Since we’ve officially hit our six month mark, I wanted to share with you our never ending to do list. I’ve gotten a lot of emails from readers asking about how I know what to tackle next, at what time frame, etc. And I kind of wish I had done this for you guys from the beginning, but what can I say? These past six months have FLOWN! So I’ll break it down by month so you can see what should be done and when. I definitely jumped around considering I bought my dress one month in you and you usually have until the 6th month to do this. Oh well! If  it’s crossed out, then I’ve already done it :)

12+ MONTHS TO GO

• Get organized! Figure out how you’re going to keep track of all things wedding. I use a mixture of teuxdeux.com, Evernote, Pinterest, iCal, a pen and paper planner, and theknot.com [which you may find cliche, but those people know how to keep you organized!] 
• Figure out your style, colors, and the overall look of your wedding 
• Establish a budget and find out who is contributing what [monetarily] 
• Get your engagement ring appraised and insured 
• Pick a date! 
• Decide if you want a full blown wedding coordinator, day of, etc. 
• Start working out. Officially doing Bikram Yoga 3 times a week!
• Book a venue. Especially if you live in a very touristy area. 
• Book a caterer 
• Book a Photographer. They go fast! 
• Book a church & officiant. They go fast too! 
• Have an engagement party! 
• Have engagement photos taken.See here.

9 MONTHS TO GO

• Start your guest list. I chose to use a spreadsheet including everyones names, addresses, spouses, RSVP status, etc. which all gets calculated into my budget, it’s a very fancy spreadsheet.
• Choose your bridal party.My advice is to not jump the gun on this, really think it through, they’re going to be your team throughout this whole thing.
• Plan your reception menu, and add the price per head to your budget.Get ready to have a panic attack! 
• Send out Save The Dates!These are optional, but since our wedding guests mostly live out of town, we thought it would be nice so they could make travel arrangements in advance.
• Start wedding dress shopping!
• Create a wedding website.I love ours so much.
• Finalize your guest list. Be sure to talk to both sets of parents to ensure EVERYONE they want is included before you start narrowing things down.
• Make a list of wedding customs you may want to use.
• Research lighting/rental places. We’re not using any extra lighting, and all of our rentals are provided by our caterer, so be sure to ask about that!
• Start looking for a band or DJ. We used gigmasters.com which is great because you search the genre and price range and it will email you bids from bands/DJs.
• Start meeting with florists in your area. We’re only using a florist for bouquets and bouts, so I waited until the 6 month mark to do this.
• Find out if your church requires premarital counseling, and set that up.Ours sure does!
• Book a videographer. 
• Start shopping for Bridesmaid dresses.

6 MONTHS TO GO

• Buy your wedding dress!
• Book a florist. 
• Book your band/DJ.I can’t wait to tell you about ours!
• Book your honeymoon flights and accommodations. Rome here we come!
• Book your hairstylist/makeup artist.
• Book a cake baker. More here.
• Book ceremony musicians. 
• Setup hotel room blocks for out of town guests. We used hotelplanner.com
• Start your wedding registry! More on that here.
• Order bridesmaid dresses. We stumbled upon ours a little earlier than planned.
• Find a location for your rehearsal dinner. Very excited about this one!
• Start working on your invitations. 
• Find out if your venues require wedding insurance, and get that squared away.
• Attend marriage prep classes. Such a blast! We highly recommend it.
• Start working on all of the DIY decorations you’ve decided to tackle. This part is taking FOREVER!
• Decide on a flower girl look, and start shopping. Send all info to her mom.
• Start shopping for Mother of Bride dress/accessories.

4-5 MONTHS TO GO

• Order your wedding invitations. Gotta get ours mailed by 9/1
• Start shopping for suits/tuxes/accessories for the guys.Just ordered their ties this week SO excited!
• Book a calligrapher. Or use this method.
• Have your groom rent his tux or order his suit.
• Book your wedding night hotel room.
• Update your wedding website to include hotels, registry info, etc. This prevents your moms from getting a lot of phone calls.
• Finalize your groomsman/dad/ring bearer formal wear and tell them to get fitted.
• Start addressing your invitations. Here are some etiquette tips!
• Start taking dance lessons!
• Choose your something old, new, borrowed, and blue.
• Start working on ceremony decorations. Finishing up the aisle pomanders!
• Have a cake tasting.
• Make a card box for gift table.
• Find baskets for programs, favors, etc.
• Order Mother of Bride dress/accessories.
• Book bridesmaid brunch/groomsman outing. Tea party? Driving range?
• Book morning after brunch with leftover guests still in town.
• Have a hair trial run if you’re doing bridals.

