The Ultimate Wedding Planning Checklist Every Bride Needs to Follow

Whether you give yourself a ton of time or only have a few months, when planning a wedding, it’s all about organization and time management. You need to know your priorities, be comfortable juggling a few tasks, all while keeping your cool.

“When they have a calendar or checklist, it allows for them to focus on the task at hand, what’s important, check it off and move on,” said Jodi Gagné, wedding planner and founder of Simply Perfect. “There are some couples who come to me and we can turn a wedding around in three weeks. Anything is possible, it just depends on their personality, how flexible they are, if they’re open in terms of the venue, how quick they make decisions and whether they’re good at checking it off, don’t look back, move forward.”

Whatever your timeline, here’s how to plan a wedding in 36 weeks. You may have to do a little tinkering with your own schedule but if you follow along carefully, you’ll get the idea of what you need to do to have the best wedding imaginable.

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Set a date and time for the wedding

Um, kind of the most important detail.

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Create a preliminary guest list

"You need an idea of how many guests you're working with," says Gagné. "It'll dictate the kind of venue you're going to go to. If you have an intimate wedding of 50 people, you don't necessarily want to go to a banquet hall that typically holds 400 because then they're lost in that space."

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Select a ceremony venue and/or reception venue

"Venues can sometimes book out over a year in advance." Yikes. Gagné also notes that if the venue does not have a caterer, that needs to be selected.

Officiant holding book in front of couple holding hands

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Select a ceremony officiant

If it's not at a church, that is. Gagné points out the obvious: "If they don't have a site, if they don't have someone to marry them, and there's no food for the guests, what's the point?"

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Select the bridal party

"That will lead into selecting and knowing how many attendants are needed, the gowns, ordering the bridal ensemble because a bridal gown, for the most part, is on a nine-month cutting cycle," says Gagné. Which leads us to the next point.

Woman trying on wedding dress with friends watching

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Find the wedding gown

Once the bridal party is chosen, Gagné points out that a lot of brides "want to go shopping with their girls." Totally makes sense. Just don't go too over-the-top with a wedding gown.

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Select a photographer

"Photographers book really early, especially the really awesome ones," warns Gagné. Once a photographer is chosen, the couple can set up their engagement photo session. "If they want engagement photos they can use them for other things like their guestbook or their Save the Date cards."

Is he/she this good, though?

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Bridesmaids’ and flower girls’ attire

Their turn. At this point, the bride will have a rough idea of the colour scheme she's going for, what shades will look best in her venue and at what time of year the wedding will take place. This all feeds into the choosing of the bridesmaids dresses.

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Prepare the Save the Dates

And since it's 2018, Gagné suggests creating a wedding website where the guests can go for any information needed.

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Send out Save the Dates

Do this with eight months to go. It's a win-win for everyone on this wedding planning checklist.

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Create a preliminary timeline for the actual wedding day

Determining the logistics for the big day like when and where the bridal party's getting ready, getting camera ready, length of the ceremony, cocktails, formal introductions, dinner service, speeches, special dances, all that fun stuff will give them a skeleton of the flow of events, says Gagné. "So they're not trying to figure all of that the day of."

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Pick floral and decor companies

They need time to order what's needed, especially the most renowned markets.

Man holding trumpet, woman holding accordian, another woman holding violin

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Select ceremony and reception musicians

Because what's a wedding without music?

Start picking your first dance song, father-daughter song and more with these top wedding songs of 2018.

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Arrange hotel accommodations

We're down to about four to six months to go, depending on your timeline. Whether it's for the out-of-town guests or for the bride and groom on the actual wedding night, you'll want to make sure your reservations are set.

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Order invitations

"By then you'll know the date, time, venue, if hotel info cards are needed," says Gagné.

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Order wedding cake

Mmm, yum. If you even have a cake, that is.

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Organize transportation

"Transportation is getting from A to B if their ceremony and reception are at different locations and the photo location is more than a two-minute walk," details Gagné. "They need to know how they're getting from one space to the next."

She further explains, "So it would involve picking up the groom and the male attendants and get them to the church, picking up the bride and female attendants to get them to the church, then picking up the bridal party and getting them to the photo location, and from the photo location to the reception venue. And then a pickup at the end of the night, if needed."

