As well as keeping checklists of all the details of your wedding plans, you will need an overall timetable of what to do when, so that everything is planned in good time and nothing gets forgotten. Sort out all the big questions first – date and time, venue of service and reception – then move onto the smaller details once you have worked out the basic framework.

5-6 months before your wedding you will need to decide when and where you are going to get married, and book up the church or registry office, minister or registrar, reception and caterers. You will also need to book a photographer, someone to video the proceedings, cars and other transport to the service and reception and away from the reception. This is especially important to arrange early if you are getting married in the summer, when many professional firms are booked solid months in advance. Decide where you are going for your honeymoon and make all the necessary travel arrangements. Decide also where you are going to live; if you will be buying a place of your own start looking immediately and try to get the purchase sorted out as soon as possible. Decide on who you want to take part in your wedding, such as best man, bridesmaids, ushers and other attendants, and check that your chosen date is available for them. (more…)