Free Wedding Runsheet Template Australia (PDF + CSV)

A useful wedding runsheet is not just a list of times. It is a handover system: every moment has a time, a place, the people involved and enough buffer to recover when real life runs late.

Download the free template

• Download the printable wedding runsheet PDF - the run sheet Managing Matrimony's wizard actually builds for a Saturday 4pm ceremony: wedding details, the wedding party, every supplier's contact, then 76 moments across prep, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception.
• Download the editable CSV - the same 76 moments in the product's own export (Time, Title, Section, Duration, Notes). Open it in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets and replace the example with your day.

No registration is required. The worked example is a real draft for a 100-guest NSW wedding, not a universal schedule.

The short answer

Build the day from four anchors: ceremony start, local sunset, travel time and venue curfew. Work backwards for preparation and forwards for the reception. Put a place and the people on every line, then have the venue, coordinator and key suppliers review it.

The five columns every runsheet needs

This is the shape of the runsheet the builder produces, and the shape the PDF and CSV above follow:

1. Time - the planned start. Moments that share a time are grouped, in order.
2. Moment - one clear action or handover.
3. Where - the exact room, address or travel leg.
4. Who - the suppliers and wedding-party members involved, named.
5. Notes - the cue, the dependency or the buffer that makes the moment work.

“Everyone” is not a who. Name the coordinator, MC, venue manager, photographer, celebrant, transport lead or wedding-party contact who will act.

Build backwards from the ceremony and the light

Start with the confirmed ceremony time. Then check sunset for the exact location and date using the Geoscience Australia sunrise and sunset calculator, and agree portrait timing with your photographer.

Work backwards through:

• guest arrival and pre-ceremony music
• wedding-party line-up
• each partner's travel and parking
• getting-ready photographs
• hair, makeup and attire
• flower and styling delivery
• venue access and wet-weather decision time

Winter normally means less usable afternoon light. Depending on the location and photography plan, the answer may be an earlier ceremony or a first look - not a generic move from 3pm to 4pm.

Build forwards through the reception

From the ceremony, add realistic time for congratulations, family photographs, couple portraits, travel and room reset. Then sequence reception moments around the venue's service plan:

• guests seated
• couple or wedding-party entrance, if wanted
• meal service
• speeches in couple-chosen blocks
• cake cut or another chosen tradition
• first dance or dance-floor opening
• last drinks, farewell and transport
• pack-down and valuables handover

Traditions and speech order are couple-, family- and culture-specific. Put only the moments you actually want into the schedule.

Buffers are decisions, not blank time

Add buffer where the day changes location or ownership:

• travel, parking and loading zones
• guest seating
• family-photo gathering
• room reset
• meal clearing before speeches
• supplier setup and sound checks
• farewell assembly and transport

If the day runs late, do not shift every later time by the same amount. Recheck sunset, supplier departure times, catering service, transport and curfew. Decide which flexible moment can shorten while protecting the moments that cannot move.

Feed suppliers when they are not covering a key moment

Photographers, videographers, musicians and coordinators may need meals or breaks during long coverage. Schedule these during a genuine quiet service window, not during speeches, the first dance or another contracted moment they are expected to capture or run.

Wet-weather and late-running controls

Write these into the sheet rather than keeping them in someone's head:

• wet-weather decision time
• decision-maker
• indoor ceremony or portrait location
• supplier notification owner
• transport change
• priority moments if the schedule compresses
• overtime approval contact

Who reviews the final runsheet?

At minimum:

• venue or catering manager
• celebrant
• photographer and videographer
• music or audio lead
• coordinator or nominated day lead
• transport provider
• MC and speakers for their sections

Each reviewer confirms their own arrival, setup, cue, dependencies and handover. Lock the structure several weeks out, then confirm exact times once supplier schedules and venue service are final.

A full 76-moment sample runsheet (Saturday 4pm ceremony)

This is exactly what our runsheet wizard builds for a 100-guest NSW wedding with a 4pm ceremony and 6pm reception — the same engine, moment for moment. Adjust for your day: move the ceremony and every time below moves with it.

Phase 1 — Prep (11:00am – 3:55pm)

Phase 2 — Ceremony (4:00pm – 4:30pm)

Phase 3 — Cocktail Hour (4:30pm – 6:00pm)

Phase 4 — Reception (6:00pm – 11:00pm)

That's 76 moments — the runsheet a wedding of this shape actually gets. A shorter ceremony or a cocktail-style reception has fewer; a multi-event weekend can have 40 or more.

Article template versus the runsheet builder

This article owns the free template and method; the template is the builder's own output for a sample wedding. The Managing Matrimony runsheet builder owns the connected workflow: answer a handful of questions, get this draft for your own day, edit moments, keep supplier details together and share the live version.

Download the printable PDF or editable CSV now, then replace every example assumption with your own venue and supplier confirmations.