Wedding Planning Timeline

Keep Your Wedding Planning on Track with This Simple Timeline

Here are some good guidelines for planning your wedding. Obviously, there may be circumstances that will require you to operate on a shorter timeline. We offer this list as an ideal plan to ensure a trouble-free wedding and reception. Simply check off each item as you complete it.

Important! As you can see, there is a lot of work that goes into planning a successful wedding. If anyone offers their help, accept it. And be sure to reward them with a nice gift on your wedding day. Good luck!

  • Select your wedding date – Visit several prospective ceremony and reception venues. When you’ve found the ones you like, check their availability, and choose your wedding date accordingly.
  • Create a wedding folder for your documents – You’ll find yourself frequently referring back to your contracts and worksheets; so it’s good to have them all in one central place.
  • Create a wedding budget – Start with your venue rental costs, the cost of meals for your guests, your bridal gown, your flowers and decorations, and your entertainment. There will, of course, be other expenses. But these are the primary ones.
  • Consider the type of wedding you’d like – Do you want it to be formal, semi-formal or casual? Choose a style that reflects your personalities. Be sure it fits the budget you’ve just created.
  • Book your ceremony and reception venues – You’ll be asked to post a deposit for each. Read each venue’s contract, and get each venue’s cancellation policy in writing. If your reception venue is providing catering, ask to attend a tasting, to sample their food.
  • Post your announcement in your local newspaper (optional).
  • Hire a wedding consultant (optional).
  • Buy your wedding gown – Be sure it’s the one you want, because you won’t get a refund. Allow plenty of time for completion, fitting and alterations. Don’t be surprised if the seller wants to keep the fitting as close to your wedding date as possible. That way, you won’t grow out of it if you gain a few pounds. Once your gown is selected, you may shop for a matching veil, and at your option, a tiara.
  • Choose your bridal party – Invite your closest friends and relatives to share in your big day.
  • Hire your DJ (or band) – Start with recommendations from friends. Check out each DJ with the Better Business Bureau. Look for A+ rated vendors first. They have proven themselves to be the most consistently reliable. Arrange a personal consultation with the DJ if you like. Don’t trust their online “testimonials” to be genuine. Call their references. If a DJ will permit you to see him at a live performance, that’s a plus. But please be respectful and inconspicuous.
  • Hire your photographerWhile it may be tempting to cut corners by having a family member take pictures, a professional always does a much better job. He/she knows how to compose and crop photos for the greatest impact. A professional also knows how to use lighting as an asset, not a liability. And unlike a relative with a digital camera, a professional knows how to use modern development techniques to rescue a picture that may be discolored or overexposed.
  • Hire your videographer (optional) – See “Hire Your Photographer.”
  • Hire your wedding officiantHe/she may be your regular priest/minister/rabbi, or someone independent like a retired judge who will travel to your venue to perform your ceremony. Interview officiants to ensure that they are familiar with your specific wedding traditions and customs.
  • Hire your catererIn some cases, your reception venue will provide its own catering. If it doesn’t, you’ll need a caterer who provides food, beverages, tableware, tables, chairs, decorations and candles. Your caterer will want a security deposit. Like your reception venue, read the contract carefully, and get the caterer’s cancellation policy in writing.
  • Choose your bridesmaids’ dressesOnce you get each bridesmaid’s size, place a single order for all of the dresses. That way, all the dresses will be from the same dye lot, and one bridesmaid won’t look a little different from all the rest.
  • Begin composing your guest listBe sure to ask your parents who they’d like to invite. Limit your list to the number of people your ceremony and reception venues will seat (and feed) comfortably.
  • Sign up for your gift registryBe sure to choose items from all price ranges. Most major stores now offer online registries, to make it even easier for your guests to choose and purchase their gifts.
  • Engagement party (optional)
  • Complete your guest list
  • Order your invitations and thank-you cards
  • Book a block of hotel rooms – Book a hotel near your reception site. Estimate the number of out-of-town guests, then get the hotel’s room rates. As your out-of-town guests respond, have them call the hotel, tell it they’re attending your reception, and reserve their rooms with their own credit cards.
  • Choose your wedding cakeRemember, your bakery must reserve time to deliver and set up your cake at your reception.
  • Start making honeymoon plansPlanning early will give you the best chance to take advantage of special airfares and room rates.
  • Hire your florist – Select your bouquets, boutonnieres, ceremony flowers, reception table centerpieces and floral decorations for your cake. Your florist will want a deposit and a signed contract. Read the contract, and be sure to get your florist’s cancellation policy in writing.
  • Pick out your ringsYou and your fiancée should do this together. Don’t surprise your fiancée with a ring that he or she may hate.
  • See your doctorBlood tests and physical exams are required by most states before you can get your marriage license.
  • Mail your invitations – Be sure you include enough postage.
  • Order your wedding favors – Also order napkins, coasters, matches, ribbons and balloons imprinted with your names and your wedding date.
