There’s a lot of info on the interwebs and in wedding planners about when to book what throughout your engagement.
Here’s my summary: there’s no one-size-fits-all timeline.
Super helpful, right? I know.
Everyone’s engagement looks a little different. I’ve seen three-month engagements, three-year engagements, and everything in between. Regardless of how long you have to plan, your priorities will influence where you focus your attention.
That being said, there are certain services every wedding needs, and it never hurts to book those as early as possible.
Below is a sample wedding planning timeline based on my own 16-month engagement. The best advice I can give is to use this as a starting point, and shift accordingly if you have a shorter or longer engagement.
Start with the necessities
Every wedding needs a handful of services:
- Venue(s)
- Catering
- Photography
- Music
- Florals
Because most weddings include all of the above (or a combination of them), the demand for these vendors is high, and they often book more than a year in advance.
Depending on your priorities, you may choose not to book one or more of those things. For example, my husband and I decided not to hire a band or DJ, and we preferred faux flowers, which I purchased from a website — Ling’s Moment. (Pictured below!)
Based on what matters most to you, book your venue(s), catering, photography, music, and florals as soon as possible.
Then book supporting services
I call these “supporting services” because 1 ) you can plan a beautiful wedding without them and 2) you may not know you need them until you make decisions about the necessities.
Supporting services include:
- A professional coordinator
- Rentals
- Hair and make-up
- Bar
- Transportation
- Pre-wedding accommodations
Coordination
We hired a coordinator to help manage communication with our vendors during the last six weeks of our engagement, design a layout for our ceremony and reception, develop a wedding-day timeline, and essentially “run the show” on wedding day. I highly recommend a coordinator if it’s within your budget!
Rentals
Just about everything you see at a wedding can be rented: tables, chairs, linens, lights, lounge furniture, dinnerware, drinkware, decorations…the list goes on.
Once you’ve booked your venue(s) and caterer, you’ll have a better sense of what you might want to rent.
Hair and make-up
As a bride, I absolutely wanted to get my hair and make-up professionally done. You may be someone who enjoys and is good at dolling yourself up — but I’m not 🙂 The five times I was a bridesmaid, however, I never once had my make-up professionally done, and I only had my hair professionally done twice.
You do you, beautiful!
Bar
If serving alcohol is among your priorities, and your caterer doesn’t also offer bartending services, then you’ll want to hire a bartender or two. Your state may have laws surrounding beer, wine, and liquor service that will impact your options. For example, in North Carolina, you can serve wine with less than 16% alcohol content and beer free of charge at your wedding as long as you have permission from the venue, but you need a permit to serve fortified wine and liquor.
Transportation
Based on your venue’s location, transportation for your wedding party and/or your guests might be warranted. For example, my sister-in-law got married at a barn over an hour away from the town where she and her husband live, so they offered guests the option to take a bus to and from the venue, and requested RSVPs so they knew how many passengers to plan for.
Another example, we hired a bus to transport our wedding party from our getting-ready location to our wedding venue, and from our wedding venue to our photo location after the ceremony.
If you decide to coordinate a formal “send-off” after your wedding, you might want to book special transportation for that, such as a limo or vintage car.
Accommodations
The venue you select may or may not have an area for your wedding party to get dressed on your wedding day. If not, you might decide to book a separate space for the morning of your wedding.
For example, we booked an AirBnB where my parents stayed the weekend of our wedding, and on wedding day, we all got dressed and took pre-ceremony photos there before heading to the venue.
As a bridesmaid, I’ve gotten ready at my house on my own, at the churches where the ceremonies were held, at the bride’s downtown apartment (which was within walking distance of the photo locations and venue), and at the venue. So, lots of options depending on your style and budget!
Save the rest for last
Last in order, but not last-minute! “The rest” could include:
- Rehearsal dinner
- Stationery
- Dessert
- Registry
- Hotel rooms
Rehearsal dinner
Your venue and caterer might have your rehearsal dinner covered, in which case, check that off the list! If not, you’ve got options. We hosted our rehearsal dinner at a favorite little Italian restaurant across the street from our venue. But I’ve also attended rehearsal dinners hosted in a backyard (with pizza!), at a country club, and at a BBQ joint. (I don’t even remember two of the rehearsal dinners I’ve been to, if that tells you anything about what guests pay attention to.)
Stationery
When you place your stationery order depends on:
- How many pieces your suite includes.
- Will you send a save-the-date, just an invitation, or both? Do you anticipate printing other pieces, such as an invitation to the rehearsal dinner or to a post-wedding brunch? Will you include an RSVP card to mail back?
- Whether you partner with a designer.
- Will you hire a professional stationer, personalize a pre-designed piece on a website like The Knot, or create your own?
- The length of your engagement.
- Traditionally, save-the-dates are sent 6-8 months before the wedding, and invitations are sent 6-8 weeks before the wedding. Obviously, if you have a six-month engagement, you won’t want to save your stationery order for last!
Dessert
Let them eat cake! Or pie! Or donuts! Whatever you serve, you should be able to order it within a few months of your wedding date.
We served individual mini pies from Wegman’s, and we ordered them the month before our big day.
Registry
Honestly, as long as your registry is available by the time you send your invitations, you’re good to go. We created our honeymoon registry about a year before our wedding, but I was tweaking it up until invitations went out.
Hotel rooms
We elected not to reserve a block of hotel rooms because we figured most people would choose to stay wherever they had points, or would prefer to rent an AirBnB. Here’s some more information about booking a hotel block if that’s something that interests you!
A note on attire
Wedding dresses
If you or your partner plans to wear a wedding dress, start shopping ASAP! You don’t have to book alterations right away (I started mine three months before the wedding), but depending on where you buy a dress, it could take several months for it to be delivered.
For example, my sister-in-law bought her dress six months before her wedding, and it took four months to come in. She only had one opportunity to get fitted for alterations — about six weeks before her wedding — and then they had to ship her gown to Montana where she lives (she bought it in NC).
Another example: I bought my dress off-the-rack and took it home the same day, so it was ready for alterations whenever. I’m glad, because I ended up needing two rounds of alterations!
Suits and tuxedos
Don’t be alarmed if your partner procrastinates renting a tuxedo. Apparently that’s normal! My husband didn’t select his tux and make a reservation until three months before the wedding, and his groomsmen didn’t confirm their measurements until weeks before the wedding (not ideal, but it worked out).
If you or your partner plans to purchase a tailored suit or tux, then you might have to start that process sooner, but it’ll depend on the vendor.
Sample timeline for 16-month engagement
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Happy planning!
Mama's Lullablog 
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