Lindsey Dillingham

Fun Fact:  According to The Knot Summer issue, The average engagement is 14 months.   

12 months before
·  Envision your wedding and draw up a budget.
·  Assemble your “planning team.” Consider hiring a wedding consultant.
·  Pick a wedding date and time. Select several options, then check with your venues, officiant, and important guests before finalizing.
·  Start planning the guest list.
·  Look for and book ceremony and reception sites.
·  Ask friends and relatives to be in the wedding party.
·  Optional: Have an engagement party. You may want to register beforehand for gifts.

8-10 months before
·  Bride: Think about, shop for, and order your gown.
·  Envision reception food.
·  Decide what type of entertainment you want. A pianist for the cocktail hour, strolling violinists, a DJ, or band?
·  Think about your floral decor.
·  Research and book your wedding professionals. Interview vendors: photographer, videographer, reception band or DJ, florist.
·  Research a wedding insurance policy to protect your deposits.
·  Research and reserve accommodations for out-of-town guests.
·  Register for gifts.
·  Contact rental companies if you need to rent anything for ceremony/reception, such as chairs, tables, and tent.

6-8 months before
·  Book ceremony musicians.
·  Order bridesmaid dresses.
·  Start planning honeymoon.
·  Send save-the-date cards. This is a particularly good idea if you’re marrying during a tourist or holiday season or having a destination wedding.
4-6 months before
·  Attend prewedding counseling.
·  Shop for and order invitations and wedding rings.
·  Shop for formalwear.
·  Renew or get passports, if necessary.
·  Envision your wedding cake and research (by research, I mean taste test), interview, and book a cake designer.

3 months before
·  Order wedding cake.
·  Hire a calligrapher, if you want your invitations professionally addressed.
·  Attend your shower. (It may be earlier, depending on when hosts decide to have it.)
·  Groom: Rent the men’s formalwear.
·  Hire wedding-day transport: limousines, other cars. Look into transportation sooner if you’re considering renting streetcars or over-the-top travel.

2 months before
·  Mail your invitations.
·  Write your vows.
·  Purchase gifts for parents, attendants, and each other.
·  Book your stylist and try out big-day hairstyles.
·  Book a makeup artist and go for a trial run.

1 month before
·  Apply for a marriage license. Check with the local bureau in the town where you’ll wed.
·  Bride: Have final gown fitting. Bring your maid of honor along to learn how to bustle your dress. Have the dress pressed and bring it home.
·  Call all bridesmaids. Make sure they have their gowns ready for the wedding.
·  Make last-minute adjustments with vendors.
·  Create a wedding program to hand out to guests.
·  Order and plan in-room welcome baskets for out-of-town guests.

2 weeks before
·  Review final RSVP list and call any guests who have not yet sent a response.
·  Deliver must-have shot lists to photographer and videographer. Include who should be in formal portraits and determine when portraits will be taken.
·  Deliver final song list to your DJ or bandleader. Include special song requests and songs you don’t want played.
·  Bride: Get your last prewedding haircut and color.

1 week before
·  Give reception site/caterer final guest head count. Include vendors, such as the photographer or band members, who will expect a meal. Ask how many extra plates the caterer will prepare.
·  Supply location manager with a list of vendor requests such as a table for DJ or setup space needed by florist.
·  Plan reception seating chart.
·  Print place and table cards, or finalize list with the calligrapher you have hired to do so.
·  Call all wedding vendors and confirm arrangements.
·  Give ceremony and reception site managers a schedule of vendor delivery and setup times, plus contact numbers.
·  Groom: Get your hair trimmed.
·  Attend bachelor/ette parties.

2-3 days before
·  Bride: If you need to, have your gown pressed or steamed.
·  Groom: Go for final fitting and pick up your formalwear.
·  Groom: Ask the best man to make sure all groomsmen attend fittings and pick up their outfits.
·  Determine wedding-party positions during ceremony and the order of the party in the processional and recessional.
·  Hand off place cards, table cards, menus, disposable cameras, favors, and any other items for setting the tables to the caterer and/or reception site manager.
·  Reconfirm final details with all vendors. Discuss any necessary last-minute substitutions.
·  Call the limousine- or car-rental company for pickup times and locations.
·  Arrange for guests without cars to be picked up from the airport or train station. Ask friends, attendants, or relatives to help.
·  Deliver welcome baskets to the hotel concierge; make sure to include names and delivery instructions.

Day before
·  Provide all wedding professionals with an emergency phone number to call on the day of the wedding.
·  Write checks and/or talk to wedding hosts (usually your parents, if not you) about any final balances to be paid at the end of the reception.
·  Decorate for reception, if needed.

Night before
·  Rehearse ceremony. Meet with wedding party, ceremony readers, immediate family, and your officiant at the ceremony site to rehearse and iron out details.
·  Bring unity candle, aisle runner, yarmulkes, or other ceremony accessories to the site.
·  Give your marriage license to your officiant.
·  Attend rehearsal dinner.
·  Present attendants with gifts at the rehearsal dinner. You’ll want to do this especially if the gifts are accessories to be worn during the wedding.

Day of
·  Present parents and each other with gifts.
·  Give wedding bands to the best man and the maid of honor to hold during the ceremony.
·  Give best man the officiant’s fee envelope, to be handed off after the ceremony.
·  Introduce your reception site manager to your consultant or maid of honor for questions or problems during the reception.
·  Assign a family member or attendant to be the photographer’s contact so he knows who is who.

Postwedding
·  Prearrange for someone to return any rentals.
·  Preplan for attendants to take the bride’s gown for cleaning and return the groom’s tux to the rental shop.
·  Write and send thank-you notes to gift-bearing guests and vendors who were especially helpful.

For more wedding planning help or a customized check list visit theknot.com, brides.com or any wedding Web site.