 minutes, and guests arrive at 4:15 PM.
Before and after the day
The schedule is one piece of the plan.
Put the guest count in the party food calculator to decide when food needs to be ready, and use the calendar invite generator for the invitation guests receive. The money side lives in the budget calculator.
The lengths are a starting point and not a standard. Confirm timings with your venue, caterer and the people who speak or perform.
Frequently asked questions
What is a run of show?
It is the plan for the day of the event as a list of blocks with a start time and a length, in order, so that every supplier and helper knows what happens when. This page builds one from a start time and the length of each block.
Are the lengths in the lists standard times?
No. They are our own starting suggestions for four kinds of event, not averages and not taken from any source. A ceremony, a meal or a set-up takes as long as your venue and your guest count make it take, so change every length that does not fit.
What happens if the day runs past midnight?
The times keep counting and the block is marked "next day". In the calendar file, a block that ends after midnight is written to end on the following date, so it shows correctly.
How do I put the schedule in my calendar?
Choose "Download schedule (.ics)". Each block becomes one event on the event date, in the time zone of your device. Import the file into any calendar that reads the standard format. If you share it, check that the other person is in the same time zone.
Is my schedule saved or sent anywhere?
No. The blocks, times and lengths stay on this page in your browser and are not sent to a server. They are not kept after you close the page; the event date and type come from the shared event data that stays in this browser.
Keep planning
Each tool covers one stage of the timeline.