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Six to Twelve Months Before
- Announce your engagement.
- Start thinking about what you want your wedding to be like: an
intimate gathering at your family home, or a full-scale extravaganza?
- Start thinking about the budget. Time for a long talk with whoever
is footing the bill.
- Choose the date of the big day. If you are determined to have a
June wedding, you'll have to make a lot of decisions early (reception sites
often get booked up to a year in advance).
- Hire a wedding planner. Why not, after all, let someone worry
about everything for you.
- Draft a guest list. It's OK if you don't invite everyone you know
— people understand.
- Reserve ceremony and reception sites.
- Reserve the officiant for the ceremony.
- Start interviewing florists, musicians, and photographers — look
at their work and talk to them about what you want. You should hire people
who want to do it your way, not theirs.
- Interview caterers. Don't be shy about asking for tastings.
- The search is officially on for the perfect wedding gown, the one
you've always envisioned yourself wearing. Make sure to order your dress at
least eight months in advance. Also, tell the shop your wedding date is
earlier than it is, so any last-minute problems can be fixed before the last
minute. And don't forget to think about a veil and accessories and to
schedule fitting appointments.
Three to Six Months Before
- Firm up floral, music, and photography arrangements.
- Now the fun really begins: register for wedding gifts.
- His turn: select the groom's attire (or, if he can be trusted, let
him choose it himself — but keep an eye on him just the same).
- Now the fun ends: decide what the bridesmaids and ushers are to
wear. While the final decision is yours, it's quite important that the
bridesmaids like what they will be wearing, or they won't have fun. Listen
to them. (Or take the easy way out: buy some gorgeous fabric and let your
bridesmaids have it made into any sort of dress they choose.)
- Reserve wedding-night accommodations. Don't get carried away with
the romantic details — you'll be so exhausted you'll probably just fall
straight asleep. Instead, save them for the...
- Honeymoon! Where have you always wanted to go with the person you
love the most? Decide, then start booking it.
- Order invitations, announcements, and personal stationery (for all
those thank-you notes).
- Call City Hall for information on license requirements.
Two to Three Months Before
- Prioritize, then finalize and alphabetize the guestlist (it'll be
much easier to keep track of responses).
- Hire a calligrapher to address your envelopes. Your stationer can
probably recommend a good one.
- Choose small gifts of appreciation for the wedding party.
- Make arrangements for the wedding party's transportation to and
from the wedding.
- Do a hair -and-makeup run-through, and don't panic if you don't
like what you see — there's still plenty of time.
- Finalize plans for the rehearsal dinner, the attendants' luncheon,
and any other events surrounding the main one.
- Announce your wedding in your local newspaper (and sit for formal
portraits if you want your photograph to accompany it).
- Order flowers and wedding cake.
- Reserve a block of rooms at a nearby hotel for out-of-town guests.
(If you're so inclined, arrange for welcome gifts to be in their rooms when
they arrive — fresh flowers are always appreciated.)
Six Weeks to Two Months Before
- The point of no return (not without much difficulty, anyway): mail
the invitations.
- Record RSVPs as they arrive, and write thank-you notes as gifts
are received (but don't mail them until after the wedding).
- Submit a song list to the band. It's just as important to tell
them what you don't want to hear.
- Decide on ceremony music — remember, it doesn't have to be
"The Wedding March."
- Rehearse the first dance. All you really need to know is the basic
fox trot; if you want something more unconventional — a rhumba, a waltz,
even a tango — take some quick lessons. They're a ton of fun, and let's
face it — at this point you could probably use a laugh or two.
- Plan your beauty regimen.
- Make a list for your photographer of the photographs you want
taken, or you might end up wondering if Aunt Elsie was there at all.
- Purchase a wardrobe for your honeymoon — after being spoiled and
pampered for months, you just wouldn't be happy going away in anything less
than a fabulous new outfit.
- Time for your final dress fitting. Remember to try it on with the
undergarments, jewelry , and shoes you'll be wearing to the wedding.
- Prepare announcements now, so they'll be ready to be mailed right
after the event.
- Make sure all attendants have a copy of the wedding-day schedule.
- Confirm everything: officiant, hotel, florist, photographer, band,
caterer, and anyone else you're depending on (like the groom?).
- Give your caterer the guest count, and if you're having a seating
chart, give the calligrapher a list of names for place cards.
- Pick up your marriage license. You're almost there...
One Week Before
- Start packing for your honeymoon — you will not have time later.
- Break in your wedding shoes. You'll be on your feet for hours.
- Finalize guest count and make any necessary changes to the seating
chart.
- Don't forget: guest book, cake knife, attendants' gifts, place
cards, and programs.
- Confirm transportation for the wedding party. You don't want to
give the groomsmen any excuse not to have your fiancé at the church on
time.
After the Wedding
- Easy-to-use name change kits:
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