Tackle your wedding planning like a pro with this amazing wedding planning checklist! You can dot the I’s and cross the T’s ensuring every element of your special day is taken care of. We’ve got a fabulous step by step wedding planning timeline with all the main things you need to do to create the most magical day that guests will talk about for years to come.
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Wedding planning can be daunting; researching suppliers, creating your budget and figuring out what to do an when are no mean feat. That’s why we’ve created our wedding planning checklist in a way that is easy to digest, simple to follow and will cover all the necessities for your big day. You can also add in any extras that make your wedding day unique.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 12 Months Before
- Set your budget:
- Start a wedding spreadsheet listing the cost of each item to work out your overall budget.
- It’s a good idea to have columns for estimated cost and actual cost in order to keep track of your wedding spend.
- Don’t forget to fit in a contingency amount just in case. It’s quite common for overspends to happen. €10 here and €20 there add up.
- The average cost of a wedding (including the honeymoon) is €28,000.
- Pick your guest list:
- How many people will you invite? Set a rough figure and then make a list of names of the people you intend to invite. This will help you when you start thinking about venues.
- Choose your Bridal Party:
- The key roles are the maid of honour, best man, bridesmaids and groomsmen, ushers, flower girls.
- Follow our guide on how to fill these roles here.
- Decide your theme:
- Create a mood board or use Pinterest to gather looks you like to set the look and feel of your wedding.
- Choose which type of ceremony you would like:
- Do you want a religious ceremony conducted in a chapel? Or maybe you’d like a civil ceremony in a hotel or stately home? Or maybe you’d like a humanist ceremony? It’s important to discuss your options with your partner which will again help you to choose a wedding venue.
- Choose your wedding venue(s):
- Make a shortlist of venues you would like to book. Arrange viewings and speak with the co-ordinators about the options available.
- If you have a specific date in mind, check whether it is available.
- If you haven’t thought that far ahead, find out which dates are available around the time of year you would like to get married.
- It’s important to note that summer weddings can be extremely popular, along with Friday or Saturday weddings. Therefore these dates can be booked up way in advance.
- Check the legal requirements for your ceremony:
- Arrange an appointment with the celebrant or registrar to discuss the availability of your preferred date and to give notice.
- Book your venue(s) and pay the deposit if required:
- As mentioned, summertime weddings or weekend weddings can be booked up far in advance. If you have chosen a suitable date, make sure to book it with your venue(s) early to avoid disappointment.
- Research photographers, bands, florists and decor companies:
- As soon as you have a date and location, it’s a good idea to begin looking for the other services required for your special day.
- Make a shortlist of suppliers that fit the look and feel of your wedding.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 10 Months Before
- Arrange your wedding insurance:
- Wedding insurance covers you if something goes wrong before your wedding or on the day itself.
- It can cover things like the dress, venue, suppliers, rings and more.
- Hire your photographer, videographer and entertainment:
- Of your shortlist that you created, meet with your chosen suppliers to get a feel for their personalities, their work and what they can provide.
- Narrow the suppliers down to the most suitable providers, book and pay the deposit if necessary.
- Meet with your caterers:
- Discuss the menu options with your caterers.
- If your venue doesn’t provide in house catering, check if there are any rules you need to stick to. This can also be a good opportunity to find out which caterers have worked with the venue before, which you may receive a discount for hiring.
- Arrange your transport:
- Book the transport you’d like to bring you to your ceremony, then whisk you off to your reception in style. Will it be a vintage Rolls Royce? A cute VW campervan? A horse-drawn carriage?
- Book your flowers and decoration:
- Even if you haven’t fully decided on your bouquet, flowers and buttonholes you can book your florist now, then discuss the details at a later stage.
- Narrow down your favourite wedding decor suppliers and meet with them to discuss the options that would best suit your overall style and theme.
