What matters most
List the fixed anchors first — arrival, dinner, speeches, key moments, close — then build cues around them.
Points to work through
- Give every cue an owner: who calls it, who acts, and what plays.
- Add realistic buffers because formalities almost always run late.
- Name who can change the order on the night so live decisions are clean.
- Keep one dated version that the DJ, emcee and venue all work from.
- Rehearse the highest-risk cues so the first one is not the practice run.