Wedding planning checklist: a 12-month timeline you can actually follow

This wedding planning checklist is ordered by what blocks what. The guest count sets the venue, the venue sets the date, and the date decides which vendors are still free. Do things in this order and nothing important gets booked out from under you.

12 months out: budget, guest count, venue

Settle the budget and the guest count together. Every venue and catering quote is priced per head, so these are really one decision. Pick a real number (110, not "about a hundred") and a total that includes a 10% contingency.

Then:

1. Book the venue. The date is not fixed until the venue is, so announce nothing before this.
2. Confirm your officiant. Their availability can limit the date as much as the venue's.
3. Choose your wedding party, so they can plan the year.
4. Send save-the-dates now for a destination wedding; six to eight months ahead is fine locally.
5. Start one guest list document with postal and email addresses. You will use it for a year.

10 to 11 months: vendors who book out first

Good photographers, caterers and bands book 12 to 18 months ahead in most cities.

• Photographer and videographer. Ask for a full gallery from one real wedding, not a highlights reel.
• Caterer, if the venue does not include one. Ask what the per-head price covers: staff, cake cutting, corkage.
• Band or DJ, and hotel room blocks if guests are travelling.
• A day-of coordinator, if you want one.

8 to 9 months: attire and remaining vendors

• Order the dress. Made-to-order gowns take six to eight months plus two or three fittings. Ordering at four months usually means a rush fee.
• Suits take eight to twelve weeks made to measure. Book fittings now.
• Wedding party outfits. Send colour, budget and deadline in one message.
• Florist, cake, hair and makeup, including the makeup trial.
• Book the honeymoon and check passports. Many countries want six months of validity left.

6 to 7 months: invitations and details

• Choose the invitation design and wording. If you are sending digital invitations, set up the RSVP page now so the save-the-date can link to it.
• Set up the registry or honeymoon fund.
• Book transport, and a guest shuttle if the venue is remote.
• Ask your readers and pick the ceremony music.
• Plan the rehearsal dinner and book any rentals the venue lacks: chairs, lighting, heaters.

4 to 5 months: rings and paperwork

• Buy the rings. Engraving and resizing take three to six weeks.
• Look up the marriage licence rules where you are marrying. In Ontario the licence is issued over the counter and is valid for 90 days, so you apply closer to the date. England and Wales require notice at the register office at least 29 days ahead. Put your deadline in the calendar now.
• Hold the menu tasting, order favours and stationery, and write the ceremony with your officiant.

2 to 3 months: send the invitations

• Send invitations six to eight weeks out, or three months for a destination wedding.
• Set the RSVP deadline three to four weeks before the wedding. That leaves about two weeks to chase replies before the caterer needs numbers. The free guest calculator works out the dates and how many guests will likely come.
• Apply for the licence if yours has a short validity window.
• Confirm every vendor's arrival time in writing.
• Write your vows and speeches now, not the week before.
• Second dress fitting, and order wedding party gifts.

1 month out

• Chase missing RSVPs. Expect to chase 15 to 20% of the list. A direct text works better than a third email.
• Build the seating chart once RSVPs close, not before, or you will do it twice.
• Send the caterer a preliminary count with every dietary requirement.
• Final dress fitting. Wear your shoes around the house for an hour a day.
• Give the photographer the timeline and a group shot list, and name the person who will gather family.
• Print your signs. A free wedding welcome sign takes about twenty minutes.

2 weeks out

• Final numbers to the caterer. After this deadline you pay for every plate whether the guest comes or not. If you supply the bar, the free drinks calculator writes the shopping list.
• Pay remaining vendor balances, and note which vendors want cash on the day.
• Send the venue the floor plan and seating chart.
• Check the licence is in hand.
• Pack an emergency kit: safety pins, plasters, stain pen, painkillers, phone chargers, flat shoes.

The week of

1. Write one page of who does what, with phone numbers, and send it to the wedding party, both sets of parents and the coordinator.
2. Prepare labelled envelopes with vendor tips, and hand the rings, licence and vows to one trusted person the day before.
3. Drop off everything the venue needs (signs, favours, place cards, guest book, cake knife) in labelled boxes.
4. Rehearse, eat a proper dinner, and sleep.

If you have less than six months

You can plan a wedding in three to six months. You save time by cutting choices, not steps.

• Book the venue this week. Fridays, Sundays and winter dates are far easier to get.
• Keep the guest list short. Sixty guests is manageable in three months; a hundred and sixty is hard.
• Buy off the rack and leave three weeks for a tailor.
• Send digital invitations. No printing or postal delay, and replies collect in one list. Paper&Seal does this, with RSVPs, reminders and a guest list in one place.
• Choose a venue that includes catering, tables and chairs, so you have fewer vendors to book.
• Check the licence lead time first. It is the one deadline you cannot move.

After the wedding

• Write thank-you notes within three months. Ten a night gets it done.
• Return rentals and suits in the first week (late fees are daily) and get the dress cleaned within a month.
• Name change: order two or three certified copies of the marriage certificate, then update your passport and driver's licence first. Banks, employers, the tax office and insurers ask for those.
• Update wills, beneficiaries and joint accounts.
• Review your vendors and order the album while you still remember the details.

Print the checklist

A timeline helps only if you look at it every week. The free wedding checklist has 120 tasks; enter your wedding date and each one gets a due date. Tick them off in your browser, or print it and stick it on the fridge.