The big question’s been popped, “will you marry me?” and you answer “yes!” amid tears. Finally, the love of your life puts a ring on it, and you are now a fiancé! Oh, the joy! But what now? Wedding bells are ringing, but you don’t know where to start. Planning a wedding can be overwhelming because there are so many things to do and intricacies to arrange. However, if you give yourself enough time to plan and organize the duties into a well-structured checklist, the task of wedding planning becomes more enjoyable and less stressful.
Here is a detailed wedding planning checklist you can use as a guideline for your big day. It is based on 12 months, giving you a clear idea of what to accomplish and when.
12 Months to Your Wedding
Even though it could seem like you have an endless amount of time, a year will pass before you realize it. No matter how much time you have to organize your wedding, start here:
Draft a Rough Guest List
You must first decide how many guests you want at your wedding and how much you are willing to spend per person before determining a wedding budget and venue. Unfortunately, you can’t invite everyone to join you in your celebration, so consider your closest friends and family.
Set a Wedding Budget
It’s now time to decide whether you want a small, private wedding or a big, lavish one because your choice will directly affect how much it will cost. Being heavily indebted at the beginning of your marriage can be stressful. Therefore, you and your partner should be open and honest about your savings, people who might assist out financially, and whether you need to prepare for anything like a family home. Once your budget is established, you can execute the other activities in this detailed wedding planning checklist easily.
Select a Date
Consider the time of the year, season, or day you’ll want your wedding to take place and come up with a suitable date. You don’t want to experience a muddy or rainy wedding day. Choosing a favorable date is important in executing tasks listed on this detailed wedding planning checklist.
Check Whether a Church or Registrar is Free on Your Wedding Date
While booking a venue is fine, your preparations will be severely derailed if no one is available to officiate you on your selected wedding date. You must reserve a registrar if you want to host a civil ceremony. Similarly, depending on your region, you can search for a ‘ lawyer near me‘ to do the officiating. If you prefer a church wedding, you’ll have to check the availability of the church and officiating minister.
Select the Venue(s)
Now that the church, register or lawyer is booked, identify the venue(s) that will be needed and make bookings and reservations. Whether you want a home wedding or a destination one in the southern wedding venue, ensure that the venue you select can accommodate all the guests on your wedding list. Ask them if they have any power backup, such as solar energy or a generator, in case of power outages.
11-9 Months to Your Wedding
Choose the Overall Theme
If you haven’t created your dream wedding board on Pinterest yet, worry not! The app is just a download away. Pinterest can help you create a theme based on your tastes and preferences. A theme will help you select your décor and outfits effectively. You can still get wedding theme inspirations from Instagram, Facebook, or magazines.
Create a Workout Plan
Now that you know whether you want a bohemian, rustic, or modern-themed wedding, create a fitness and wellness plan. Contact a fitness coach and start your gym sessions depending on your physical goals. Alternatively, if your body goals feel unachievable within the remaining timeframe, you can opt for CoolSculpting to complement your workout.
Not only can a proactive exercise and diet plan make you attain your physical goals, but it will also enhance your emotional and mental wellness as you tick off the tasks in this detailed wedding planning checklist.
Appoint Your Wedding Party
It’s time to decide who you want to be at your wedding party. First, get a general idea of the people you’d want to ask to be your best man, maid of honor, groomsmen, and bridesmaids. Creating your lineup could take some time, so start planning ahead. Send them the party proposals as soon as you decide who you want to ask.
Buy Wedding Insurance
It costs a lot of money to throw a wedding. Getting wedding insurance is prudent to include in your detailed wedding planning checklist as it covers any potential liabilities or damage on the big day.
Hire Caterers
Most people on a guest list look forward to having a delicious meal at the reception. Make sure you are familiar with your visitors and prepare your menu accordingly. To reduce food wastage, order meals in planned quantities.
Hire Vendors
Keep in mind the people who will help make your wedding a reality. The event planners, musicians or bands, decorators, DJs, videographers and photographers. Please research who is the best in each category before booking and hiring any of them.
8- 5 Months Before Your Wedding
Start Shopping for Your Wedding Outfits
As for the groom’s suits, tuxedos, and bridesmaid dresses, the fabrics should be chosen with the wedding theme in mind. Now comes the most hectic part, the wedding dress. You can easily find the perfect wedding dress in the first wedding boutique you enter or get frustrated even after going to 10 different wedding stores. To avoid all that stress, go with an open mind. Once you identify your dream dress. You can even get breast enlargement to fit your preferred choice perfectly.
Create a Wedding Website
You should set up a wedding website once the exact date has been reached and before you send out your Save the Dates. Include the date, entertaining information about the two of you, and your wedding venues.
