What Should Be on Your Wedding Planning Checklist, Month by Month?

The first week of an engagement is champagne. The second week is when someone asks "so, have you booked anything?" and the size of the job lands. A wedding is a few hundred decisions, and without a checklist they tend to arrive all at once, in no particular order, which is what makes them feel overwhelming.

A good wedding planning checklist fixes the order. It tells you what to do now, what can wait, and what will sell out if you leave it. This one runs month by month from 12 months out to the morning after, with notes on what changes for shorter engagements and destination weddings. Use it as written, or load it into Wonderland Studio, Wedded Wonderland's planning suite, where each task gets a due date, a priority and an owner, and shows up on your planning calendar.

How far in advance should you start planning a wedding?

Most couples plan for 12 to 18 months, and 12 months is a comfortable minimum for a wedding over 100 guests in peak season. Popular venues and photographers often book a year or more ahead, especially for Saturdays from late spring to early autumn.

You can absolutely plan a wedding in six months, or three. The checklist below still works; you just compress the early stages and accept that you'll choose from what's available rather than wait for a first choice.

12 months or more before

This is the foundation. Almost every later decision depends on these.

• Set your total budget and agree who is contributing what.

• Draft a rough guest list and a target number. Your guest count decides your venue, and your venue decides almost everything else.

• Choose your season and two or three possible dates.

• Decide on the style of wedding: big or small, local or destination, formal or relaxed.

• Book your venue (or venues, if the ceremony and reception are separate).

• Book your celebrant or officiant. Read how to choose a wedding celebrant if you're starting from scratch.

• Hire a planner or coordinator if you want one.

• Start a wedding website so you have somewhere to send people.

9 to 12 months before

Lock in the vendors who book out first.

• Book your photographer and videographer.

• Book your caterer, if your venue doesn't provide one.

• Book your band or DJ.

• Choose your wedding party and ask them.

• Send save-the-dates, especially if guests need to travel or book leave.

• Start shopping for a wedding dress. Made-to-order gowns can take six to nine months.

• Look into wedding insurance.

6 to 9 months before

Now the look and feel of the day.

• Book your florist and any stylist or decor hire.

• Choose a colour palette and start a moodboard so every supplier sees the same picture.

• Book hair and makeup, and schedule trials.

• Order the dress, and arrange fittings.

• Book transport for the couple and, if needed, guests.

• Reserve hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.

• Plan the honeymoon and check passports and visas.

• Register for gifts, if you're having a registry.

4 to 6 months before

Start filling in the detail.

• Order invitations and other stationery.

• Book a cake maker and schedule a tasting.

• Plan your menu with your caterer, including dietary options.

• Choose suits or outfits for the rest of the wedding party.

• Book the rehearsal dinner venue.

• Plan the ceremony: readings, music and the order of service.

• Buy wedding rings.

2 to 3 months before

The invitations go out and the RSVPs start coming in.

• Send invitations 8 to 12 weeks before the wedding (12 weeks or more for a destination wedding).

• Set an RSVP deadline about four to six weeks before the day.

• Have final dress fittings scheduled.

• Write or choose your vows. Our guide to traditional wedding vows covers the classic words and their meaning.

• Draft your wedding day timeline with your venue and photographer.

• Confirm your marriage licence or legal paperwork requirements.

• Buy gifts for your wedding party and parents.

1 month before

Turn RSVPs into numbers.

• Chase anyone who hasn't replied.

• Make your seating chart once the replies are in. Our wedding seating chart guide walks through it step by step.

• Send final numbers and meal choices to your caterer and venue.

• Confirm every vendor: arrival times, contacts, final balances.

• Collect your marriage licence, if your jurisdiction issues one.

• Break in your shoes.

1 to 2 weeks before

Confirm, don't decide.

• Send your final timeline to every vendor and the wedding party.

• Pay outstanding balances, or set reminders for payments due on the day.

• Pack for the honeymoon.

• Prepare tips and envelopes for vendors.

• Hand over anything the venue needs: place cards, signage, favors, guest book.

• Delegate day-of jobs (who holds the rings, who looks after the gifts, who answers vendor calls).

The day before

• Attend the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

• Lay out everything you need in the morning.

