When should I start my wedding checklist?

Start when you are ready to make plans. This template opens at 12+ months, but you can adapt it to a shorter engagement. Begin with your guest list, budget and venue, then confirm supplier availability and deadlines.

What is the first thing to do when planning a wedding?

Talk with your partner about your priorities, budget and approximate guest count. Confirm any contributions before committing to bookings. Use those decisions to compare venues, or plan the remaining details if you already have one.

How do I plan a wedding in 6 months?

Start with your budget, guest list and available venues. Book your key suppliers, confirm attire delivery times and give guests the date promptly. Combine the early checklist phases and set your RSVP deadline before the final numbers are due to suppliers.

What can be easy to forget when planning a wedding?

Check ceremony paperwork, postage, supplier meals, delivery and collection arrangements, final payment dates and who will answer questions on the day. The details and deadlines depend on your location and contracts.

Is this checklist free, and do I need an account?

Yes. Download the PDF or CSV without an account or email address. The free interactive checklist at aisle.wedding/tools/wedding-checklist also includes destination wedding tasks and lets you track progress in your browser.

Free templates·Revised 2026-09-12

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Wedding planning checklist template

A wedding planning checklist organized by month, from your first plans to the wedding day. Start with your guest list, budget and venue, then work through suppliers and guest details. Download the PDF to print or the CSV to edit in Google Sheets or Excel.

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The full checklist, 73 tasks, 9 phases

12+ months

Set the overall budget and agree who is contributing what.Settle it before you fall for a venue. It is much harder to revisit once a deposit is paid.
Draft the guest list to the nearest ten.Guest count drives every other cost; you cannot price a venue without it.
Choose a target season and two or three workable dates.
Decide the setting, hometown, a city you both know, or somewhere guests will travel to.
Tour venues, then hold your date with a signed contract and deposit.Ask each venue what it still has open. Peak-season Saturdays go first.
Book the photographer.Many photographers take one wedding a day, so ask about your date early.
Decide whether you want a planner or a month-of coordinator, and hire them.
Take out wedding insurance once the first deposits are paid.
Start one spreadsheet or folder that holds every contract, quote, and receipt.Eighteen months of decisions in one place, future you will be grateful.

10–12 months

Book the caterer if the venue does not provide food, and ask for the all-in per-head figure.
Book the band or DJ for the reception.Ask about your date early; a band or DJ plays one wedding a night.
Choose the wedding party and ask them properly.
Start shopping for the dress or suit.Ask the shop for its own production and alteration times before you order.
Book the videographer.
Set up your wedding website and start collecting guest mailing addresses.
Reserve hotel room blocks for out-of-town guests.Ask what the agreement requires: any deposit, whether you are liable for rooms guests do not book, and the date unsold rooms are released.
Engage a florist and share reference photos alongside the number you can spend.

8–10 months

Book the officiant and confirm any pre-marriage requirements.Some churches and officiants require counseling sessions or paperwork months in advance.
Send save-the-dates.Send them once the date and venue are confirmed, earlier if many guests will travel.
Book hair and makeup artists for the day.
Order the dress or suit and put the fitting dates in the calendar.
Book transport, the getaway car and any guest shuttles.
Build the registry across two or three price ranges.Some guests buy as soon as save-the-dates arrive, so have the registry ready by then.
Plan the honeymoon and book flights if you are going far.
Book rentals, tables, chairs, linens, lighting, anything the venue does not include.

6–8 months

Order invitations and the day-of stationery in the same print run.Ask your printer what one combined run costs against separate orders later.
Choose wedding-party attire and get everyone measured.
Do the cake tasting and place the order.
Book the rehearsal dinner venue.
Book ceremony musicians if they are separate from the reception band.
Sit the menu tasting and set the bar package.Taste the actual menu at the actual portion size, then decide.
Buy the wedding rings.Ask the jeweler for its resizing and engraving times before you order.
Draft the ceremony with your officiant, readings, music, and how vows will work.

4–6 months

Finalize the menu, bar package, and service style with the caterer in writing.
Schedule dress or suit fittings on the timetable your fitter recommends.
Arrange envelope addressing, a calligrapher, printed labels, or a long evening with good pens.
Design and order signage: welcome sign, seating chart board, bar menu.
Plan for children, childcare, a kids’ table, or a clear adults-only line on the invitation.Decide now, before invitations print, this is the hardest thing to walk back.
Confirm the honeymoon itinerary, then check each passport against the entry rules for every country on it.Validity and visa rules are set by each destination, and renewal times change. Check the official government source for your nationality before you book.
Choose and order favors, welcome bags, or neither, neither is allowed.
Start writing your vows if you are writing your own.Months early feels absurd until the final month arrives fully booked.
Apply for any permits, beach or park ceremony, amplified sound, sparkler send-off.

