Wedding Planning

Depending on your personal preferences and the preferences of your husband or wife-to-be, a wedding can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 2 years to plan. If one step in the planning process is missed, the whole wedding could be ruined. To prevent this from happening, we have created a wedding checklist in order to ensure everything goes according to plan on your big day.

7-12 Months Prior

• Announce Engagement and have your engagement party
• Decide on the wedding style and create a guest list
• Choose who you both want in the wedding party
• Set the date and time of the wedding
• Book your wedding officiant
• Choose your wedding song
• Decide on "extras" (cake, flowers, dj, photographers etc)
• Purchase your wedding dress and bridal accessories
• Purchase bridesmaids dresses and accessories (maid of honor as well)
• Start planning your honeymoon
• Buy (or make) your wedding favors
• Purchase your wedding invitations
• Plan your rehearsal ceremony and dinner

2-6 Months Prior

• Arrange accommodations for out-of-town guests
• Finalize the dinner menu
• Book your limo (or other form of transportation)
• Book the rehearsal dinner site
• Book your honeymoon
• Purchase your wedding rings
• Purchase your gifts for the wedding party
• Rent the tuxedos for groom and groomsmen (including bestman)
• Schedule a dress fitting (bride)
• Book hair and makeup appointment (bride)
• Have your bridal shower
• Send out the invitations to your guests
• Plan the wedding program

1 Month Prior

• Get your marriage license (and blood tests if needed)
• Final dress fitting (bride)
• Arrange seating for your guests
• Have your stag and doe party

1-2 Weeks Prior

• Pick up the wedding dress
• Have your bachelor and bachelorette parties

The Day Before

• Give the wedding party their gifts
• Pick up the tuxedo(s)
• Decorate the wedding site
• Have your rehearsal dinner and greet out-of-town guests

Follow these steps in the first step towards a lifetime of marital bliss!

Samantha Taylor spent several years working in the weddings industry as a wedding planner. When she isn't being a mom of two wonderful children, she works as a freelance writer for http://www.yourwedding101.com - a site that offers information about everything wedding related - from wedding planning to wedding invitations and more.

In The News:

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Washington Post
‘Bride Wars’ is a failed marriage | 1 ½ stars
Kansas City Star, MO - 15 hours ago
And their mutual friends will have to decide which wedding to attend. All would be well if only one of them would cancel (or if they would agree to a double ...
Video: Ann Hathaway's Stellar Year CBS
'Bride Wars' stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are funny allies Los Angeles Times
'Bride Wars' A Marriage Of Mediocrity Tampa Tribune
Boston Globe - Washington Postall 795 news articles

Downtown Express
Manhattan's new Marriage Bureau earns wows as a place to say your vows
New York Daily News, NY - Jan 8, 2009
On Wednesday, Roney witnessed the new Manhattan Marriage Bureau’s first wedding ceremony, between Carlos Sanchez, 27, and Jennifer Avila, 22, from Sunnyside ...
Eloping to Vegas? Why Not Lower Manhattan? New York Times
NY hears wedding bells, aims to compete with Vegas The Associated Press
Wedding Bells Ring In NYC Marriage Bureau WNYC
Downtown Express - Gothamistall 254 news articles

Boston Globe
"Not Easily Broken" a thinly disguised sermon
Reuters - 1 hour ago
Wedding-day dreams have taken several unexpected turns when we catch up with Dave (Morris Chestnut) and Clarice (Taraji P. Henson). They live an extremely, ...
Movie review: Cliches nag 'Not Easily Broken' San Francisco Chronicle
Not Easily Broken ( ** ) AHN
Movie Review: ‘Not Easily Broken’ is a romantic soap opera that ... Providence Journal
Chicago Daily Herald - Pittsburgh Post Gazetteall 86 news articles

FOR FAMILIES: A guide for parents to Jan. 9 and earlier releases
Chicago Tribune, United States - 12 hours ago
By Roger Moore | Tribune Newspapers What it's about: Best friends become dueling brides when they both book the wedding they've always dreamed of in the ...

Wearing white and eating cake, Brides magazine turns 75
The Canadian Press, NEW YORK - 22 hours ago
"The magazine is realistic about how people's lives are today, but still the focus is how to have a successful wedding and start a healthy marriage," says ...

Wedding war: Las Vegas versus New York
KVBC, NV - 10 hours ago
The city has renovated it marriage bureau and even built a 24000-square-foot wedding complex with the hope of becoming the most popular wedding site. ...

New York Magazine
City to Make Your Shotgun Marriage Just That Much Nicer
New York Magazine,  USA - Jan 7, 2009
Photo: Getty Images Perhaps sensing the economic downturn (and having eventually watched the Sex and the City movie), the city spruced up its civil-wedding ...

MLive.com
Bay County gets older, refrains from marriage, likes guns ...
MLive.com, MI - 20 hours ago
Luczak said economics could be partly to blame, as young couples struggling to get a foothold in life may be putting off the expense of a wedding.

Former First Lady Cornelia Wallace Dies At 69
NBC13.com, AL - 6 hours ago
Just 16 months after their wedding Governor Wallace was shot. The assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed. Fifty-four days later, he left the hospital ...

KHOU
Houston wedding show could help brides on a budget
KHOU, TX - Jan 7, 2009
“I refuse to go into this marriage in debt, “ says Ashley. “That's no way to start out.” -- Watch the flowers. All those arrangements can quickly add up. ...

marriage wedding - Google News

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