Wedding Planning Checklist

Wedding checklists usually run by months-before, which hides the real logic: a handful of decisions lock everything else, and the rest is detail that waits politely. This one runs in dependency order. However long your engagement, start at the top.

First: the decisions that lock the rest

• Agree the budget and who contributes, before anything is booked against it.
• Write the guest list, with a floor and a ceiling. The number drives the venue, the catering and half the budget; our wedding costs guide shows why.
• Choose and book the venue, which fixes the date. How to choose a wedding venue covers this decision; take the questions list on every tour.
• Book the celebrant. The Notice of Intended Marriage can be lodged as soon as the date exists, and it has to be in at least one month before the day.

Next: the suppliers who book out first

• Photographer and videographer; the good ones carry the longest lead times.
• Catering, where it is not in-house at the venue.
• Music, whether band or DJ, and the celebrant’s sound needs with it.
• Save-the-dates to the guest list, once venue and date are locked.

Then: the look of the day

• Dress, suits and the wedding party’s clothes, with time for fittings.
• Flowers and styling, chosen for the setting rather than against it. For a venue with its own gardens, the setting does much of this for you; see our native flowers piece for one approach.
• Rings.
• Invitations out, with RSVPs due well before the caterer’s final-numbers date.

The final month

• Confirm final numbers with the venue and caterer, and hand over the dietary list.
• Build the run sheet with your coordinator: times, suppliers, contacts, and who stands where.
• Hair and makeup trials, and the final dress fitting.
• Seating plan, once the last RSVPs land.
• Confirm where the wedding party sleeps, both nights; a venue with accommodation on site settles this in one booking.

The final week

• Reconfirm every supplier’s arrival time against the run sheet.
• Pack the day bag: rings, vows, certificates, phone chargers, and the emergency kit.
• Delegate the day-of phone to someone who is not getting married.
• Sleep. The planning is done, and the coordinator holds the run sheet now.