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.

Prefer a printable sorted by category instead of by date? Savvy Leigh, a Charlotte wedding photographer, gives away a wedding planning checklist organized by category: vendors, attire, photography, flowers, stationery and the rest, with her rule of three per category, as a Google Drive download with no signup. It pairs well with the dated list above: hers says what, ours says when.

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.

A year or more out — 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. Expect 75 to 80% of invited guests to attend (The Knot)
• Choose a season or shortlist of dates before falling in love with a venue
• Research and tour venues; if you want a planner, hire them now — they earn their fee in the vendor rounds that follow

Twelve to eight months — the pros who work one wedding a day

• Book the venue 11 to 12 months out (this fixes your date). For June, September and October dates Zola says 12 to 14 months: those months go first
• Book the photographer and videographer 10 to 12 months out; most photographers work alone and shoot one wedding a day
• Band or DJ, the caterer if your venue does not include one, the florist: all booked by about eight to nine months out
• Reserve hotel room blocks 9 to 12 months out, before the save-the-dates go out (The Knot), and start the registry
• Start dress shopping about ten months out and order a made-to-order gown 8 to 10 months out: it takes 16 to 20 weeks to arrive, then 8 to 12 weeks of alterations (the full dress timeline)
• Build the real guest list with addresses, and book the engagement shoot with your photographer

Nine to five months — going public

• Launch the wedding website, then send save-the-dates six to eight months out with its link (8 to 12 months for a destination wedding)
• Book the officiant, rentals or a tent if your venue needs them, hair and makeup, and transportation
• Plan the honeymoon while flight prices are still kind; taste and book the cake

Five to two months — the details

• Design and order the invitations by about three months out: printing and shipping take weeks, letterpress longer (the invitation maker previews templates with your real wording free)
• Order the rings by about three months out; custom bands and engraving take weeks
• Check your state's marriage license and officiant rules: the waiting period, how long a license stays valid, and whether a friend officiating has to register
• Reserve suits or tuxes two to three months ahead (four for spring and summer), book the dress fittings, finalize the menu, and do the hair and makeup trial
• Confirm details and payment dates in writing with every vendor

Eight to six weeks — the invitations

• Mail invitations six to eight weeks out, with RSVPs due three to four weeks before the wedding; in The Knot's words, any time after six weeks is too late
• A square envelope costs $1.31 to mail since July 2026: the 82-cent stamp plus the USPS 49-cent nonmachinable surcharge
• Build the playlist and the do-not-play list, and draft the vows and speeches — the speech generators give every speaker a head start

The final month

• Chase missing RSVPs and give the caterer the final headcount by the date in your contract
• Get the marriage license in the last four weeks, never in the final days: Texas has a 72-hour wait, and a license expires 30 days after issue in Hawaii and 33 days after applying in Michigan
• Build the seating chart once numbers are real (the seating chart maker takes the list from the template below), then print the place cards
• The final dress fitting one to two weeks out; break in the shoes
• Final venue walkthrough; send the day-of timeline to every vendor a few days to a week before
• 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 foundation and the one-wedding-a-day bookings in the first two weeks — budget, guest count, venue, photographer — then follow the phases in order at whatever pace remains; the generator puts every passed deadline in one catch-up list, in the order it was due. Off-peak months cost less (in The Knot's data for 2024 weddings, January averaged $29,900 against $33,900 in May), and Zola says a January to March date needs its venue booked only three to six months ahead. 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
• Confirm the final headcount with the caterer and venue by the date in your contract, and send them the finished seating chart
• 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 in the last four weeks, never in the final days (Texas has a 72-hour wait), 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.