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By Bliss & Bone
A wedding planning checklist is the single document that prevents things from slipping—the deposit that went unpaid, the marriage license nobody researched, the stationery order that needed six weeks of lead time you didn't leave. The checklist below breaks the planning process into phases from 12 to 18 months out through the week of your wedding, with every task in the order it needs to happen.
Download our free wedding planning checklist as a Google Sheets template you can copy to your own Drive, or grab it as an Excel file to work offline. Both versions include a notes column for vendor names, confirmation numbers, and deposits paid.
Use the Template in Google Sheets →
The two decisions that shape everything else happen before you open a venue website or email a photographer. First is your budget. Your total number, and how it breaks down by category, determines what venues are realistic, what photographers are available to you, and how much you can spend on every other vendor. Couples who skip this step often find themselves locked into a venue before they know what they can actually afford.
Second is your approximate guest count. These two numbers are tightly connected. Your venue determines capacity, your capacity shapes your guest list, and your guest list drives catering costs, invitation quantities, and seating complexity. Settle on a working headcount before you tour venues, since most venues quote packages by guest count, and you need that number to compare.
Use our free wedding budget template to build a line-item breakdown before you make any deposits. Pair it with the wedding guest list template, which includes an A-list and B-list structure so you can manage a waitlist if RSVPs come in lower than expected.
At this stage, two vendor categories book faster than everything else: venues and photographers. Venues in high-demand markets like New York, Charleston, Nashville, and Chicago routinely book 12 to 18 months out for peak spring and fall Saturdays. Fine-art and editorial photographers close their calendars just as fast; many photographers are fully booked a full year before the date. If you have specific venues or photographers in mind, this is the phase to act on them, not research them.
Tour at least three venues before signing a contract. Visit at different times of day when possible; natural light changes significantly, and neighboring events can affect noise. Book your photographer once you've confirmed your venue, since most photographers require a date to hold before contracts are signed.
Set your wedding aesthetic and vision before meeting with vendors. A mood board, a confirmed palette, and a clear list of non-negotiables will save hours of back-and-forth in vendor consultations. This is also when to reserve a hotel room block for out-of-town guests. This step consistently gets pushed and causes a scramble when guests start asking where to stay.
Draft your preliminary guest list using the wedding guest list template. The final count will shift, but venues need a working number to provide accurate quotes.
With the venue and photographer secured, the rest of your vendor team comes together in this window. The general booking priority is videographer, florist, caterer (if not bundled with the venue), DJ or band, hair and makeup, and officiant.
Florists deserve more lead time than most couples expect. For spring and fall weddings, top floral designers in most cities book 10 to 12 months out. Six months is workable but narrows your options significantly.
Start dress shopping now. Most wedding gowns take 4 to 6 months to produce after you place your order, with another 6 to 8 weeks needed for alterations. Starting at 10 to 12 months out gives you comfortable buffer on both ends. If you're also shopping for bridesmaid dresses, start that process at the same time, since group orders require coordination.
Book your DJ or band before you think you need to. Entertainment vendors at popular price points fill their weekends consistently, and live bands with multiple members need even more notice. According to wedding industry surveys, nearly 30% of couples say entertainment was the hardest vendor to book within their timeline.
If you want a full-service planner, bring them on now. A day-of coordinator can wait until 4 to 6 months out. If you're unsure which you need, a full-service planner books much earlier and often has vendor relationships that save time and money across every other category.
This is when your stationery timeline begins, and it's where most couples lose time they don't have. Save the dates go out 6 to 8 months before a domestic wedding, or 8 to 12 months before a destination wedding. That means your save the dates need to be designed, approved, printed, and mailed at the start of this window—not at the end.
At Bliss & Bone, we recommend placing your save the date order no later than 7 months before your wedding. That allows time for design rounds, print production (typically 2 to 3 weeks depending on the printing method), and mailing without rushing. Rush production is available but costs more and creates unnecessary pressure.
Before you can order stationery, you need two things: a confirmed guest list with current mailing addresses, and a wedding website URL to direct guests to. Start collecting addresses from family members now. This task takes longer than you think, especially for older relatives whose addresses may have changed.
Book your honeymoon in this window. Flights and hotels at popular destinations are price-sensitive to timing, and waiting until the final months means fewer options and higher costs. Confirm your officiant and begin mapping out your ceremony. Any readings, rituals, or custom vow exchange formats that require rehearsal should be identified now.
Shop for wedding bands in this phase as well. Custom rings take 6 to 8 weeks or more; even ready-to-ship designs often need to be sized.