2–4 months

Mail the invitations with an RSVP deadline that falls before your suppliers need final numbers.Weigh one fully stuffed envelope at the post office before buying 150 stamps.
Track RSVPs weekly and chase stragglers by phone, not text.
Do the hair and makeup trial, and photograph it in daylight.The trial exists to change your mind now, cheaply.
Buy gifts for the wedding party and both sets of parents.
Give the band or DJ the must-play and do-not-play lists.
Write the ceremony order and send it to everyone with a role, readers, musicians, ring bearer’s handler.
Check the marriage license rules where you are marrying, including any waiting period and expiry window.These are set locally and differ widely. Confirm both dates with the office that issues the license.
Break in the wedding shoes at home.An hour an evening for a week beats twelve hours of blisters.
Confirm final delivery and setup details with the florist and rental company.

1–2 months

Get the marriage license inside the window the issuing office sets.
Send the final headcount to the caterer and venue.Your contract sets this date and what you pay for after it. Check it before you send the number.
Build the seating chart once RSVPs close, not before.Wait for the real numbers. A chart built before they settle usually gets rebuilt.
Do the final fitting with the actual shoes and undergarments.
Confirm arrival times, load-in details, and day-of contacts with every vendor.
Finish your vows and practice them out loud, standing up.
Prepare final payments and tip envelopes, labeled by vendor, and assign one person to hand them out.Check each contract for its balance due date, and let someone else carry the envelopes on the day.
Send the day-of timeline to the wedding party, both families, and every vendor.

The final two weeks

Reconfirm every vendor, arrival time, location, and who they call on the day.The call is two minutes; the no-show it prevents is unrecoverable.
Delegate the day-of jobs: who holds the rings, who wrangles vendors, who takes gifts and cards home.If there is no coordinator, name one person who is not in the wedding party.
Proofread the seating chart and place cards against the final RSVP list.
Pack an emergency kit, sewing kit, stain pen, pain relief, blister plasters, phone chargers.
Steam or press the attire and confirm every suit pickup.
Pick up the rings and read the engraving before you leave the shop.
Walk the venue one last time with your coordinator or point person.
Get haircuts and grooming about a week out rather than the day before.

The day itself

Eat a real breakfast, and put one person in charge of snacks and water all day.Easy to skip, and you will feel it by 3.00pm.
Hand the rings, license, and vow cards to their assigned keepers before hair and makeup begin.
Give the tip envelopes and final payments to your designated hander-outer.
Hand your phone to a member of the wedding party until the send-off.
Sign the marriage license with your officiant and witnesses before everyone scatters.Confirm with your officiant or registry who must sign, who files the license and by when.
Take ten minutes alone together, schedule it, or it will not happen.

Try the interactive tool

Open the free destination wedding checklist to enter your details and adjust the result as you plan.

Open the destination wedding checklist →

How to use it

Agree on a budget and an approximate guest count before comparing venues. These help you check capacity and understand quotes. If your venue is already booked, start with the suppliers, rooms and travel details you still need to arrange.

Use the months as suggested planning windows. Check availability with suppliers and record the deadlines in your contracts, including payments, final guest counts and room releases. Confirm legal requirements with the authority responsible for your ceremony.

For a shorter engagement, combine the early phases and focus on availability. Choose a date and venue, book the suppliers you need, and tell guests as soon as the plans are confirmed. Adjust optional tasks to the time and budget you have.

Template questions

When should I start my wedding checklist?: Start when you are ready to make plans. This template opens at 12+ months, but you can adapt it to a shorter engagement. Begin with your guest list, budget and venue, then confirm supplier availability and deadlines.
What is the first thing to do when planning a wedding?: Talk with your partner about your priorities, budget and approximate guest count. Confirm any contributions before committing to bookings. Use those decisions to compare venues, or plan the remaining details if you already have one.
How do I plan a wedding in 6 months?: Start with your budget, guest list and available venues. Book your key suppliers, confirm attire delivery times and give guests the date promptly. Combine the early checklist phases and set your RSVP deadline before the final numbers are due to suppliers.
What can be easy to forget when planning a wedding?: Check ceremony paperwork, postage, supplier meals, delivery and collection arrangements, final payment dates and who will answer questions on the day. The details and deadlines depend on your location and contracts.
Is this checklist free, and do I need an account?: Yes. Download the PDF or CSV without an account or email address. The free interactive checklist at aisle.wedding/tools/wedding-checklist also includes destination wedding tasks and lets you track progress in your browser.

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