  • Shop for gifts for your attendants
  • Reserve tuxedos for the men in the wedding partyThe groom, his groomsmen, and the fathers of the bride and groom should arrange to visit the tux shop together to be measured.
  • Book your limo
  • Finalize the menu with your catererAlso confirm the times your reception will start and end.
  • Reserve special items that must be rentedThese are special touches, like china, crystal, silver, candelabras, arches and fountains.
  • Start picking your wedding music – Your DJ will have a planning worksheet that lets you list all of your preferences for your first dance, wedding party dance, bride-father dance and so forth. If your DJ is also providing music and a microphone for your ceremony, he’ll need to know what songs you’ve chosen for your bridesmaids’ processional, bride processional and wedding party recessional, plus any special music for a candle-lighting ceremony, seating of the mothers, or background music tracks for a singer.
  • Book a restaurant for your rehearsal dinnerYou’ll probably need to make a deposit.
  • Check with the tux shopDid they get all of the men’s measurements?
  • Schedule your wedding gown fitting and alterations
  • Have your bridesmaids and flower girl(s) schedule fittings, too
  • Schedule your pre-wedding bridesmaids’ luncheon or party
  • Order your address labels – You’ll be “Mr. and Mrs.” very soon. Be prepared with the proper mailing labels.
  • Confirm your florist order
  • Design your wedding programs – By now you’ve finalized your wedding party and your ceremony music. The printer who designed your invitations probably does wedding programs, too. But by now, one or more things have changed. So you were wise to wait until now to order your programs.
  • Apply for your marriage license
  • Buy your wedding accessories – These may include gloves, a ring pillow, a flower basket, bubbles, an aisle runner, toasting glasses, placecard holders, your garter, your guest book, instant cameras for the dinner tables, and a special box for guests to place their envelopes.
  • Get your gown fitted
  • Arrange a visit to your hair stylist, then your make-up artist, then your photographer, all for the same day – It’s time to take your formal bridal portraits.
  • Check in with your DJ, your photographer, your videographer and your officiant – Make sure everyone is up to speed.
  • Call guests who haven’t answered their invitations
  • Give your caterer a final head count for dinner
  • Finalize your reception seating arrangements
  • Finalize any parking arrangements
  • Confirm your florist’s delivery time
  • Confirm delivery time on anything you rented
  • Pick up your marriage license – Make sure it’s valid through your wedding date
  • Confirm wedding rehearsal plans with your wedding party, your officiant and your ceremony venue coordinator
  • Confirm your attendants’ arrival times for your wedding day
  • Submit your final music list and party worksheets to your DJ – Your balance should also be due by now. Paying it early ensures that you won’t have to worry about it at your wedding.
  • Arrange for your change of nameFill out all necessary legal documents for your bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, driver’s license, automobile license and ownership forms, Social Security card, passport, voter registration cards, insurance policies, subscriptions and employment records. Also, complete a Change of Address card for the Postal Service (if you’re moving), to cover anything you missed.
  • Pack an emergency kit – You’ll need a big bag to hold everything. Let’s start with a pocket mirror, make-up and make-up remover, nail polish and polish remover, nail glue, a nail file, barrettes and bobby pins, a hairbrush and comb, hairspray, curling iron, portable hair dryer and perfume. For unplanned medical needs, pack some aspirin or other painkiller, antacid and prescription medications. Hygiene needs include deodorant, panty hose, hand lotion, tampons or pads, baby powder or talc, toothbrush and toothpaste, tissues, wet wipes, a couple of hand towels and a can of anti-static spray. Then there are the life-savers, like an extra throw-away garter and bouquet, flat shoes, a small sewing kit, spare straight pins, double-stick tape, clear juice or soda, some spare change, your cellphone, and a phone list of all of your wedding vendors.
  • Confirm honeymoon reservations
  • Pack for your honeymoon
  • Pick up your passports if you need them
  • Collect all your travel documents – You should have all of your ticket reservations, hotel reservations, rental car reservations and so forth in a central file.
  • Pick up tuxedosGroom and attendants should try them on, to ensure that they fit, and that all the shoes, studs, cumberbunds and cufflinks are there.
  • Confirm reception seating arrangements
  • Confirm rehearsal plans with the wedding party
  • Confirm reservations for the rehearsal dinner
  • Confirm hotel reservations for out-of-town guests
  • Lay out your wedding day clothes
  • Groom’s bachelor party
  • Get a manicure and pedicure
  • Put your gown and accessories together
  • Give rings to the best man
  • Go back over this planner and make sure everything has been done
  • Eat breakfast – Nothing too heavy; but a little food in your stomach will help calm your nerves.
  • Get your hair and make-up done – A smock to cover your clothing would be a great idea.
  • Put your gown on – When that’s done, have someone take a few candid photos with you and your family and bridesmaids.
  • Have somebody call the reception venue early to ensure that all is ready
  • Showtime!
  • Clean and preserve your wedding gown – You may also wish to preserve your flowers. If so, it’s wise to arrange for someone to do that while you’re gone, and the flowers are still fresh.
  • Change your name
  • Write thank-you notes
  • Settle in for decades of wedded bliss