Congratulations on your engagement! The journey from the moment you say “Yes” to the day you say “I Do” is filled with excitement and a touch of wedding planning stress. Planning a wedding is a significant undertaking, but with a well-structured timeline, you can navigate the process smoothly and enjoy every moment leading up to your big day.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through each stage of wedding planning, from the early stages of setting a budget and choosing a venue to the final countdown and the big day itself. Whether you have a year or just a few months to plan, this timeline will help you stay organized, make informed decisions, and create the wedding of your dreams.
So, let’s start planning!
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF OUR WEDDING PLANNING CHECKLIST HERE!
The Early Stages: 12-18 Months Before The Wedding
The moment you say “Yes” to the love of your life is amazing, and it marks the beginning of an incredible adventure called wedding planning. To get started, here are the important steps you should take in the early stages, typically 12 to 18 months before your wedding date:
Setting a Realistic Wedding Budget
Weddings come in all shapes and sizes, and one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is how much you’re going to spend. Open and honest discussions with your partner and any contributing parties are essential to establishing a realistic budget. Knowing your budget early will guide many of your future decisions. For a detailed outline of wedding budget planning, head over to THIS BLOG. Initially, it’s important to outline your overall wedding budget and who will contribute what.
📌 Save This for Later to Your Wedding Board ↓
Select Your Wedding Date | Selecting Your Wedding Venue
Choosing the perfect wedding date is a combination of personal preferences, venue availability, and budget considerations. Be flexible, as popular venues often book up quickly, especially during peak wedding season. Once you’ve decided on a date, you can move on to the next phase of planning. In our experience, we selected a venue and then looked at available dates. We knew we wanted to use a particular venue so their availability determined our wedding date. But, if the date is the most important factor, you will shop at venues that have that date available.
Decide on a Wedding Style
This is fun, what style wedding will you have. Will it be a formal affair or a more relaxed outdoor celebration? Start thinking about the time of day, the decor style and theme, and the type of food you will serve.
Get The Engagement Ring Insured and Consider Purchasing Wedding Insurance
Be sure to have your engagement ring insured. This is important and will protect you against loss. If you are thinking about purchasing wedding insurance, start doing your research in these early stages of wedding planning.
Take Engagement Photos
If you plan to take engagement photos, plan that early. We loved using these special photos on the save-the-date invitations, the wedding website, and even the thank-you notes. Photographers book early so be sure to get on their calendar.
Research Wedding Dress and Veil Styles
This is another time when our friend Pinterest can come in handy. CLICK HERE to visit our Pinterest Wedding Dress Ideas board.
Create a Preliminary Guest List
Your guest list will influence your choice of venue, catering, and overall wedding size. Begin by listing everyone you’d like to invite, categorizing them into tiers if necessary (e.g., immediate family, extended family, friends). Remember that your guest list may evolve as you progress through planning.
Wedding Vendors
Start researching wedding vendors. Begin with the essential vendors like the photographer, caterer, and rental companies. We outline lots of wedding details in our Vendor Blog HERE (coming soon).
10-12 Months Before the Wedding
Book The Wedding Planner
If DIY Wedding planning isn’t your thing, there are amazing wedding planners available to help. Most wedding planners offer a variety of services from full wedding planning to bits and pieces or just the day of the wedding. Even though we are planning this wedding ourselves for the most part, I have hired a “day of ” planner so that I don’t have to worry about the details on the day of. You will find that a “day of” planner is more like a month of planner. You will meet the month before to turn over all of the details. I think this option is the best of both worlds…you can do a lot of the planning yourself, you save money on the cost of a full-time planner and you get to really focus on the celebration on the day of.
Book the Reception Venue
If you haven’t done this already, get the venue locked down. Venues book up quickly and sometimes years in advance. Don’t wait too long or you may not get the spot you had hoped for.
Book the Ceremony Venue
Be sure to determine and book your ceremony venue.
Book Essential Vendors
Now that you have done your research, start booking your vendors. Begin with the essential vendors like the photographer, caterer, florist, and rental companies. We outline lots of wedding details in our Vendor Blog HERE (coming soon). Just like the venue, popular wedding vendors can book up quickly and far in advance.
