10-12 months out
1. First things first! Get together with your soon to be spouse and estimate your number of guests & guest list. This will drive your budget, location, travel, etc, so you’ll need to know that first! This was one of the very first things I thought about. I didn’t want a GINORMOUS wedding but I still wanted to include everyone who we are close to for our special day! I used this to kind of help narrow down who to invite and who to leave off! Once you’ve narrowed it down start adding people to the list! Little by little over time is way easier than trying to sit down and do it all at once! I use weddingwire.com to add people. You can also organize them by grooms family, friends or however! Plus you can add them to the rehearsal or wedding party as well on there.
2. Set a Date. You’ll want to set a date fairly soon, that way you can call different venues and check availability, manage your save the dates, and really find out what your timeline will look like and when you need to get things done! I know things are exciting and you want to just go ahead and get to it! I would recommend doing it at least 12 months out. Some things like your dress, alterations, and venues take time and are made wayyy in advance!
3. Engagement Session/Wedding Photographer. Whoops! Caleb and I got engaged last March and we still haven’t done this! Mainly because I was SUPER pregnant haha. I’m hoping to get it done soon when he isn’t so busy with school. This is important because you can use them for save the dates and on your wedding website! Here are some of my save the date ideas! I would try and use the same person for your session, wedding, and video if you can. Their are photographers who will usually bundle this, making it cheaper on you instead of using several different people!
4. Budget. This is HUGE. You want to set a budget early on so that you can stick to it! Plus whether you have family helping you out or your paying for it yourself, you want to be able to plan for them or yourself how much you’ll need! Weddings are expensive, but if you plan ahead, you can save money along the way and keep your eye out for deals!
5. Wedding Party You want to do your wedding party in advance for fitting and alteration reasons too! Sometimes they take a while. For the girls, you can make cute little baskets to give or whatever you’d like! I have some ideas saved here.
6. Color Scheme Your wedding colors will be used for EVERYTHING. Save the dates, flowers, dresses, etc. So pick them out really soon so you know what your using early on and don’t have to think about it later. Most dress places can provide swatches and pinterest has TONS of ideas. You can check out my wedding board here.
7. Dress Shopping For both the bridesmaids and the bride, its a stressful and lengthy process finding the perfect dresses! I have only been to two places and I have tried on about 20 dresses already! There are so many different ones to chose from and sometimes when you put things on that you think you like, you really don’t! My best advice is to write down the things you like best about dresses and have some pictures saved! Most places will ask you for these when you arrive- so have them ready. It makes it so much easier for them to see what you like.
8. Florist. If you’re like me, and want a specific flower PEONIES!!!! Find out what season they do best in, if its super important to you for the right type of flower, you may want to set your date around then so you can have the best flowers! See my floral ideas here.
9. Catering. Nail down if you’re doing a meal or snacks, or whatever food you’re doing! Make sure to do a tasting first and use someone you really trust and know the food.
Thanks so much for following along with me! If you have anything to add or have questions feel free to comment, email, or message me! Here is the link again to all my wedding planning boards and ideas!
