How to Organise Wedding Vendors: A Step-by-Step Guide

To organise wedding vendors, the problem is not the day itself - it is the week before it, when a supplier's arrival window is still buried in an email from four months ago and the run sheet has not reached anyone. The average wedding involves 13 suppliers, each with their own setup time, access requirement, and day-of contact.¹ A florist who arrives without knowing the room closes at noon for setup will not get in. A band that shows up without timing will not know when dinner ends. The fix is a single process, started at the first booking.

Each supplier puts more time into the wedding than just the day itself. Venues average 41 hours of work per event.⁹ Musicians average 24 hours, hair and makeup artists 23 hours, celebrants 18 hours.⁷⁶⁸ That time spans site visits, preparation and the day. A run sheet reaching each supplier 48 hours before gives them time to plan, rather than improvise.

Hours worked per wedding, self-reported by Australian suppliers. Easy Weddings 2026 survey.⁹¹⁰⁷⁶⁸

Step 1: Start the contact list at the first booking

This is the step with the highest impact on how organised the week before the wedding feels - and the one most couples delay until it is too late.

An Australian wedding planner described the failure mode in 2026: "The couples who feel the most organised are usually the ones who avoid having details scattered across emails, texts, screenshots, Instagram DMs, and handwritten notes."² The fix is five minutes of admin immediately after sending the deposit for each supplier: open the contact list, add the new row, fill the six fields.

The six fields that cover every situation on the day:

The six fields to collect at each supplier booking. Arrival time is the last field filled and the one that matters most on the day.

The PlannedBy vendor list holds these six columns in one view, with each supplier row connected to their relevant section in the run sheet. A supplier added to the list once appears in the right place on the day.

Step 2: Know when each supplier category is typically booked

Booking lead times by supplier category. Easy Weddings 2026 survey.⁵

Australian venues book out 11 months before the wedding. Photographers, celebrants, musicians, and hair and makeup artists all book at around the 9-month mark. Wedding cars are booked last, at around 6 months out.⁵

Knowing this prevents two common errors. The first is starting the contact list before key categories have been booked and leaving half the rows empty for months. The second is contacting a supplier category too late and finding the preferred choice already taken.

Build the list in the order you book. The arrival-time column stays blank throughout this phase - it is filled in Step 3, once the run sheet exists and the schedule is confirmed.

The 19% of couples who book the first supplier to respond⁴ do not always get the best match. Knowing lead times means you contact each category at the right point rather than scrambling and taking whoever is available.

Step 3: Write a vendor arrival window into the run sheet

Each supplier has a setup window before the ceremony or reception starts. Most of them will not volunteer that window unprompted - you need to ask, and then place the answer into the run sheet.

The run sheet carries a separate column for each supplier category: photographer, videographer, celebrant, florist, caterer, DJ or band, hair and makeup, and transport. Each column shows the rows relevant to that supplier - their setup window, the moment they are needed, any breaks, and their finish time. The same document that runs the day for the couple also tells each supplier exactly when they are needed and what happens around them.

Four questions to send to every supplier before the run sheet is finalised:

1. What time do you need access to the venue?
2. Who do you contact on arrival if you cannot reach us directly?
3. Do you need a meal break, and when is the best window for it?
4. What time do you finish and pack down?

A supplier who can answer all four in writing is ready to appear in the run sheet. One who cannot is a phone call away from being ready.

Once the arrival times are confirmed, return to the contact list from Step 1 and fill in the arrival-time column for each supplier. The contact list and the run sheet should now carry the same times.

Step 4: Send each supplier their section 48 hours before the wedding

83% of Australian wedding suppliers prefer to receive information by email.³ The run sheet send is a single email per supplier, containing only their relevant rows.

When to send each type of vendor communication: details collected at booking, draft run sheet at 6 weeks, final send at 48 hours, confirmation call on the morning.

Sending the full run sheet to every supplier creates a document most of them will not read in full. The photographer does not need the caterer's break window. The florist does not need the band's sound-check time. A filtered view - just their section, just their times - is shorter and more likely to be read before the day.

The 48-hour window is close enough that the information is final, and far enough that suppliers have time to review it and raise any questions before the morning.

What to include in each supplier's send:

• Their arrival time and the specific access point (front entrance, loading bay, side gate)
• The name and mobile of the day-of coordinator or a nominated contact
• Any access instructions specific to the venue (parking code, lift access, key collection)

The coordinator or planner, if there is one, receives the full run sheet at the same time. "Every paid vendor (photographer, videographer, florist, DJ, celebrant, coordinator, caterer, bar)" should have the relevant section before the day.¹¹

Step 5: Confirm the morning of the wedding

The morning call is not a check on whether the supplier is coming - it is a 90-second confirmation of logistics so nothing falls apart in the period before the ceremony.

Three things to confirm with each supplier on the morning:

1. Arrival time and access point (even if they have the run sheet, a verbal confirmation removes ambiguity)
2. Parking availability and whether they need a code or pass
3. The name and number of the person to call if anything changes in the next few hours

Suppliers who received the run sheet 48 hours out already have this information. The morning call confirms they have read it and knows where to go. For any late additions or last-minute changes, the morning call becomes the briefing.

Keep a copy of the contact list on your phone as a PDF before the morning starts. A handful of suppliers will have a question that is faster to answer by checking the list than by searching through email threads.

Frequently asked questions

How many suppliers does the average wedding have? The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study, drawing on 10,474 US couples married in 2025, puts the average at 13 wedding professionals per wedding.¹ Australian weddings typically span venue, catering, photography, videography, celebrant, music, hair and makeup, flowers, transport, and a few additional categories depending on the size of the event.

When should we start the vendor contact list? At the first booking, not at the end of the planning process. Five minutes after sending the deposit adds the supplier while their confirmation is current. Starting the list six weeks out means reconstructing information that was available - and accurate - at the time each booking was made.

Do we need to send the full run sheet to every supplier? No. Each supplier receives their relevant section: the rows and times that apply to their role. A full run sheet sent to everyone produces a document most of them will not read completely. A filtered view by supplier column is shorter and more likely to be read before the day.

How do we collect supplier arrival times? Ask each supplier directly as part of the run sheet confirmation process, before the run sheet is finalised. The four questions in Step 3 cover every situation: access time, on-site contact, meal break, and finish time. A supplier who cannot answer all four in writing needs a phone call before the run sheet goes out.

What do suppliers do with the run sheet on the day? They use it to know when they are needed, when to take breaks, and when they are finished. A photographer uses it to identify the family photo window. A caterer uses it to time dinner service against the speech schedule. A celebrant uses it to confirm the ceremony start and the legal formalities that follow. Each supplier reads a different part of the same document.

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The one thing to do today: open the wedding vendor contact list template and add every supplier already booked, with the six fields for each. Leave the arrival-time column blank for now - it gets filled once the run sheet is ready. The contact details, mobile number, and email address are all in the booking confirmation you already have.