Your wedding checklist.
Enter your wedding date and see exactly what is due when. 34 tasks across five phases, all tickable, and printable as a PDF whenever you want.
No date entered yet. The list works regardless.
The foundation
12 months outThe vendors that book out
9 to 7 months outThe details
6 to 4 months outThe final stretch
3 months to 1 month outThe last week
The final daysYour ticks stay in this browser. Nothing is stored on our servers.
When do you start planning a wedding?
12 to 18 months of runway is realistic. Under 9 months things get tight with popular venues and sought-after photographers, though it is far from impossible. What matters more than the runway is the order you work in. Get the sequence right and you will never have more than three or four things on your plate at once.
The reason is simple. Budget, guest count and date determine everything else. Only once those three are settled can you sensibly look for a venue. And only once the venue is booked can you match catering, music and décor to it. Do it the other way round and you end up planning twice.
This checklist is built exactly that way. It does not throw all 34 tasks at you at once, but spreads them across five phases that build on each other.
Do not plan everything at once. Plan the next thing. Then the next.
The four ordering mistakes
Almost every overwhelmed wedding plan fails on sequence, not on time. These four come up most often.
1. Hunting for a venue before the guest count exists
The venue decides how many people fit. Book first and write the list afterwards, and you either uninvite people or go venue hunting again. Both are unpleasant. Write the rough guest list first, then look.
2. Planning decoration before the venue is fixed
A barn, a registry office room and a castle garden take completely different decor. Pinterest boards before the booking are inspiration, not planning. Anything you buy beforehand has roughly a fifty percent chance of not fitting.
3. Sending invitations before the running order roughly exists
The invitation carries a time and a place. Send it before ceremony, drinks reception and dinner are timed against each other, and you will be correcting it by message later. That reads as chaotic and generates questions.
4. Enquiring everywhere at once
Approaching five photographers, four caterers and three bands in parallel feels efficient and produces an inbox nobody can sort. Ask three per trade, decide, move on.
What does not belong on the checklist
Most wedding checklists online run to 200 items and create more pressure than order. A good list only contains what triggers a decision or a deadline. You can cut:
- Anything that happens on the day itself. That belongs in a running order, not the planning list. Otherwise "exchange rings" sits between "pay catering deposit".
- Tasks without a deadline. "Think about the honeymoon" migrates from week to week and only produces guilt. Either give it a date or delete it.
- Tasks that belong to someone else. Whatever your witnesses take on belongs on their list. You only need to know somebody is doing it.
If you have less than six months
Marrying at short notice is perfectly doable, but it needs a different order. The rule: first everything that can be fully booked, then everything you can do any time.
| Window | What comes first |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Ask the registry office for a date, that is the hard anchor. Then venue and photographer. |
| Weeks 2 to 3 | Catering, music, celebrant. Anything that keeps a calendar. |
| Week 4 | Send save-the-date and invitation together. At very short notice, drop the save-the-date. |
| From month 2 | Outfits, rings, stationery. Note: made-to-order dresses are out, plan for outlet or second hand. |
| Last 6 weeks | Decoration, seating plan, running order, deposits |
What realistically falls away at short notice: Saturday dates at popular venues, made-to-measure dresses, in-demand photographers in high season. Being flexible on the weekday makes up for most of it.
The final week
The last seven days are not about planning any more, they are about handover. These are the points most often forgotten:
- Give the final headcount to catering and venue, the deadline is usually 7 to 10 days out
- Hand a phone list of every supplier to someone who is not you
- Put rings, ID documents and paperwork in one place, and tell somebody where
- Prepare final payments and tips in labelled envelopes
- Send the running order to witnesses, photographer, DJ and venue
- Pack an emergency bag: needle and thread, plasters, painkiller, lint roller, power bank
- Keep the day after free. Even if it feels unnecessary right now.
And then: start nothing new. Whatever is still undecided in the final week, you either decide in five minutes or not at all.
Who does what?
A checklist only helps when every task has a name against it. Otherwise everything ends up with whoever looks first. The split below works well, but treat it as a suggestion.
| Role | Sensibly takes on |
|---|---|
| Both of you together | budget, guest list, venue, ceremony, anything involving money or feelings |
| One of you | communication with half the suppliers each. One contact per trade, or everyone talks past each other. |
| Witnesses | stag or hen do, surprises, help with the running order, emergency bag |
| Parents, if they want to help | clearly bounded packages: making decorations, organising rooms, coordinating shuttles |
| One person on the day | the contact for every supplier. It must not be the couple. |
The last point matters most. When somebody turns up on the wedding day with a question, that question should not land with you. Name a person, give them the phone list and the running order, and tell every supplier beforehand.
Print the checklist or keep it digital?
Both have their place, and most couples end up using both.
On paper works well if you keep the list somewhere fixed, look at it together and enjoy ticking things off. The downside: it is only as current as the last printout, and if the date moves, every deadline on it is wrong.
Digital works well if the two of you work from different devices and want deadlines to recalculate themselves. The downside: it is easier to forget to look.
The list above does both. It runs in your browser, works out due dates from your wedding date, and "Save as PDF" prints a paper version with your date in the header at any time. Your ticks stay stored in this browser, with no account needed.
Questions about the wedding checklist
01When should you start planning a wedding?
02In what order do you plan a wedding?
03Is the wedding checklist free?
04Can I print the wedding checklist as a PDF?
05What if we have less than six months?
Deeper reading
Hand-picked articles from the journal — for everyone who wants to dive into a single phase.
Planning Wedding planning: the checklist for every month up to the "I do"
From 12 months out to the wedding day itself, how to plan your wedding step by step without losing the overview.
Planning Just engaged? The first steps towards the wedding
What actually matters first after the engagement, a step-by-step guide for the first weeks of wedding planning.
Organisation Getting married in Germany: registry office, documents and the process for foreigners
The complete process for marrying in Germany, including what foreign nationals need: certificate of no impediment, apostille, certified translations and a realistic timeline.
Planning Finding your wedding venue: the 52 key questions for every visit
The complete question list for a venue visit: 52 questions by category, with what each answer really reveals. Ready to print.
A checklist that thinks ahead.
In HeyBride, Miri turns your date into around 99 tasks, nudges you in time, and ties them to your budget and your guests.
Miri can hardly wait