- Book the decor supplier that best meets your needs. (Hint: we can help with this! Get in touch today)
- Arrange your honeymoon:
- Do you want a luxury honeymoon straight after the wedding? Or would you prefer a minimoon staycation now and spend the big bucks later?
- Discuss with your partner and begin looking at the options available now.
- Don’t forget to check if your passports are in date or if you need any Visa’s or vaccines?
Wedding Planning Checklist: 8 Months Before
- Find a wedding cake supplier:
- Decide on the type of cake you want and book your supplier.
- How many tiers will feed your guests? Do you have a particular design in mind? What flavour combinations do you want?
- Pinterest can be a great platform to find inspiration for the design of the cake to suit your theme.
- Say Yes to the dress and accessories:
- Do you have an idea of the type of dress you want? Are you completely clueless? Now is the time to get out dress shopping.
- Take the girls with you, try on a few different dresses in a few different stores and choose the one you have fallen in love with.
- Go shopping for the bridesmaids and flower girls:
- Once you have the dress sorted, it’s time to choose outfits for the bridesmaids and flower girl.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 6 Months Before
- Source the Groom’s outfit:
- Arrange the initial fitting for the Groom’s suit.
- Buy or hire the chosen suit
- Buy or hire the best man and groomsmen’s suits:
- Arrange fittings for the best man and groomsmen.
- Buy or hire the suits
- Arrange the gift registry:
- If you choose to use a wedding gift list service, now is the time to arrange this. Many retailers provide this service.
- Choose and order save the wedding invitations:
- Find a stationery company that can design all your wedding stationery in one place.
- Save the dates, invitations, RSVPs, Thank you cards and order of service all need to be ordered now.
- Book your accommodation for the wedding night:
- Your wedding night accommodation may be included in your reception booking if your reception is at a hotel.
- If not, then now is the time to find a place to stay on your wedding night.
- Review all your supplier contracts:
- Now is a crucial time to read through all your supplier contracts to find out what each of your suppliers has committed to and when. This will save a lot of surprises later down the line.
- Ensure you have paid all deposits:
- If you have forgotten to pay a deposit to one of your suppliers, they may assume you have decided to book elsewhere and cancel any services held for your date.
- Send save the dates to your wedding guests:
- If using save the date cards, now is the time to send them to give your guests time to prepare for your wedding. This is especially helpful for any guests travelling overseas to attend your wedding.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 5 Months Before
- Choose and order your flowers:
- Consider which flowers you would like for your wedding and order these with your florist.
- If your chosen flowers are not in season, they may need to be flown in from elsewhere which will come with an additional cost.
- Plan your reception:
- Time to check on your mood board or Pinterest and finalise all those details for your theme with your decor company.
- Select your ceremony and reception music and then brief your musicians:
- Book your singers and musicians and finalise the music selection.
- Brief your musicians on what you want from them, how long you need them for and what you expect from them.
- Book children’s entertainment:
- If you expect to have a lot of children at your wedding it may be a good idea to book some entertainment to keep them occupied throughout the day.
- Now is the time to look into a few options like an onsite creche or wedding nanny service.
- Finalise your guest list:
- Although you’ve made your guest list, some of the chosen people may not be able to attend. Or indeed some guests may want to bring partners or children that you hadn’t accounted for in your original list.
- Take some time to go through your guest list to create your final list.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 4 Months Before
- Review your budget:
- At this stage, it’s a good idea to review your budget to find out if you’re on track or overspending anywhere. Did you filter in a contingency to your original budget? Do you need to make cutbacks at all?
- Select the rings:
- Have you selected your rings yet? If not now is a good time to do so.
- Go shopping with the mothers:
- You want the mothers to feel and look their best on your wedding day. Make it a real girlie day out and take them shopping.
- Arrange a tasting:
- With not long to go, it’s a good idea to book a tasting session with your caterer to make sure you’re happy with your menu selection.
- Finalise your cake:
- Speak to your cake maker and share your cake inspiration to finalise your wedding cake design.
- Your cake maker may also be able to offer some design ideas that you might not have thought of.
