The Wedding Timeline: When to book wedding suppliers?

Wedding Timeline

• 12+ Months Before

  Set your Date

  So we start the wedding timeline; the all important date! Set a yearly reminder on your partners phone to ensure you get spoilt every anniversary!

• 12+ Months Before

  Book Your Venue

  So by now you’ve probably booked your venue, easily one of the most exciting parts of the planning process. It’s also a great time to talk with your church is you’re not having a civil ceremony. If not check out these real weddings for inspiration

• 12+ Months Before

  Book Your Photographer

  We tend to book up pretty quickly, especially for those spring/summer months. The same applies to videography, the good ones book up quick! Check out how I work and my prices

• 12 Months Before

  Send your 'Save the Dates'

  Especially to those that may be travelling far

• 8-12 Months Before

  Throw an Engagement Party (Optional)

  Engagement parties aren’t for everyone, but it’s a blooming good excuse for a knees up!

• 10-12 Months before

  Book your Registrar

  It is possible to chose your registrar but you must ask, they won’t offer. If you’ve attended a wedding before and loved the registrar then it may be worth checking their availability

• 10-12 Months Before

  Book your Honeymoon

  My only advice is to go with a budget that you won’t bend, it’s so tempting to overspend! But hey, it’s your wedding timeline so you can go ahead and ignore that piece of advice and go crazy!

• 10-12 Months before

  Book Entertainment

  So this is the part that is a bit of a minefield. It’s also the part where your budget conscious side needs to come out. You name it, you can book it. From the obvious to the truly unique, there are suppliers that can help. This is where the wedding timeline gets complicated!

  Here’s just a short list of entertainers I’ve seen at weddings

  • Magicians
  • Mind Readers
  • Fire Acrobatics
  • Fireworks
  • Chimney Sweeps
  • DJs
  • Bands
  • Singing Waiters
  • Face Painters
  • Casinos
  • String Quartet
  • Tribute Acts
  • Games console stations
  • Caricatures
  • Photo Booths and Magic Mirrors
  • Bouncy Castles and Inflatables

  The list goes on…

• 8-10 Months Before

  Book Venue Designers

  Skip this step if you’re going to DIY but if you’re leaving it to the professionals then now’s the time to get your choices made

• 8-10 Months Before

  Order THE Dress

  As a male I’m not going to pretend I understand the love that a bride has for her wedding dress but I do know how important it is to the brides

• 8-10 Months Before

  Book the Caterers, Florists and Transport

  Your venue may already be catered but if not now is the time to go food tasting! Whoop!

  When looking for your florists go with your colour scheme ready and where possible an idea of the types of flowers you are looking for. These guys are creative geniuses so trust their judgement and it should pay off

• 6-8 Months Before

  Organise your Guests

  Let’s face it, we all have some friends or family that leave everything to the last minute. Make sure that everyone is aware of local hotels and send them links to book. If your venue doesn’t have rooms then book your own room at this point too.

• 6 Months Before

  Give Notice of Marriage

  If you’re having a church wedding then at this point you’ll need to give notice of marriage or have your banns read. Also you’re going to need to pay up at this point to the church

• 6 Months Before

  Sort the Suits

  It’s time to order those awesome suits, whether you’re going for classic or modern there is plenty to chose from

• 6 Months Before

  Create a Gift List

  If you’re having a list then sort this now. There are many stores that make this easy, from Amazon to John Lewis, there’s plenty to chose from

• 3 Months Before

  Check your Passports

  If you’re having a honeymoon then don’t leave it till last minute, you don’t want to spend the day in a passport office before you can fly away.

  You can ‘pre-order’ your passport for your new name, which will only be valid after your wedding date. You do this via the government website

• 3-6 Months Before

  Order the Rings

  Get yourselves to the jewellers. But remember to shop around, especially online

• 3 Months Before

  Sort Wedding Favours and Gifts

  Get the gifts for those that have helped out, something personalised works well. Check out Etsy is always a good bet.

  Order your favours at this point too.

• 2-3 Months Before

  Dress Fitting, Caterers Menu and Post those Invites

  Time to get super organised now….not long left!

• 2 Months Before

  Select your Music

  Speak with your DJ about the style of music you’d like, chose your first dance and give your venue/church any songs that you’d like to be played throughout the ceremony

• 2 Months Before

  Finalise your Personal Touches

  Make sure you now have everything in place that makes your wedding yours. Signage, name cards, order of service, guest book and anything else you’re looking to have personalised

• 2 Months Before

  Confirm Numbers

  Make sure your caterer and venue know how many people are attending

• Do the Dreaded Seating Plan

  Breathe in and….. breathe out

• 1-2 Weeks Before

  Job Roles

  Make sure everyone knows their job roles! Who’s taking the dress, who’s staying where, who’s helping out with all parts of the day… there’s lots to think about

• 1-2 Weeks Before

  Email Suppliers

  Send an email to all of your suppliers, simply to say that you’re looking forward to their services. This will give you peace of mind when you get a reply of a similar nature.

• Your Wedding Date!

  Get Married!!

  And so this wedding timeline comes to an end! The big day is finally here. Such a cliché but try and take it all in, those 16 hours fly by!!