• Charge your phone, then give it to someone else for the day.

• Go to bed early. Really.

On the day

• Eat breakfast.

• Leave buffer time between hair, makeup and photos.

• Hand your timeline to one person and let them run it.

• Look up from your phone and enjoy it.

After the wedding

• Return hired items and suits.

• Send thank-you notes within about three months.

• Change your name, if you're changing it.

• Leave reviews for the vendors you loved.

• Submit your wedding to be featured. Get Featured is free, and your answers become the first draft of your story.

What changes for a short engagement?

If you have six months or less, the order stays the same but the stages run in parallel. Book the venue and the vendors that sell out (photographer, caterer, band) in the same week. Send invitations as soon as your venue is confirmed, even if they're digital. Choose off-the-rack outfits. And keep the guest list tight, because every extra guest is extra admin you don't have time for.

What changes for a destination wedding?

A destination wedding needs more lead time, not less. Add these to the checklist:

• Research legal requirements in your destination, or decide to marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony abroad.

• Send save-the-dates 9 to 12 months ahead, and invitations at least three months ahead.

• Arrange accommodation and transfers for guests, or at least recommend them.

• Plan welcome drinks and a farewell brunch, because guests will be there for more than one day.

• Book vendors who know the location, and schedule video calls where you can't meet in person.

• Check the weather, the sunset time and any local holidays on your date.

Our destinations guides cover the big locations, and Wonderland Concierge can handle the logistics for you.

Is a digital wedding checklist better than a printable one?

A printable checklist is satisfying. You can pin it to the fridge and cross things off with a pen. The trouble starts when plans change, and they always do. Paper doesn't remind you that the florist deposit is due on Friday, or tell your partner what's already done.

A digital checklist earns its place once there's more than one person involved or more than a handful of deadlines:

How does the Wonderland Studio checklist work?

Wonderland Studio's checklist is built around the same idea as the list above: the right tasks, in the right order, with nothing forgotten.

Start from a template. Instead of a blank page, pick a starting checklist: Classic Wedding (15 core tasks for a traditional wedding of 100 or more guests), Intimate Wedding (10 tasks for 30 to 60 guests) or Destination Wedding (13 tasks covering travel, guest accommodation and remote coordination). You can add from another template later, or add your own tasks.

Give every task a priority, a category and a status. Each task has a priority (High, Medium or Low), a category (Venue, Vendors, Guests, Budget, Decorations, Attire, Documents, Timeline or Other) and a status (Not started, In Progress or Completed). The list sorts itself by status, then priority, then due date, so the urgent things rise to the top.

Add the context. Link a task to a vendor from your vendor list, note the deposit or colour codes in the task notes (up to 2,000 characters), and type a name in "Assigned to" so everyone knows whose job it is.

Filter fast. Filter by status, priority or category, or search. "High priority, Not started" is the most useful view in the whole tool.

Watch the numbers move. The totals at the top (Total Tasks, Not started, In Progress, Completed) update as you tick things off.

See deadlines on your calendar. Any task with a due date appears automatically as a deadline in the Wonderland Studio calendar, next to your tastings, fittings and site visits. Calendar appointments can send email reminders a day, an hour or 30 minutes before.

One thing to know: tasks belong to one account. "Assigned to" is a label for coordinating, not a separate login, so if you and your partner both want to tick things off, share the one account.

What do couples most often forget?

Even with a checklist, these slip through. Add them now:

• Meals and seats for your vendors (photographer, videographer, planner, band).

• A wet-weather plan for any outdoor part of the day.

• The marriage licence, and who's bringing it.

• Someone to collect gifts, cards and the guest book at the end of the night.

• Transport home for you, and for guests if the venue is remote.

• A small emergency kit: safety pins, stain remover, painkillers, tissues, phone charger.

• Thank-you notes, and the list of who gave what.

• Time to eat during the reception.

Want the rest of your planning in one place?

The checklist is one of eleven tools in Wonderland Studio. Your guest list, website, budget, timeline, seating chart, menu and moodboards all share the same information, so the work you do in one shows up in the others. See them all in our guide to wedding planning tools.

Frequently asked questions