2-3 MONTHS TO GO

• Send out your invitations at the 3 month mark. Here they are, and here are the envelopes!
• Choose accessories/shoes for your bridesmaids, and have them purchased. Here is their look.
• Buy/rent/make all remaining decorations.
• Start a beauty regimen.
• Buy your wedding bands.
• Take bridal portraits. I’m pretty sure we’re not doing this, but instead doing a couples session in our wedding getup afterward.
• Buy all of your undergarments you’ll be wearing, and have them for your first fitting.
• Figure out what travel documents you’ll need [passport, visa, birth certificate, etc.] and get all of that in motion.
• Decide who will do ceremony readings [optional]
• Schedule your dress fittings.
• Finalize your ceremony song list/readings.
• You should be done registering for wedding gifts by the time you send out your invites!
• Get your wedding bands engraved [optional]
• Buy all of remaining grooms’s accessories and pick out remaining accessories for groomsman/dads/ring bearer.
• Start talking with your bridesmaids about bridal showers, lingerie showers, etc.
• Book transportation for your wedding party, and your getaway car.
• Provide photographer with list of “must have” photos.

• Buy/make wedding favors.
• Design/order ceremony programs
• Design/order menus
• Make parking arrangements for your venues. Especially if it’s in a downtown area.
• Buy/make your veil.
• Buy/make your garter.
• Buy all of your remaining accessories [bag, shoes, jewelry]
• Decide on/write your ceremony vows.
• Submit your wedding announcement to the local paper. We won’t be doing this probably since neither of us are from here. 
• Decide what the kids will eat/do at your reception.
• Have your dress fitting. Don’t forget to wear the same undergarments, shoes, etc. you’ll be wearing on the actual day.
• Confirm out of town guests’ hotel reservations.
• Have a hair trial run.
• Buy thank you gifts for your bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, house party, flower girl, and ring bearer, his parents, your parents
• Start working on a seating chart and escort cards, place cards, and table numbers.
• Start shopping for your honeymoon.
• Buy all items for welcome bags for out of town guests.
• Find out each hotel’s policy for delivering welcome bags to their rooms.
• Start working on send off items [sparklers, bubbles, confetti, etc.]
• Put together a well wishes station. [Notes from loved ones]

3-4 WEEKS TO GO

• Choose a guest book. We’re going this route.
• Send out rehearsal dinner invitations.
• Have a makeup trial run.
• Finalize ceremony music.
• Add your wedding bands, and gifts to your insurance plan.
• Create a getting ready playlist for the girls and guys.
• Create a must play/do not play list for your wedding band/DJ.
• Pick up wedding bands from engravers.
• Confirm wedding night/honeymoon reservations.
• Email wedding party, parents, vendors an official schedule of the day.
• Girls get your final haircut.
• Work on paperwork to change your name.
• Develop floor plan of reception for vendors, coordinator, and house party.
• Establish a reception timeline [toasts, cake cutting, etc.]

1-2 WEEKS TO GO

• Apply for your marriage license. This depends on your state, but in Texas marriage licenses are only valid for 30 days after purchase and you can’t sign it until 72hours after purchase, so do the research and make sure you don’t get it too early or too late. Also, some states require blood tests, so you’ll want to schedule that too. 
• Call guests who haven’t RSVPd to get a final headcount.
• Give final headcount to all vendors.
• Email your bridal party with contacts for all important people, vendors, etc. just in case.
• Break in your wedding shoes.
• Confirm all delivery times with vendors.
• Finalize seating chart.
• Confirm order of events with officiant.
• Finalize escort cards/place cards/table numbers.
• Plan the night before activities with your wedding party.
• Have the grooms pick up and try on their tux/suit.
• Give a seating chart to your caterer, coordinator, and house party.
• Grooms should get their final haircut.
• Start packing for your honeymoon.
• Work on your wedding toasts.
• Put together an overnight bag for your wedding night, and assign someone to deliver it.
• Email a copy of your honeymoon itinerary to your parents, in case of an emergency.
• Put together vendor tips to have distributed after the reception.
• Assign someone to take all wedding gifts to your house.
• Put together a day of emergency kit for the both dressing rooms.
• Assign someone to take the top layer of your wedding cake to your house to freeze.
• Organize ALL decorations for wedding coordinator/house party to set out.

AFTER THE WEDDING

• Have your wedding dress preserved [optional]
• Make sure all vendors have been paid in full.
• Get started on thank you notes!
• Update your driver’s license to have your new name and address.
• Update your insurance, bills, bank accounts, to be under both of your names.

So that’s it! Yay! Easy right? ;) When I mentioned to “book” vendors this means to sign a contract, pay your deposit, and make a copy of your signed contract AND a receipt of your deposit. Unless contracts are signed and deposits are paid, your date can easily be given away, so be adamant about this! Everyone’s wedding is totally different, but I’ve included everything I have to tackle this year, along with some standard items you may use that we aren’t. If you have any questions about any of this don’t hesitate to ask! It can be very daunting to see a list like this, but if you break it down by week it’s definitely manageable. I’ll share more about my crazy awesome life saving spreadsheet tomorrow.

PS: I’ve created a downloadable version of this list, without my side comments for your convenience HERE.