- Choose your master of ceremonies for the reception:
- Select your master of ceremonies.
- Plan your hen and stag parties:
- The maid of honour normally organises the hen party.
- The best man typically organises the stag party.
- Although usually these events are kept as a surprise for the bride and groom, you may want to know the gist of the plans and to approve them.
- Plan your rehearsal dinner:
- If you want a rehearsal dinner for your friends and family to meet before the big day then now is the time to book it.
- Finalise honeymoon plans:
- Check whether or not your passports are still valid and renew if needed.
- Will you change your name on your passport to your married name?
- Do you need Visas or vaccinations for your honeymoon?
- Marriage registration forms:
- Do you have your marriage registration form?
- You will need to provide the completed forms (and pay a fee if required) to whoever solemnises your marriage before the ceremony.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 3 Months Before
- Book the stylist and makeup artist:
- Arrange a trial for your hair and makeup and then book in for your hair and makeup for the wedding day.
- Book beauty treatments:
- Are you planning on any beauty treatments in the run-up to the wedding? Get these booked.
- Brief your caterer:
- How many guests will need to be catered for?
- How many adults and children?
- Are there any dietary requirements?
- Keeping up with tradition:
- Are there any traditions that you would like to uphold for your wedding?
- Finalise the order of ceremony:
- Meet with your celebrant to go through the running order of the ceremony.
- Select readings:
- If you’re planning to have any readings, choose these along with your family and friends who will perform the readings at your ceremony. Make sure you’re both happy with the reading.
- Write your vows:
- Will you say your own personal vows at your wedding? If so, it’s a good idea to start writing them early.
- Reception running order:
- What will happen, where will it happen and when will it happen?
- Finalise the rehearsal:
- The rehearsal dinner will take a bit of organising too so best crack on to finalise those details.
- Prepare an FAQ for your guests:
- Your guests will likely have a lot of questions once they receive your invite. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to prepare the basics in advance such as:
- Where will the wedding be held?
- How do I get there?
- Where can I stay?
- Your guests will likely have a lot of questions once they receive your invite. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to prepare the basics in advance such as:
- Prepare your wedding day itinerary:
- Think about the day itself. What is happening, when is it happening and who is involved?
- Agree your almost final guest list:
- Do you have any guests who can’t make it? Will you invite someone else to take their place?
- Send those invitations:
- Send your invitations to your guests.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 2 Months Before
- Confirm Venue Arrangements:
- Meet with your venue coordinator and run through all the details with them.
- Arrange dress fittings:
- Time to make sure the dress fits and carry out any alterations that are needed.
- Prepare instructions for the bridal party:
- Create a list of what you need your bridal party to do on the day and share it with them so there are no surprises.
- Prepare instructions for suppliers:
- Go through each of your suppliers and be specific about what you expect to be provided.
- Agree on the guestlist for hen and stag:
- Agree who will be attending the hen party and stag party.
- Buy gifts for bridal attendants, parents, bride and groom:
- Time to arrange gifts for everyone involved in your wedding.
- Print order of service, menus and place cards:
- Arrange for your printing to be completed so that you can set it aside ready for the big day.
- Send FAQ information to guests as responses are received:
- When you start receiving RSVPs, send out that all import list of FAQs for your wedding.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 1 Month Before
- Track RSVPs:
- Keep a running total of all confirmed guests
- Acknowledge any gifts you receive:
- Take photos on your phone as a reminder of who sent which gifts.
- Brief your photographer:
- Meet with your photographer to discuss the types of photos you want to capture on your wedding day.
- Confirm what time they will arrive and when they will finish.
- Will you provide them with a meal?
- Confirm arrangements with your musicians:
- Double-check that everything will be as agreed for your wedding.
- Confirm the transport arrangements:
- Check the timings and that everything will be as agreed on the day.
- Confirm arrangements with your florist:
- Check that everything will be as agreed with your floral arrangements.
