A wedding weekend schedule guests can check from the hotel
A wedding spread over two or three days turns guests into travellers, and travellers need an itinerary. For each event give the day, start time, place, who's invited, what to wear and how to get there. Keep it on its own page of the wedding site, so guests can open it from the hotel without scrolling past the story of how you met.
A typical weekend, event by event
Not every wedding has all of these, and the order varies by culture and country. Use it as a checklist of what guests will want to know for each one.
| Event | When | What guests need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome drinks | Evening before | Whether it's for everyone, casual or not, whether food is served |
| Rehearsal dinner | Evening before | Usually invitation only; leave it off the public schedule if so |
| Ceremony | Wedding day | Arrival time, not just start time; seating, photography rules |
| Drinks and photos | Straight after | Where to wait, how long it lasts, shade or shelter |
| Reception and dinner | Evening | Speeches timing, children, dietary arrangements |
| Last transport | Late evening | Times of coaches or the last taxi booking, repeated twice |
| Farewell brunch | Next morning | Drop-in window rather than a start time, and check-out times nearby |
Details that save the most messages
- Arrival time versus start time. "Please arrive by 13:30 for a 14:00 ceremony" heads off late arrivals better than "Ceremony 14:00".
- Addresses that work in a phone's map app. Venue name plus full address, and a note if the satnav route is wrong.
- Transport between events. Who's running the coach, from where, at what times, and what to do if they miss it.
- Dress for each event, because "cocktail" on Saturday and "relaxed" on Sunday is the most common confusion.
- Weather and ground. Grass, cobbles, a beach, a long walk from the car park: tell people before they pack.
- Who's invited to what, said kindly. If some events are for close family only, keep those off the public page and tell those guests directly.
Destination weddings need more
When guests are flying in, the schedule becomes part of their travel planning, so publish it early and add what a local wedding can skip: the nearest airport and typical transfer time, which days to arrive and leave, local currency and tipping habits, whether a plug adaptor is needed, and any entry or visa requirements guests should check for themselves. Suggest an optional activity for the free afternoon, and make it clear it's optional.
Giving the schedule its own page
On an Anticode wedding site, the cleanest way to give the weekend its own page is a CMS collection named something like weekend, with one entry per event and fields for day, start time, place, address, dress and transport. The collection's page at /weekend/ lists every event in order, each event has its own page too, and changing a time is a one-field edit in the dashboard. Ask for it when you describe the site, for example "add a weekend schedule with welcome drinks on Friday, the ceremony and reception on Saturday and a farewell brunch on Sunday", or add it later as a change request. The main wedding website page covers RSVPs and the rest of the site.
Upload a photo of each venue so guests recognise it on arrival. Before you share the link, open the page on your own phone and check that each address opens your map app. If you've changed a time, tell guests directly as well; people don't reread a schedule they think they already know.
What to keep off a public page
Published Anticode pages are public and listed in the site's sitemap; there's no password protection. That shapes what goes on the schedule:
- Leave off invitation-only events, the family home address, and anything that tells a stranger when your house will be empty.
- There are no per-guest views, so everyone sees the same schedule.
- Maps can't be embedded; link each address to a map instead.
- Nothing is sent to guests automatically when the schedule changes. Email or message them yourself.
Questions people ask
Should every guest be invited to every event?
Not necessarily. Many couples invite everyone to the welcome drinks and brunch but keep the rehearsal dinner small. Be clear about which is which.
When should the weekend schedule go up?
With the invitations, or earlier for a destination wedding so guests can book travel. Mark times as provisional until they're confirmed.
Do I still need a printed schedule?
A small card at the hotel or in a welcome bag helps guests whose phones are flat. Print it from the final version of the page.