Wedding Planning Checklist — Printable PDF, Spreadsheet & Generator

Enter your wedding date in the generator, then Download PDF for a clean, dated, fridge-ready file or Download CSV for a list that opens in Google Sheets, Excel and Numbers with a column to tick. Both are built from the same task list the Genie seeds into a real Wedding Board, so the paper version and the live version never disagree.

Prefer a blank template to fill in yourself?

• Wedding planning checklist — open in Google Sheets, download for Excel (.xlsx) or as a CSV. Two tabs: the 12-month timeline and the 6-month elopement timeline, every task by months-before with a Done column.
• Wedding guest list — open in Google Sheets, download for Excel (.xlsx) or as a CSV. The guest list spreadsheet described further down this page.

The Google Sheets links open Google's own "Make a copy" screen: the copy lands in your Drive, yours to edit, and our master stays untouched.

Below the reference checklist you will find the lists people ask for by name: the wedding day checklist and week-of list, the emergency kit, the day-of coordinator checklist, the small wedding and elopement version, and the photo shot list.

Twelve months and earlier — the foundation

• Set the total budget, and who contributes what — every later decision leans on this number (split it by category here)
• Draft the guest count — venue capacity is a hard filter, so this comes before touring
• Choose a season or shortlist of dates before falling in love with a venue
• Start venue research and tours; in-demand venues book 10–14 months out for peak Saturdays
• If you want a planner, hire them now — they earn their fee in the vendor rounds that follow

Nine to twelve months — lock the big vendors

• Book the venue (this fixes your date — everything downstream can now move)
• Book photographer and videographer; strong ones carry one wedding per date
• Book the caterer if your venue does not include one — confirm the catering policy first
• Start dress/attire shopping; made-to-order gowns need 6–9 months plus alterations
• Book the band or DJ
• Set up the wedding website and, if guests travel, reserve hotel room blocks

Six to nine months — shape the day

• Send save-the-dates (guests need the runway, especially for travel)
• Book florist, hair and makeup, transportation
• Plan the ceremony: officiant booked, and what the vows will be — traditional, personal, or both
• Register for gifts; order the cake after a tasting
• Book the honeymoon while flight prices are still kind

Four to six months — the details round

• Order invitations (aim to mail at 8–10 weeks out)
• Menu tasting and final selections; arrange rentals your venue does not include
• Buy or reserve suits and bridesmaid attire
• First dress fitting; buy the rings
• Plan rehearsal dinner and book its venue

Two to four months — confirmations

• Mail invitations at eight to ten weeks; track RSVPs as they land
• Confirm details in writing with every vendor: arrival times, contacts, final counts pending
• Hair and makeup trial; write the speeches — the speech generators give every speaker a head start
• Apply for the marriage license once inside your state's validity window (they expire — check both the waiting period and the expiry)

The final month

• Final venue walkthrough; deliver the day-of timeline to every vendor
• Final dress fitting; break in the shoes
• Chase missing RSVPs and lock the final headcount with the caterer
• Build the seating chart once numbers are real (the seating chart maker takes the list from the template below)
• Final payments and tip envelopes, prepared and labeled

The final week and the day

• Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
• Pack the emergency kit: sewing kit, stain pen, pain relief, phone chargers, the rings
• Hand every vendor-facing duty to one named person who is not you
• On the day: eat breakfast, hand your phone to a friend, and let the plan you built do its job

On a shorter runway?

Everything above compresses. Under six months, do the twelve-month and nine-month blocks in the first two weeks — budget, guest count, venue, photographer — then follow the phases in order at whatever pace remains. Off-peak dates (November–March, Fridays and Sundays) typically save 15–30% and are exactly where late planners find open venues. Planning tiny? The generator's elopement mode strips this to the tasks that genuinely matter.