- Confirm arrangements with venue decorators:
- Double-check that all decor elements will be provided.
- Confirm the setup and take down times.
- Confirm arrangements with your venue(s):
- Visit your venue(s) once again and check that everything will be as agreed on the day.
- Arrange any additional venue accessories:
- If you’d like any extra little touches for your reception, now is the time to buy, hire or borrow these.
- Confirm arrangements with hair and makeup artist:
- your wedding day is now the time to experiment or make changes to your hair and makeup plans. Get in touch with your stylist and MUA to confirm your plans.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 3 Weeks Before
- Chase up any remaining RSVPs:
- If you have any guests who haven’t RSVP’d now is the time to contact them to find out if they will attend.
- Provide final numbers to your caterers and reception venue:
- How many guests will be attending?
- How many guests have dietary requirements?
- Create your seating plan for the reception:
- Create your plan to detail where everyone will site.
- Who will be on your top table?
- Are there any guests that don’t get on an should be sat at different tables?
- Prepare wedding speeches:
- Wedding speeches can be difficult to write. The sooner you start writing the better.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 2 Weeks Before
- Confirm final arrangements with all suppliers:
- A final confirmation that all will be as agreed on the day.
- Provide wedding day schedules with instructions to all suppliers:
- Confirm, clearly in writing, what you want, arrival/set up times and departure/take down times.
- Arrange final dress fitting:
- Confirm that the dress fits properly and that you are happy with any alterations or additions.
- Collect wedding dress and accessories:
- Collect your dress from the seamstress and any other accessories.
- Print or collect tickets and itinerary for your honeymoon:
- Get your tickets and itinerary prepared in advance so that they are ready to grab when you need them.
- Arrange foreign currency for your honeymoon:
- Do you need a foreign currency for your honeymoon? Now is the time to arrange it.
- Wrap gifts for the bridal party etc:
- If you haven’t wrapped your gifts, now is the time to do so.
- Test drive your route to the ceremony and reception venues:
- Are there any roadworks on your route? Or any road closures? If so remember to let your guests know.
- How long will it take you to arrive at your venues?
Wedding Planning Checklist: 1 Week Before
- Provide a list of supplier requests to the venue coordinator:
- Does your florist need a space to set up?
- Will your DJ need a table?
- Provide venue coordinators with a supplier delivery schedule:
- Which suppliers will arrive, what are they provided and when will they need access?
- Include contact names and telephone numbers for your suppliers.
- Pack an overnight bag for your wedding night:
- Make sure to pack the essentials for the wedding night and day after.
- Pack for your honeymoon:
- If you are heading straight after the wedding you’ll need to be packed and ready to go.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 3 Days Before
- Pampering time:
- Enjoy those beauty treatments you booked in advance.
- Get your nails done, have a massage and chill for the big day.
- Make any last-minute changes to the table plan if needed:
- You may find out that some guests cannot make it to your wedding at the last minute. Now is the time to check over your table plan and make any adjustments if needed.
- Groom, best man and groomsmen to go for final fittings and collect suits:
- The groom, best man and groomsmen should attend final fittings to make sure the suits fit well.
- Collect the suits and ensure they are kept clean and wrinkle-free for the wedding.
- Create and print a sheet of the running order along with all supplier contact details:
- Provide a copy of this to both your best man and maid of honour.
Wedding Planning Checklist: 1 Day Before
- Drop off table plan, menus, place cards, favours and any extras to the reception coordinator.
- Provide all suppliers with an emergency contact number for the wedding day.
- Ensure the cake is on track to be delivered to your reception venue
- It may be a good idea to ask one of your bridal party members to take care of this.
- Attend your rehearsal dinner
- Get a good night’s sleep!
Wedding Planning Checklist: The Wedding Day!
- Give gifts for your parents to the best man and maid of honour for after the speeches.
- Give wedding rings to the best man to hold during the ceremony.
- Breathe and enjoy your special day!
