Use this as a working order, then add the deadlines from your venue and supplier contracts. Already booked your venue? Start with rooms and suppliers.
The month ranges are a suggested schedule. Adjust them to fit your wedding.
How to use this checklist
Before you book
Start here. Around 12–18 months ahead, if you have the time.
A venue has to work for the people coming and the amount you can spend. Get those two things on paper before committing to a place.
- Draft the guest list. Before you settle on a date, talk to the people you most want there about the trip. Leave room for people to say they cannot come.
- Decide what you’re paying for. Separate the wedding budget from guests’ flights, rooms and transfers. Include tax, service charges and currency conversion when comparing quotes.
- Compare a few venues using the same questions. Ask about seated dinner capacity, rooms, the indoor rain plan, food, music limits and minimum stays.
- Decide who will coordinate the wedding. Find out what the venue’s team handles and what would need a separate planner or coordinator.
Ask who cooks the food
In-house catering can cover the food, kitchen staff and service in one booking. If a venue lists a kitchen, check whether it comes with a team or is for an outside caterer to use. Ask what the price includes, from equipment to clearing up.
Once the venue is booked
Around 9–12 months ahead, or as soon as your date is set.
Read the venue agreement alongside the rest of your plan. What it already includes decides which suppliers you still need to book.
- Put the deadlines in one place. Record payment dates, cancellation terms, room release dates, minimum spends and when the venue needs final numbers.
- Book the remaining suppliers. That might include photography, flowers, music, a celebrant and catering. Share the venue’s access and setup requirements before signing.
- Work out the rooms. Note how many people can stay, the bed arrangements, the price of each stay and who collects payment. Add nearby options for the rest of your guests.
- Check the ceremony paperwork. If you want a legally binding ceremony abroad, contact the local authority that will register it. Get its requirements and deadlines before setting your travel plans. See sources.
If the hotel sends you one bill, decide how you’ll collect each guest’s share before asking people to book. A room list needs prices and payment instructions as well as names.
Give guests the details
Share the date once it is booked. Add detail as plans are confirmed.
Guests need enough information to decide whether they can make the trip. You can send a save-the-date before the menu, flowers or full weekend schedule is ready.
- Share the date, place and likely costs. Say which events they are invited to, what you’re covering and what they will need to book themselves.
- Publish the travel information. Include useful airports, the transfer to the venue, accommodation choices and booking deadlines. Link to the relevant official entry requirements.
- Set the RSVP deadline from your supplier deadlines. Allow time to follow up before catering numbers, seating and rooms are due.
- Collect the information you will use. Ask about attendance at each event, dietary needs and any transport or room arrangements you are managing.
Keep the latest details at one link. If a bus time changes, update it there before sending guests to look it up.
Bring the plans together
Around 3–6 months ahead, guided by your suppliers’ deadlines.
Check the whole weekend with the people responsible for running it. A ceremony time affects the photographer, transport, kitchen and guests getting ready.
- Walk through the schedule. Cover arrivals, the ceremony, drinks, dinner, music and departures. Leave time for people to move between spaces.
- Agree the menu and service. Share dietary needs and decide how meals, drinks and any children’s food will be served. Include the welcome dinner and brunch if you are hosting them.
- Build the transport plan. List pickup points, departure times, passenger numbers and who to call if someone is delayed.
- Work through the rain plan. Know which spaces you will use, who makes the decision and when suppliers need to know.
The final weeks
Follow the final deadlines in your bookings.
Guests need the version they can use on the trip. Suppliers need the one they will run the wedding from.
- Close out the guest list. Follow up with anyone who has not replied. Send the agreed numbers, meals and seating plan to the relevant suppliers.
- Check the room list. Confirm stays, payments, arrival dates and any unused rooms before the release deadline.
- Send the practical details. Event times, addresses, dress codes, pickup points and a contact for questions belong together.
- Hand over the running order. Share supplier contacts, setup times, payment balances and the person responsible for each decision.
- Plan your own arrival. Leave enough time for appointments, any required paperwork and the final walkthrough you have arranged.
If you have less time
Start with what is still unbooked. Check venue availability, the ceremony requirements and your most important guests’ travel plans first. Then book the suppliers you need for that date.
Share confirmed information with guests as it becomes available. A short planning window makes a clear room deadline and transport plan especially useful.
You can simplify the weekend too. A welcome drink may be enough; every free hour does not need an organised activity.