Wedding planning starts almost instantly as you say yes when he pops the question, and the process can be a long and stressful one if you do set out goals and do your best to stay on track with your schedule and budget. To help you stay on track with wedding planning here is a guideline that will take your through the process from start to finish and make everything just a little bit easier.
11 to 9 Months Before the Wedding
This is the time before the wedding when you want to start seeking out and booking your caterer, officiant, videographer, photographer, florist, and other vendors. If you find a vendor that you like and can afford you should book them right away before they are completely booked. You should also start to finalize your wedding guest list at this time so that you can begin considering venues. You can even get a step ahead by deciding on a theme and colors for the wedding and purchasing your wedding rings or planning your honeymoon. Lastly, you should start to consider wedding dress options and continue shopping.
8-6 Months before the Wedding
Now is the time where you can start planning your ceremony and reception music, choosing your wedding accessories, choose the attire for your wedding party, and take care of any legalities that you need to get done before the wedding. You should also look at signing up for your gift registry, picking out your invitations and sending your save the date cards.
5-4 Months before the Wedding
At this point in your schedule you should announce the wedding to the community, finalize your flower arrangements, order wedding favors, plan your decorations, and start helping finalize accommodation for out of town guests. You can also pick out your wedding cake, arrange a rehearsal dinner, and put together any other planning you need to get done.
3 Months before the Wedding
At this point in time you should be ordering your wedding cake, meeting with your wedding officials, finalizing the guest list, confirming rehearsal plans, completing your honeymoon arrangements, pick out gifts for your wedding party, address your invitations and send them out and start writing your own wedding vows.
2 Months before the Wedding
This is the time when you should send out all of your invitations, schedule your hair and makeup appointments, get your wedding licence, schedule your dress fitting, put together a wedding program, meet with vendors, finalize music choices, reserve a room for the wedding night and complete the documents needed to change your name.
1 Month before the Wedding
With one month to go before the wedding you should have your final dress fitting, print your wedding program, confirm all of your final payments, pick up your marriage licence, work on your seating chart, and meet with your photographer as well as confirm honeymoon reservations.
2 Weeks before the Wedding
Now you should confirm the delivery of all of your decorations, contact guests that did not RSVP, finalize your seating chart, pick up your wedding gown and accessories and then give your final head count to the vendors.
Aside from the planning that goes on before the big day and during the wedding, you are now done all of the work you need to do. It isn’t easy, and can be stressful, but plan accordingly and your wedding day will be the best day of your life, so far.
Tags: wedding planning
Categories: Budget and Basics