Send Save-The-Dates
These are normally sent 3-4 months before the wedding. However, in this detailed wedding planning checklist, we encourage you to send them at least six months before, especially if it’s a destination wedding. This will give the wedding guests ample time to make travel plans. Send save-the-date cards to everyone on your guest list with the wedding date, venue, your sign, and the wedding website link.
Book Hotel Room Blocks and Transportation
your out-of-town guests may travel a long distance to be at your wedding. Couples normally offer room blocks on-site at your venue or a nearby hotel if you’re having your wedding at a resort or another location with lodging. Ensure that the rooms have a spare key in each room in case of any inconvenience.
You’ll also need to organize transportation to move your guests from one venue to another. Ensure that there is a nearby car wash in each venue. Similarly, don’t forget about your newlyweds’ ride. Whether you prefer riding in a limo or carriage, get around in luxury.
4 Months to Your Wedding
Begin Premarital Counselling
Premarital therapy has benefited many couples whether or not they have a religious background. Having a neutral third party urge you to discuss relationship issues that haven’t emerged will be beneficial. Additionally, counselors can teach effective conflict-resolution techniques to prepare you for inevitable misunderstandings during the marriage.
Book the Honeymoon Destination
It’s said that the key to a happy couple is spending less on the wedding and more on your honeymoon. It is an opportunity to tick off some destinations, whether Bali or the Maldives, on your bucket list. Before settling for the destination, check the weather around the time you intend to travel and be flexible with your flight dates to benefit from any airline offers.
Register the Gifts
Engage your spouse in this project; after all, you are creating a life and a home together. It’s a good idea to ask for essentials like pots, sheets, and pans when registering, but it’s much more brilliant to consider what you desire. Are you the adventurous type? Charity donors? Chefs in training? The registry should reflect your passions and the type of life you plan to lead after the wedding.
Have Final Tasting with the Caterer
As more and more couples opt to customize everything, from desserts to their signature cocktails, tasting has become an important step in a detailed wedding planning checklist. Bring your consultant or planner if you’re in doubt about your taste buds. They’ve probably participated in dozens of tastings, so they’ll be your observant troubleshooter—looking at the food’s presentation and the attentiveness of the staff.
3 Months to Your Wedding
Choose Your Cake
As you choose your wedding cake, keep your wedding theme in mind. Make a wise cake selection. Extravagant cakes can be gorgeous but wasteful. Order the cake based on the number of wedding guests. To make the process more efficient, visit the cake vendor, sample the flavors, browse catalogs, and consult with chefs before deciding on a design.
Hair and Makeup Trial
Let the experts assist you with background research before you enter a trial. Look at prior pictures of yourself and find out what has always worked for you. Next, feel free to browse social media for further ideas. Bring the pictures, and when speaking with the stylist, be explicit about what you want and don’t want.
2 Months to Your Wedding
First Dress Fitting
By now, I believe you have been working relentlessly towards your physical fitness, and you are ready to have your first dress fitting. Afterwards, let the tailor make the necessary adjustments before returning for the second fitting.
Buy Wedding Party Gifts
The amount you spend on the wedding party gifts is up to you, but regardless of your budget, you should aim to provide something as thoughtful, useful, and personalized as possible.
Create the Wedding Playlist
A playlist is a special aspect of this detailed wedding planning checklist. Now is an excellent opportunity to choose songs for special musical sessions like the first dance song, your processional and recessional song, parent dance songs, and wedding departure song. To give your DJ or musical band enough time to prepare, promptly share these music requests.
A Month to The Wedding
Make the Second Dress Fitting and Buy Other Necessary Accessories
Get the final fitting to your dress and buy other accessories such as shoes, veils, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Make a wise wedding shoe selection as these are the shoes you’ll wear the whole day. As you are going for something classy, ensure they are comfortable too.
Create A Seating Chart
Ensure you know where everyone will be seated at this stage in the planning process. You’ll need to give your planner, venue personnel or day-of coordinator your finalized seating chart, one of the essential items in this detailed wedding planning checklist.
Final Week
Congratulations! You’re almost done with the entire wedding planning process. You have already handled most of the demanding tasks. The only thing left is the last-minute tasks such as final wedding outfit fittings, getting a full-body treatment, packing for your honeymoon, and writing your vows.
The Day of the Wedding
Now that you have ticked off almost everything from this detailed wedding planning checklist, it’s time to celebrate! Your wedding day is finally here after all these months of planning. On your big day, relax and take it all in. Make merry memories with your loved ones and enjoy to the last minute.
After the Wedding
You are now married, congratulations! You can now go to your honey money, relax, and discuss your plans. Discussions can range from the company you’d hire to conduct a commercial appraisal for your future home to whether the house should have a big or small backyard.
Follow this checklist to make your wedding planning more efficient.
