A 12-month wedding planning timeline
What to do when, which suppliers genuinely need booking a year out, and why the final month is always busier than the checklist suggests.
The hard part of wedding planning isn't the number of tasks — it's the order. Some jobs depend on others: you can't print invitations before the venue is booked, and you can't build a seating chart before the numbers are in. The timeline below is ordered by those dependencies.
12-9 months out
- Agree the budget. No decision can be made before there's a number, including who is contributing what.
- Date and venue. Good venues sell out a year ahead for peak season. Saturday evening is the most expensive and the first to go; Friday evening and Sunday lunch are noticeably cheaper.
- A rough guest count. Not a list — a range, like "200-250". The venue's capacity has to match it.
- Check the legal paperwork. Notice periods and registrar appointments vary a lot by region and some need booking months ahead.
9-6 months out
- Photographer and videographer. The second thing to sell out after venues. Get delivery deadlines written in days.
- The dress. Made-to-order takes 3-6 months, couture longer, and fittings sit inside that window.
- Music. Band or DJ — the good ones close out the season early.
- Honeymoon. Flights and hotels booked early make a real difference.
6-4 months out
- Finalise the guest list, with party size, side and category columns.
- Invitation design and printing. Printing takes 2-3 weeks; leave room for proof rounds.
- Suits and menswear.
- Cake, flowers and favours — first conversations.
- Book a hair and make-up trial. The wedding morning is a bad time to find out it doesn't suit you.
3 months out
- Menu tasting. Go, and confirm the menu in writing afterwards.
- Music list. First dance, entrance, and the do-not-play list.
- Transport and accommodation. Block a few hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.
- Set up the shared photo album and generate the QR codes — if they're going on the invitation, they have to make the print deadline.
2 months out
- Send the invitations. If you're delivering any by hand, block out weekends; it takes longer than you think.
- Start collecting RSVPs. With a QR code on the invitation, answers accumulate on their own.
- Confirm the ceremony booking.
- Rings. Allow 2-3 weeks for engraving and resizing.
1 month out
- Chase non-responders. Group message first, then individual calls.
- Final dress fitting.
- Final venue meeting: table count, service times, who arrives when.
- Payment schedule. Which balance is due when, in writing.
2 weeks out
- Give the venue the final number.
- Build the seating chart. The numbers are real now, so the job finally settles.
- Print and test the QR codes. Scan one on a friend's phone and upload a photo.
- Pack. If you're leaving for the honeymoon straight after, do it now — nobody has the energy afterwards.
Wedding week
- Print place cards two days before, not earlier.
- Send the running order, transport and timings to everyone involved, in writing.
- Have final payments ready; some venues settle on the night.
- Appoint one person as the point of contact for the day. The couple can't be answering phones.
After the wedding
- First 48 hours: remind guests about the album code. Willingness to upload peaks in this window.
- First week: bulk download everything that came in and keep a second copy.
- First month: thank-you messages, return hired items, ask the photographer for the preview set.
- Put the retention date in your calendar. Shared album media is deleted after a set period — download before then.
Why the last month is worse than it looks
On paper the final month looks light. It isn't, because everything that isn't on a checklist lands there: chasing the last non-responders, fixing the detail the venue forgot, finding out an aunt is offended, one more alteration to the dress.
So if you can pull any of the above forward by a month, do. We've never met a couple who regretted finishing something early.