The Wedding Dress and Wedding Party Attire
Time to start shopping for the wedding dress. Keep in mind, that if you are ordering your wedding dress, it can take months to come in. Give yourself time so that you don’t feel stressed about the arrival of the dress. You may also be able to shop for a ready-made dress or a dress from a trunk show. This is a great option when you don’t have a lot of time.
During this time, start thinking about your bridal party’s outfits. What color will they wear, will you pick out the dress or give them a choice? There are so many options out there. And don’t forget the groomsmen. What will they wear, a tux, a suit, what shoes?
Extend Invitations to Wedding Party
Who will support you on your big day and stand by your side? Wedding parties vary in size, will you have your best friends, family, etc.? Start thinking about a fun way to ask them to be a part of your big day.
Book the Wedding Officiant
Decide who will marry you. If you are getting married in a Church setting, make an appointment with the officiant and schedule your ceremony. If you are having your wedding at another location (we are having my daughter’s ceremony at the same location as the reception), decide who will officiate the wedding. Will it be your pastor? A family member? A friend? (if it’s one of the latter, be sure they have any certifications they need).
Start Shopping for Stationery and Select a Vendor
There are so many options for wedding stationery shopping. From local stationery shops to online vendors like Minted, you have so many options. Decide what works best for you. In our case, we went with an online vendor because my daughter and I don’t live in the same area so working online made it easier to coordinate.
Order Save the Dates
Once you select a vendor for Stationery, work on your save the dates. These don’t have to be complicated and can even be ordered separately from the rest of the stationery. Perhaps you order these online but use a local stationery shop for the wedding invitation suite. For my daughter’s wedding, we used an engagement picture for our save the dates and sent them about 11 months before the wedding.
Finalize Your Guest List
You will need to finalize your guest list prior to sending your save the dates. This is hard and sometimes means making some hard decisions. A few factors to consider:
- How many people is the top amount you would like to actually attend the wedding?
- Is this the number you will invite, or will you invite more assuming some people won’t be able to attend?
- Or, will you decide on a number to invite, and if fewer come, that’s fine? (we did this)
- Will the bride and groom invite the same number of people? Or will you split the number differently?
8-10 Months Before the Wedding
Design and Décor
Make decisions on your wedding design. Explore themes, colors, and styles of the wedding. What will the overall aesthetic of your wedding be? This theme can flow into the decor, your invitations, your bridal party attire, and more.
Register for Wedding Gifts
Register at two to three national retailers. Guests traditionally would like to give you a gift. Help them out by curating a list of items you need with several national retailers. Most retailers have an online option for registries. You can share your registry on your website, on invitations, shower invitations and really anywhere you would like.
Book Any Outstanding Vendors
If you haven’t already, book any vendors you still need to confirm. For a complete outline of vendor information, head to THIS BLOG (coming soon).
Guest Accommodations
Research and book hotel blocks for out-of-town guests. I recommend offering several options to your guests. From hotels and bed and breakfasts to AirBnB and VRBO you are sure to find a variety.
Hair and Makeup
Research hairstyles for the big day. And, research hair and makeup vendors if you would like to hire someone to help you and anyone else on the day of the wedding. Be sure to book these vendors early as well. When reserving, be sure to book a trial run to be sure you and your hairstylist are on the same page.
6-10 Months Before The Wedding
Finalize Your Wedding Website
Wedding websites are a great way to share all of your wedding details with your guests. Include details about the venue, introduce your wedding party, include your registry details, an FAQ page (what to wear, can I bring kids, etc), and more. We even included lots of engagement pictures of the bride and groom. Many sites like Minted, The Knot and others provide a wedding website free of charge.
Mail the Save The Dates
This makes it all feel very real!
Finalize Invitation Suite
I have outlined all of the details about the wedding invitation suite in THIS BLOG (coming soon). Invitations can be simple or extremely complex. The style and cost possibilities vary. Be sure to order plenty of thank-you notes as well.
Book the Rehearsal Dinner Venue
In addition to booking the venue, determine who will host this event. This event can vary in size from including just the wedding party and key players in the event to everyone from out of town to family and really any combination you can think of. This is all based on your personal preference and budget.
Start Finalizing the Details
- Research Guest Favors and Gifts. Will you share a gift with your guests? Start researching ideas. I have curated some ideas HERE on Pinterest.
- Finalize cake style and schedule tastings.
