Wedding Wednesday – Things to Do Ten Months Before The Wedding

Wedding Wednesday – Things to Do Ten Months Before The Wedding

So you’ve said yes picked your date, now it’s time to starting thinking about what you have to do next.  This week I’m covering the checklist of things you do at least ten months or more before your wedding.

Announce Your Engagement

One of the first things you need to do is announce your engagement.  With social media these days, I don’t think people ever miss this step.  I saw some many engagements on my Facebook timeline during the holidays.  Regardless of how you choose to make your announcement though it’s a great first step in planning your wedding.

Figure Out Your Budget

Before you start planning or spending anything regarding your wedding first make sure you know your budget.  Having a firm budget before planning helps you make the best decisions about where your money will be spent.  Weddings can be very expensive, a good way to keep it under control is to have a good budget.  Here’s a free download from Aisle Perfect to help get you started with budget planning.

Select a Date

Once all the excitement of the engagement is over it’s time to set the date.  I suggest having a few dates in mind when you’re planning.  My reason for that is going to come later in this post.  Being flexible in the early stages of planning is good.

Choose Your Wedding Party

Finding the right group of people to help you celebrate your big day is very important.  Getting the wedding party together early is key to a successful event.  Give your wedding party as much time as possible to get their finances together for the items they are required to purchase or rent for the wedding.  Be sure to have back ups in case someone can’t participate or needs to drop our for whatever reason.

Create a Guestlist

Creating a guest list may be one of the most difficult parts of planning a wedding, next to making the budget.  I’ll be sharing an entire post dedicated to the process of inviting guests to your wedding.

Start Looking for a Venue

Finding the right venue is very important in the wedding planning phase.  Narrow down you list to your top three to five places and visit as soon as possible.  Once you find the two you like the most check their availability with your desired date.  If your top choice isn’t available it’s important to have alternate dates you can pick from.  This is where flexibility comes into play, to book the venue you really want, you may have to change your date.  Do not set a firm date until you have booked and secured your venue for the ceremony and reception.

Book Your Ceremony Location and Rehearsal Date

If you’re not having your ceremony at the same location as your reception be sure to book that as soon as you book your venue.  Lock in your rehearsal date and time as well.

Start Shopping for your Wedding Dress

Shopping for wedding dresses take time and I recommend looking as early as possible.  Dresses off the rack may require alterations and modifications so shopping early is the best solution.  When I purchased my wedding dress I was lucky that I didn’t need to have any alterations but that’s not always the case.  I’ll be sharing much more about dresses over the next couple of months.

Set Up Your Wedding Website

My first post in this series had information about getting a wedding website.  Wedding Paper Divas helps couples by offering a free wedding website.  They can even set it up to match your wedding invitation if you order them from their website.

Send Out Save the Date Cards

Once you have a firm date send you Save the Date Cards to potential guests.  It’s a good way to get the date in front of people as early as possible so they can start looking at possible travel and booking hotel rooms.  The earlier you send your Save the Dates the better.

Be sure to check back next Wednesday for more wedding tips.  I’ll be sharing more of the wedding checklist items.