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Arrange for additional services like AV, entertainment, ice sculptures, photo booths

These are the small things that will make a big impact.

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Square away hair and makeup

A girl's gotta look pretty.

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Plan a honeymoon

Post-wedding life is looking pretty good right now. Just don't make these mistakes.

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Purchase wedding rings

Put a little time into finding those symbols of your love.

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Menu tasting

"This is also when the food, bar service, layout of event site and finalizing the venue all happens," says Gagné.

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Order formalwear for groom, groomsmen, fathers, ushers and ringbearers

They need to look good too.

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Plan welcome baskets and thank you notes for out-of-town guests

"Just planning and trying to figure out what to include like restaurants and attractions and that kind of stuff," says Gagné. It's these extra-special touches that go a long way.

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Purchase of accessories like ring pillows, cake accessories, knives, toasting glasses, guestbook pen, money box

We're at the two-to-three-months-to-go mark. And again, it's the little things that make a big impact on this wedding planning checklist.

Bride-to-be and bridesmaids holding gifts

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Purchase gifts for those involved in planning process

We're looking at you, bridesmaids, groomsmen and parents. And, hey, if you want, gifts for one another as well.

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Order favours

Or if that's not your thing, "choose a favourite charity in lieu of favours," says Gagné.

RELATED: Here's how to impress your wedding guests.

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Mail out invitations

"There are certain things that can't be moved," insists Gagné. "Sending out your invitations 10 to 12 weeks prior? I don't care when your wedding date is. That's what you do."

Why? "Because four weeks prior, you want your RSVPs in. Then anywhere from three weeks to one week prior, you're giving your final guest count to your florist, to your liquor rep, your caterer, to your venue, to your floral decor company." It's all in the details.

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Obtain marriage license

When you're running down your checklist, this is something you don't have to worry about until closer to the actual wedding. They're only valid for 90 days.

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Select music for ceremony and reception

Everything's in harmony at this point in the checklist.

RELATED: For the songs for every moment of your big day, you need this ultimate list in your life.

Man and woman looking at notes and laptop

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Final details meetings

With six weeks to go, this is the time when you want to ensure everything's good to go, from the officiant, caterer and venue to the photographer, musicians and floral decor. No mishaps here, thank you very much!

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Arrange rehearsal/rehearsal dinner

Think of it as the pre-rehearsal rehearsal.

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Follow up with guests who haven’t responded

Sigh. There are always stragglers — even with only a month left until the big day. Though there are worse things a wedding guest can do.

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Finalize guest count

This way you can give the number to whomever needs it.

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Send or write thank you cards for any gifts received prior to wedding

It's just good form, people!

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Finalize table seating assignments

Almost there ...

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Print the day of stationery

We're talking signage (Welcome, hashtags, etc.), ceremony programs, place cards, seating charts, menu cards, table numbers, and favour tags.

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Ensure gown and accessories are picked up

With just two weeks to go, this one's very important.

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Break in shoes

Very, VERY important. And one of those things you don't think of. Though you can always bring another pair of shoes to dance in.

Five women sitting around table eating and drinking

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Arrange refreshments for bridal party during photo session

They need a little somethin' something.

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Ready payment envelopes for vendors that need to be paid just prior or on the day

The last thing you want to be worried about on your big day is finding your chequebook. And don't forget tips.

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Work on wedding toast and speeches

Any earlier and it'll go by the wayside. Don't forget, have some fun with it.

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Pack for honeymoon if going away right after

It's the week of! Things are getting real. But hopefully you're going to one of these romantic honeymoon destinations.

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Arrange for overnight bags to get to venue or hotel

It's all about logistics.

Dark banquet room all set up for wedding

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Deliver all the accessories to the reception site

This should happen the day before, suggests Gagné.

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Deliver welcome baskets to hotel for out-of-town guests

It'll make them feel special and know you've thought of them.

People sitting at long table in restaurant

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Have the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

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Eat something

You did it! Congrats!

P.S. Don't forget, on the next business day you've got some leg work to do, from returning things like tuxedoes, cake stands and rental cars. Once that's all done, let married life begin!