Week-of wedding checklist

• Confirm arrival times, load-in and contact numbers with every vendor in one message thread, and give all of them the coordinator's number instead of yours
• Send the day-of timeline to the wedding party and both sets of parents: who needs to be where, when
• Final headcount to the caterer and venue (usually due 7–10 days out), then finalize the seating chart from it
• Pick up the attire and try everything on with the shoes, undergarments and jewelry you will actually wear
• Put final payments and tip envelopes in labeled envelopes and hand them to the person who will deliver them
• Break in the shoes, steam the outfits, charge everything that has a battery
• Write the thank-you notes to parents and the wedding party now — there is no time after
• Print the readings, vows and speeches in a large font, two copies each
• Pack for the wedding night and the honeymoon separately

Last-minute wedding checklist: the 48 hours before

• Manicure, a trim if you must, and nothing new on your skin
• Rehearsal: walk the processional and recessional, where everyone stands, who holds the rings
• Rehearsal dinner; give the wedding party their gifts
• Lay out everything the morning needs in one place: rings, vows, the marriage license and the named witnesses, the emergency kit, the outfits, chargers, cash for tips
• Confirm the getting-ready start time with hair and makeup (one artist for six people means a 5am start)
• Decide who fields vendor calls on the day and who posts nothing before the ceremony, then hand over your phone
• Eat real meals, hydrate, set two alarms

The wedding day checklist

• Breakfast before hair and makeup starts; water with a straw nearby all morning
• Hair and makeup on the written schedule, the couple last so the look is freshest
• Getting-ready photos: the details first (rings, invitation suite, shoes, bouquet), then the people
• Marriage license, rings and vows to the named person holding them
• Dressed 45 minutes before photos begin, not 10
• First look or first touch if planned; family photos from the shot list straight after the ceremony while everyone is in one place
• Five minutes alone together between the ceremony and the reception
• Reception run sheet, called by the coordinator or the DJ: entrances, first dance, welcome toast, dinner, speeches, parent dances, cake, open floor, send-off
• One person designated to take home the cards and gifts, the top tier of the cake, the guest book and the signed license

Wedding emergency kit checklist

Sewing kit with white and black thread, safety pins, fashion tape and a lint roller · stain-remover pen · pain relievers, antacids, band-aids and blister pads · deodorant, blotting sheets, a small mirror and the touch-up lipstick · tissues, hand sanitizer, mints · phone chargers and a battery pack · bobby pins, hair ties, mini hairspray · clear nail polish, a nail file, tweezers · a snack that will not stain (almonds, granola bars) · a straw and a bottle of water · the vendor contact sheet and the timeline on paper · cash for tips and any surprise fee · super glue, scissors, a small umbrella · a spare undershirt for anyone who sweats through one

Before the day

• The master timeline with every vendor's arrival, setup, service and breakdown times, plus the couple's version with only what they need to know
• The vendor sheet: company, on-site contact name and mobile, what they are delivering, what they are owed and whether it has been paid, where they park
• The floor plan with the seating chart, the ceremony layout, and where the gift table, guest book, cake and bar stand
• The ceremony order: processional order with names, readings and who reads them, the ring bearer and flower girl plan, the recessional, the officiant's cue sheet
• The rain plan, with the decision time and who decides
• A venue walk-through a week out: power for the DJ or band, the sound curfew, where the caterer's kitchen is, restrooms, the getting-ready rooms
• Confirmations to every vendor in the final week, with the coordinator's number replacing the couple's

On the day

• Arrive before the first vendor and check every delivery against the vendor sheet as it lands
• Place the personal items: escort cards, guest book, favors, signs, cake knife, toasting flutes, card box
• Line up the wedding party for the processional and cue the music
• Hold the rings and the license until they are needed, get the license signed, put it back in the folder
• Move guests between spaces — ceremony to cocktail hour, cocktail hour to seats, seats to the dance floor — through the DJ's or band's announcements
• Run the reception from the timeline and adjust quietly when dinner runs long (it runs long)
• Deliver the final payments and tips in their envelopes
• Pack the couple's things at the end: the cake's top tier, cards and gifts, the guest book, leftover stationery, the license
• Oversee breakdown and vendor departures, and sign off on the venue with its manager

Hiring one instead of drafting a friend? Day-of coordination is a fraction of full planning, and the category split it fits into is in the wedding budget breakdown. The generator above builds the same timeline the coordinator runs from.

