The Ultimate Guide to Your Wedding Checklist

With so many wedding planning tasks on your shoulders, it is hard to stay sane in the lead up to your big day. Whether you are organising everything by yourself or you have someone to help you, use this checklist to keep track of your duties and make sure you don’t miss a thing!

Get Organised!

Unless you have some experience in event planning (or this is not your first wedding), organising your big celebration might seem like a daunting task. You can barely comprehend the complexity of choosing bridal fabrics and dress silhouettes, floral decorations, menus, signs, entertainers and transport or even imagine yourself juggling with so many different tasks such as booking venues and vendors, communicating with your bridal party and practising choreography for your first dance – the list could seem endless. The only way to do it without stressing out or becoming a bridezilla is to be super organised and have every single detail written down. Our best tip? Purchase (or DIY) a good and detailed wedding planner which includes everything from the planning timeline to the budget planner, guest list, ceremony, reception music playlists and reception seating planner.

You Got Engaged and Now What?

Most brides and grooms won’t just start planning their wedding immediately after they announce their engagement. You can allow yourself some time to just enjoy being engaged, celebrate and take it all in. During this blissful period you can:

• Discuss your ideal wedding
• Determine your wedding budget and set up a savings account
• Make a preliminary guest list
• Select potential wedding dates
• Research ceremony locations and reception venues

12 Months before the Wedding

Twelve months is just about enough to plan the perfect wedding, although many brides managed to do it in less time and some of them even like to have a longer period of time (to save more money or have more time to choose wedding gowns, venues, photographers and other details). Things to do in this early stage of wedding planning include:

• Setting the date
• Hiring a wedding planner (if you don’t want one you can assign tasks to friends and family members)
• Setting up your wedding website
• Look after your health and keep your stress level low
• Choosing members of your bridal party
• Booking your venues and celebrant
• Researching wedding vendors (consult with your celebrant, go online, flick through wedding magazines and visit bridal fairs to find contacts)
• Looking for wedding gowns (it can take months to create a bespoke gown and if you are hunting a bargain, it is more likely you will find the perfect dress if you start with your search early)
• Sending save-the-date cards

8-10 Months before the Wedding

This is when the most exciting part of wedding planning begins! You can start dreaming up your wedding theme and start choosing colours, decorations, flowers and Bomboniere. You can also start browsing honeymoon destinations, enjoy tasting cakes, desserts and menus, but also experience the thrill of dress shopping with the girls. Here is your detailed to-do list:

• Book a photographer and videographer
• Book a DJ (or wedding band)
• Also book your florist (and start designing your bouquets, ceremony arbour, centrepieces, boutonnieres and other floral pieces)
• Decide on the menu (or find and book a caterer if your venue doesn’t supply food)
• Contact event hire companies if you need any additional items (such as photo booths, furniture, props or decorations)
• Order your wedding gown and the suit for the groom
• Begin with your pre-wedding diet and try to eat healthily. If you don’t have time to cook every day, consider booking a meal delivery service that offers fresh and healthy meals
• Start your pre-wedding exercise regime and book dancing lessons
• Book your honeymoon (if you want to travel immediately after the wedding, now is the perfect time to book your flights and accommodation)

6-8 Months before the Wedding

As your wedding day is slowly approaching, the excitement continues and more people start getting involved in the planning. The members of your bridal party will begin organising your bridal shower and hen’s/buck’s night. This is what you need to do during this stage of wedding planning:

• Purchase outfits for your bridal party
• Choose and buy accessories
• Finalise the guest list
• Choose wedding stationery
• Design your wedding rings
• Finalise honeymoon plans (list the activities, book transfers etc.)

6 to 3 Months before the Wedding

• Send out wedding invitations
• Order wedding rings
• Confirm your wedding vendors
• Plan your wedding ceremony
• Finalise your ceremony and reception playlist
• Set up your gift registry
• Organise wedding transport
• Book your first-night accommodation
• Write your wedding vows

2-1 Months before the Wedding

Things will start becoming more hectic as the date gets closer, but don’t panic because all the major planning tasks are already done. Allow yourself some time to relax and collect energy, but also make sure to do the following:

• Prepare all the documentation for your marriage
• Book your hair and makeup stylists (and try out a few different looks)
• Organise a pre-wedding photoshoot
• Confirm your honeymoon reservations
• Schedule a wedding dress fitting
• Purchase gifts for the members of your bridal party

Final Preparations

Take a deep breath and check everything one more time! Here is what you need to do in the final weeks before your big day:

• Have a final wedding dress fitting (and do the final tweaks if needed)
• Contact all of your suppliers one more time and make any last-minute adjustments if necessary
• Review your RSVPs and finalise the seating chart
• Inform your wedding caterer on the final number of guests
• Print out the place cards
• Make a wedding photography checklist (list all the must-have snaps and hand it to your photographer)
• Make a wedding day timeline
• Pack for your honeymoon

And in the final days prior to your wedding date, make sure you sort out all the payments, confirm pick-up times with your transport specialist, drop off everything to your reception venue (such as place cards, decorations, menus and Bomboniere), ensure the cake will arrive on time and finalise all the pre-wedding beauty tasks such as manicure, pedicure, waxing and eyebrow trimming.