When you attend a successful wedding, it can seem like the wedding planning process is a piece of cake. Although planning a wedding isn’t difficult, it can be made much more complicated and prone to mishaps if that planning isn’t structured or organized. A detailed wedding planning checklist can help to keep track of all of the little things that are needed to make your wedding day special.
By seeing the list of activities that need to be completed before your wedding day, you can start to think about timelines, budgets, location, and the number of guests you want to invite. If you have bridesmaids or groomsmen that will be involved in the planning process, a simple wedding planning checklist can also help to prevent them from getting overwhelmed. For a free printable wedding planning checklist PDF, click here to download our Wedding Checklist Guide.
Want to skip and download your free Wedding Checklist Guide? Click Here
18 Months Before
- Create A Budget
- Start A Mood Board
- Start A Guest List
- Plan An Engagement Party
- Hire A Wedding Planner
- Decide on Theme, Style & Colour Scheme
- Order Wedding Insurance
14 Months Before
- Select a Reception Venue
- Select a Ceremony Location
- Select a Caterer
- Wedding Dress Shopping
- Create Your Wedding Website
12 Months Before
- Book Your Celebrant
- Book Your Wedding Night Accommodation
- Book Accommodation For Your Guests
11 Months Before
- Choose a Photographer & Videographer
- Select a Ceremony Musician
- Select a Reception Band, DJ or Musician
10 Months Before
- Select Wedding Dress
- Send out “Save the Date”
- Create a Plan “B”
8-9 Months Before
- Select Bridesmaids, Flower Girls Dresses
- Select a Florist and Choose Flowers
7 Months Before
- Select Music Playlist for Ceremony
- Select Playlist for Reception
- Order Decorations
6 Months Before
- Book your Transport/Cars
- Book Transport for Guests
- Collect addresses/emails for Invites/RSVPS
- Marriage Counselling
5 Months Before
- Book Honeymoon
- Order/Book Mens Suits
- Order Mens Shoes
4 Months Before
- Order you Cake
- Buy Wedding bands
- Hair & Makeup Trials
- Plan “The Day After” Brunch
3 Months Before
- Order/Send your Invitations
- Order Guest Favours/Bomboniere
- Order Gifts For Your Parents
- Write Vows & Reception Speechs
- Create a Honeymoon pack
- Plan You Big Exit
- Make a Transport Plan
2 Months Before
- Dress Fitting
- Pick up Marriage Licence
- Break in Wedding shoes
- Practice Vows & Speeches
- Start Your Seating Chart
- Create a Wedding Day Runsheet
- Decide how will guests share photo
1 Months Before
- Assemble Gift Bags
- Finalise Vendors Payments
- Finalise your Seating Chart
- Final walk-through of venue
- Final Dress Fitting
- Provide Final Guest Count to Caterer & Venue
- Clean & Pick Up Wedding Bands
- Practice Vows & Speeches
- Finalise Menu & Dietary Requirements
1 Week Before
- Mani & Pedi
- Ge a spraytan
- Colour Hair and other touchups you prefer
- Practice Vows & Speeches Aloud
- Dinner Rehersal
The Night Before
- Pack an Emergency Bag
- Have a glass of Champagne and Get a good sleep
On The Day
- IMPORTANT: Remember to Eat!
- Relax, have fun and let the magic happen
After The Party
- Return The Suits
- Return any Hired Items
- Finalise and Send Thank You Cards
- Change your Name
- Order your Photos/Album
- Enjoy your HoneyMoon
- Review your Vendors
Download your free PDF Ultimate Wedding Checklist for Wedding Planners
The Wedding Checklist Breakdown
Wedding Budget
The best place to start creating your wedding checklist is with the budget. After all how do you know what you can afford if you don’t plan your wedding expenses. And whats more use a tools like a wedding budget template. Using a checklist and a budget together will help guide you through tasks and costs. Click here for more on wedding budgets
Start Your Guest List
A wedding wouldn’t be any fun without any guests, right? From the must-haves to the not so must-haves (included the girlfriend of you 3rd cousin ) you should start here building your guest list. Which in turn will help with you budget or will be limited by your budget. Click here for how to organize the guest list for your wedding
Selecting a Reception
With 1000’s of possibly wedding venues around for you to choose, you need to find whats more valuable to you. Do you want indoors or outdoors, formal or casual, seated or cocktail. Than you also need to consider your theme and colour palates to match. Click here for ideas on selecting your wedding Reception
Booking Your Celebrant
Like all people, marriage celebrants all have their own personalities. It’s essential that you make more than 1 contact before booking your celebrant in. Discuss their packages and involvement with your ceremony. They play a critical part of a successful wedding so do your research. Click here for How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Celebrant
Download Your Wedding Planning Checkist Guide
Our wedding checklist guide breaks down the wedding planning process based on when certain activities should occur before the wedding. For example, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment if you wait until the month before your wedding to purchase your dress, but by reviewing our DIY wedding planning checklist, you will see that extending your timeline to a year will allow time for wedding dress shopping, alterations, and your wedding dress fittings.
Seeing all of the aspects of your wedding planning activities laid out in an organized guide will help ensure you cover your bases and that there are no forgotten details. Click here to download our free printable Wedding Checklist Guide.