- Meet with the officiant to discuss plans for the ceremony.
- Choose groomsmen attire.
- Book transportation to and from venues if needed. Will you want to provide transportation for your wedding party from the ceremony to the reception?
- Schedule dress fittings.
- Begin planning your honeymoon.
4-6 Months Before The Wedding
You are getting down to the last few details. Here are a few things to consider during this time.
- If using a calligrapher for addressing invitations, send the invitation suite to them during this time.
- Finalize your menu with the caterer
- Finalize flowers with the florist.
- Schedule Hair and Makeup Trail
- Order the Wedding Cake (if not coming from the caterer).
- Book Wedding Day Transporation.
- Does anyone need a ride to and from the ceremony and reception? Do your guests? Will you need a ride to your wedding night destination? Many times the wedding party will travel together. Also, will you provide transportation to and from the hotel for out-of-town guests?
- Plan welcome bags for out-of-town guests and the wedding party (if you are doing this).
- Order Wedding Guest Favors and Gifts.
- Prepare song lists for DJ, Band, Ceremony Music (include do not play songs). If you don’t want the electric slide, tell them.
- Finalize honeymoon plans. Book flights and hotels, dinners, events, etc..
- Create a detailed Vendor Contact list. This will make it easy to follow up when needed. If you are using a planner, they will also want to have a copy of this.
- Plan your Reception layout and floorplan. Chances are you have had this discussion with your venue but now is the time to figure out all of the final details.
- Finalize your Guest List. Make sure the addresses you used on the Save the Dates are still accurate.
3 Months Before The Wedding
- Mail the Invitations!
- Start planning ceremony and reception seating arrangements. If you are planning to assign seats or tables, start the process as you receive RSVPs back from guests.
- Finalize the Ceremony with the officiant.
- Purchase the tiny details including toasting flutes, cake serving pieces, guestbook, envelope box, flower basket, and ring-bearer pillow.
- Order Menu Cards if you are using them.
- Plan day-of getting ready arrangements for the bridal party
- Finalize songs with ceremony musicians including special songs for the first dance and other traditional events.
- Purchase materials for out-of-town Welcome Bags
- Purchase gifts for your bridal party.
- Plan the reception timeline and order of events.
2 Months Before The Wedding
- Continue planning table assignments.
- Finalize all orders with vendors.
- Plan and send invitations for rehearsal dinner.
- Final Dress Fittings
- Finalize Day Of Timeline
- Review the Photo Shot list with the Photographer
1 Month Before the Wedding
- Apply for and pick up the marriage license.
- Pick up Wedding Bands.
- Finalize Vendor Details.
- Start Sending Thank You notes as gifts arrive.
- Finalize Honeymoon details.
1-2 Weeks Before The Wedding
- Confirm all vendor contracts and schedules.
- Pack for the honeymoon.
- Write Vows
- Start Breaking in your Wedding Day Shoes
- Make arrangements for pets and/or children who will be home while you are away on your honeymoon.
- Follow up with Guests who have not RSVP’d.
- Send final numbers to the Caterer. Be sure to plan a meal for each of your vendors that will be attending as well. They need to eat too. They have likely been hanging out with you all day.
- Make Final Payments to Vendors.
Day Before the Wedding
- Delivery Welcome Bags.
- Mani/Pedi.
- Bridal Luncheon (if having one).
- Enjoy your Rehearsal and Dinner
- Go to Bed Early!
The Big Day (Day-of Timeline)
- Have an amazing day. By following your wedding day timeline, you will know what to do and when.
- Stay relaxed and enjoy the day.
- Eat and drink your water. So important. It’s easy to get caught up in the activities of the day but food and water will keep you going.
After the Wedding (Post-Wedding Timeline)
- Return rentals including tuxes.
- Send thank-you notes.
- Collect Gifts and make any Returns/Exchanges.
- Take the Dress to the Cleaners and have it preserved.
- Take flowers to have them preserved.
- Have an amazing life together!
Conclusion
Having a comprehensive wedding planning timeline will help you stay organized. I check our timeline often to make sure I am keeping up with the tasks that are due during each stage of planning the wedding. Knowing everything is outlined for me really helps keep stress levels low.
Do you have additional items on your wedding planning timeline? Let us know in the comments! We would love to hear.