Invitations go out 6 to 8 weeks before the wedding for domestic guests and 3 to 4 months before for destination weddings or guests traveling internationally. If you're at 3 months and haven't ordered invitations yet, that's urgent. Your guests need enough lead time to book travel, and your caterer needs confirmed headcounts before you can finalize food and beverage minimums.
For a complete breakdown of stationery timing, including RSVP deadline-setting, envelope addressing standards, and what to include in the invitation suite—the wedding invitation timeline covers every piece from save the date through thank you card.
Order at least 10 to 15% more invitations than your guest count to account for extras, keepsakes, and late additions. Set your RSVP deadline at four weeks before the wedding. That's enough time to finalize counts with your caterer and venue while leaving room to chase non-responders.
Confirm every vendor in writing this phase, even ones you've been in contact with throughout. Re-confirm start times, venue addresses, load-in logistics, and any outstanding contract balances. Vendors appreciate a proactive confirmation, and it surfaces any discrepancies while there's still time to resolve them.
Apply for your marriage license in this window. Requirements vary significantly by state. Some require both partners to appear in person, some have waiting periods of up to three days, and license validity windows range from 30 to 90 days depending on where you're marrying. Research your specific county's requirements and don't assume they match what you've heard from friends.
With RSVPs in, this phase is about execution. The two biggest tasks are your seating chart and your wedding day timeline. Both need to be locked before the final week.
Build your seating chart once your final headcount is confirmed. Seat people near those they know, think through mobility requirements, and consider which family dynamics are better managed with distance. Most couples underestimate how long the seating chart takes. Block a few hours and do it all at once rather than in fragments.
Your wedding day timeline should be finalized and distributed to every vendor at least two weeks before the wedding. Use our wedding day timeline template to build a version that covers getting ready, first look, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, and send-off with vendor-specific call times built in. Every vendor needs this document, not just your planner or coordinator.
Order day-of stationery now: ceremony programs, escort cards, place cards, table numbers, menus, and any bar or dessert signage. Each of these requires production time. If you're ordering from Bliss & Bone, allow a minimum of two weeks between order placement and delivery, and review your proofs quickly.
Prepare vendor payments and tips in advance. Most vendors expect to be paid in cash or check on the day of the wedding. Prepare labeled envelopes with each vendor's payment, and assign someone else, a wedding party member or a parent, to distribute them on the day. Do not handle money on your own wedding day.
The final week is not the time to make decisions. It's the time to execute the ones you've already made.
Pick up your wedding dress no later than two or three days before the wedding. Never the night before. Confirm rehearsal logistics with everyone who needs to be there: who is attending, where it starts, and what time dinner follows. Pack your emergency kit: safety pins, a tide pen, ibuprofen, fashion tape, needle and thread in a matching color, phone charger, and a printed copy of every vendor's contact number. If your phone dies, someone else needs to know how to reach your photographer.
Give your planner or a trusted family member a printed copy of the full vendor list and timeline. Take care of yourself in these final days.
Set your budget and your approximate guest count before you make any other decision. Those two numbers determine your venue options, your per-vendor budget, and your stationery quantities. Couples who book a venue before settling on a budget, or who invite more people than a venue can hold, create constraints that are difficult to resolve later.
12 to 18 months is the standard starting point, and it exists because the most in-demand vendors fill their calendars on that timeline. Venues and photographers in most markets book a year or more out for peak dates. If you're starting with 6 months, it's entirely possible. Prioritize venue, photographer, and dress in the first two weeks, since production timelines on those three set everything else.
Yes. The constraint is not time, it's production timelines. Your dress, save the dates, and invitations all have non-negotiable lead times that shape your schedule. At 6 months, book the venue and photographer in the first week, order the dress and save the dates in the second, and work through vendor booking in order of lead time from there.
A complete checklist covers: budget and guest count (pre-planning), venue and photographer (12+ months out), full vendor team including florist, caterer, entertainment, and dress (9 to 12 months), save the dates (6 to 8 months), wedding invitations (8 to 12 weeks before), seating chart and vendor confirmations (4 to 8 weeks), and day-of logistics in the final week.
Use the Google Sheets link at the top of this page to copy the template directly to your Drive. If you prefer to work in Excel, use the download link. The template is organized by planning phase and includes columns for vendor name, contact, deposit paid, and balance due, so every task and vendor detail lives in one place.
Venue first—always. Once you have a venue date confirmed, book your photographer and videographer next, since they're the next fastest to book. Then florist, caterer (if external), DJ or band, hair and makeup, and officiant. Transportation, rental furniture, and day-of stationery can wait until closer to 3 to 6 months out.