Six months out

• Set the budget and the guest list — even "just us" needs a witness count for the license
• Choose the location: a courthouse, a park, a restaurant's private room, a small venue (small wedding venues, by type)
• Check the marriage license rules for that place: waiting period, validity window, witness requirements, whether an out-of-state license counts

Four to three months out

• Book the officiant, or confirm the courthouse appointment, and the photographer — for many elopements these two are the whole vendor list
• Choose the outfits: off-the-rack and made-to-measure fit this timeline, a made-to-order gown does not
• Book travel and the stay if you are eloping away from home, and ask about the photographer's travel fee

Two months to the week of

• Announcements or a celebration party for the people who were not there (the invitation maker handles both)
• Write the vows — they carry an elopement, so give them the time (vow examples and the generator)
• Confirm travel and the day-of logistics; a small bouquet and a cake for two if you want them
• Get the license inside its validity window, and bring the witnesses

Everything on the full checklist that is not here — save-the-dates, hotel blocks, seating charts, rentals, a band — is optional at this size, which is rather the point. How to elope covers the courthouse route step by step.

Family groupings take the longest, so do them straight after the ceremony while everyone is in one place, and name a loud relative to gather each group.

Getting ready

• The details: the dress or suit hanging, shoes, rings, the invitation suite, the bouquet, perfume or watch
• Hair and makeup finishing touches; the last button, zip or tie
• The wedding party in their getting-ready outfits; parents seeing the couple dressed for the first time

Ceremony

• The venue empty and set; guests arriving; the processional, each pair, and the couple's faces when they first see each other
• The vows, the ring exchange, the first kiss, the recessional
• A wide shot of the whole ceremony from the back

Family and wedding party

• The couple with each set of parents, with siblings, with grandparents, and with the full immediate family on each side
• The couple with the whole wedding party, each partner with their side, the couple with any children
• Add every combination you would regret missing, now — this is the list that grows

Couple portraits

• Full-length and close, the first look if there was one, a quiet moment away from everyone, golden hour if the timeline allows it

Reception

• The room before guests enter; table settings, the cake, signage and favors
• Entrances, the first dance, parent dances, the toasts (the speakers' faces and the couple's), the cake cutting, the dance floor, the send-off

Most photographers bring their own version of this list; yours is the family section and the moments only you know matter. The photographer cost post covers what the coverage hours buy.

Open the wedding guest list template in Google Sheets and Google saves an editable copy to your own Drive — no import step. Also available for Excel (.xlsx) and as a CSV. Every version carries a frozen header row and two example rows to replace.

Columns included: name, side, group, address, email, phone, save-the-date sent, invite sent, RSVP, meal choice, dietary notes, plus-one, table, and thank-you sent — the full lifecycle of a guest from first draft to thank-you card, so you never migrate spreadsheets mid-planning.

The Table column fills itself. When the RSVPs are in, paste these rows into the wedding seating chart maker: it keeps your groups together, lets you move people around by hand, and hands back the same three columns to paste in again.

Three habits that keep a guest list from becoming a second job:

• Track the list in tiers. Must-invite, want-to-invite, if-space — when the venue's capacity number arrives, the cut makes itself.
• Record addresses as RSVPs arrive, not in one heroic session before invitations go out.
• The RSVP column is the caterer's number. Final headcount usually locks in the last month — the checklist above has it in the final-month block.

Prefer zero spreadsheets? Tell the Genie your guest list in plain sentences and it keeps the structured version on your Wedding Board — counts, RSVPs, and the chase list.