Your wedding checklist

Ten categories, printed blank, so two people can argue about it with a pen instead of a browser tab.

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Wedding date

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This list is a planning aid. Your venue, ceremony, vendors and location may require different steps — and some of them will require steps that appear on no checklist ever written. Cross out what does not apply to you. That is not falling behind; that is the list working.

One

First decisions

Set the full budget and who contributes what
Draft the guest list at three sizes: dream, likely, essential
Agree the three things you care about most, and the one you are happy to simplify
Choose the season, then the date
Decide who is making which decision, so neither of you is quietly making all of them

Two

Venue and ceremony

Book the venue
Write down what the venue includes, and what it does not
Book the celebrant or officiant
Give whatever legal notice your ceremony requires, at your local office, in their timeframe
Agree the wet-weather plan and the hour by which it has to be called
Take out wedding insurance if you want it

Three

Guests

Collect addresses into one tracker rather than four group chats
Send save-the-dates
Decide the plus-one and children wording, and deliver it privately where you can
Track RSVPs as they arrive
Chase the quiet ones by name, by phone, once
Collect access needs, allergies, travel and accommodation notes

Four

Photography and memory

Book the photographer, and the filmmaker if you are filming
Check the coverage hours against the actual schedule, not the package name
Write the family photograph list with names on it
Decide your privacy and social posting choice, and tell people
Set up the guest photo portal and print the code
Agree where the photographs will live once the gallery lands

Five

Stationery

Decide the invitation design
Proofread every fact against the contracts, not against the last draft
Order invitations with 10–15% spare
Address, assemble and weigh one complete invitation before buying postage
Send invitations eight to ten weeks out; twelve for destination
Plan the day-of stationery: signage, menus, table numbers, order of service

Six

Clothing and rings

Choose the outfits and book alterations with real dates
Book hair and makeup, with a dated trial
Buy the rings; confirm sizing, engraving and the delivery date in writing
Arrange insurance or a valuation if you want one
Break in the shoes; break in nothing else
Name the person who carries the rings on the day

Seven

Food and celebration

Confirm the menu and book the tasting
Take the dietary requirements from the guest tracker, not from memory
Book music for the ceremony and for the reception
Book florals and styling
Decide about the cake, including deciding there is not one
Confirm the drinks plan and who is paying for which part of it

Eight

Final month

Begin your vows — a month out, not the night before
Finish the seating chart in pencil, then in ink
Send final counts and schedule final payments
Confirm every vendor: times, places, contacts
Build the day-of run sheet and give it to someone who is not you
Ask your wedding party what they still do not know

Nine

Final week

Print two copies of everything that will be spoken aloud
Pack the emergency kit
Hand the run sheet to each person named on it
Hand over the rings, the payments and the phone
Confirm transport times for everyone who needs one
Eat, sleep, and stop deciding things

Ten

After the wedding

Download every guest photo and video within three months
Back the gallery up in two places
Send thank-you cards
Return, collect or clean anything hired
Choose where the photographs will live for good
Begin the story while the details are still warm

Three questions for the whole list.

What can be removed? What needs an owner? What waits until a quoted date?

Most lists get longer because nobody is allowed to delete a line. You are allowed.