Planning a wedding may be a daunting and very stressful task. We highly commend you take six months to a year to plan your wedding and will outline for you an easy-to-follow schedule.

Twelve months before the Wedding

• Get yourself a binder with paper and dividing tabs.
• Discuss with your fiancé and his/her families, plus your own, to determine a budget.
• Decide on your wedding theme e.g. Christmas, Fall, Snowflakes, Black and White, etc.
• Select a wedding date with your fiancé and families.
• Decide on your wedding attendants.
• Book a ceremony and reception location(s).
• Book your professional wedding photographer, florist, caterer, videographer, and DJ or wedding musicians.

Nine months before the Wedding

• Make an appointment with your officiant. For most religious ceremonies, you may be required to attend pre-wedding counseling. For civil ceremonies, your officiant may require a meeting to talk about your wedding ceremony.
• Wedding gown buying goods and introductory fittings will have to be looked after at this time.
• Shop for your wedding accessories, wedding veil or head piece, and wedding shoes.
• Begin preparation of the guest list. Be sure to include both sides of the family as guest lists are oftentimes a contentious issue. It will take time to determine on long lost cousins, work friends, neighbors, etc.
• Decide on gift registry emplacements and register.
• Begin your search for your honeymoon location. If you are getting married for the duration of a peak holiday season such as Christmas, you may need to book your honeymoon up to nine months in advance.

Six months before the Wedding

• You need to meet with the wedding pros who will support you on your particular day. The menu must be mapped out with your catering company, a review of requested wedding photos with your photographer, a discussion with your videographer on the amount of footage and emplacements for videos, and your preference for music with your DJ or wedding musicians.
• Limousines and/or other wedding transportation must be booked. Wedding carriages or winter horse drawn sleighs must be booked and pricing confirmed.
• If you are ordering wedding requests to take part and/or save the date cards and wedding announcements, you need to determine on a provider. If you are making your own wedding requests to participate or be present and other wedding stationery, you will have to choose a wedding invitation kit template package. Announcements will have to be sent out to those friends and family who you have not included in the ceremony.
• Honeymoon trip will have to be booked and final budget plans for the honeymoon confirmed.
• Bridesmaids and Flower Girl dresses must be decisive upon and ordered.
• Start buying goods for wedding rings.

Three months before the Wedding

• Guest list needs to be finalized by you and your fiancé and BOTH families. We can’t emphasize sufficient that you need to have the benediction of all concerned when it comes to the guest list.
• Final conclusions and ordering of wedding rings.
• Visit hairstylist for a consultation and have your introductory wedding day hair run through.
• Make wedding day appointment with hairstylist. Don’t forget to include your bridesmaids if they are having their hair in a professional manner styled for your wedding.
• Research and review state requisites for blood tests.
• Research, review and book hotel rooms for out of town guests who may require accommodation.
• Follow up on your wedding gown and confirmation of deliverance dates for your gown and those of your attendants.
• Attend your introductory wedding gown fitting including all accessaries and shoes.

Six to eight weeks before the Wedding

• Prepare your wedding invitation kit templates for printing, including the Thank You cards.
• If you have ordered your invites from a mercantile business, be sure they are ready for you.
• Address and mail the wedding invitations.
• Shop for and buy any wedding gifts for your fiancé, attendants, parents and grandparents.
• Attend your final dress fitting including wedding accessories.
• Spend time wearing your wedding shoes so that you are not crippled before the wedding dance starts.
• Test a spray on tan if you plan to tan for your wedding.
• Make final conclusions on your wedding hair style and any hair color changes must be made.
• Pick up your wedding rings from your jewelry shop.
• Print out your individualized Thank you cards from your wedding invitation kit templates or buy generic Thank you cards.
• Send any Thank you cards for wedding or shower gifts received over the past weeks.

10 – 14 Days before the Wedding

• Confirm with your caterer with one final review of the menu.
• Confirm with your officiant the venue and time of ceremony.
• Confirm with your photographer, videographer, DJ and/or wedding band.
• Confirm your honeymoon reservation and any special requests for the wedding night.
• Address any wedding announcements, stamp and set in preparation of mailing on your wedding day.
• Final visit to your hairstylist to review any last minute worries or changes.

One Week before the Wedding

• Attend any last minute parties or bridal showers in your honor.
• Write any Thank you cards for gifts received at these functions.
• Give the caterer your final number of guests expected to attend.
• Bridesmaids and Flower Girl confirmation of the time they are expected to arrive.
• Purchase travel insurance for the honeymoon if you are leaving the country.
• Purchase travelers checks for the honeymoon holiday.
• Double check to be sure that travelers checks are accepted and effortlessly cashed at your final destination.

Wedding Day Peace of Mind – Priceless!

Bridal Guide

Bridal Guide addresses all the needs of engaged couples – from the latest news in fashion and beauty to the best registry items and hottest honeymoon destinations. It’s committed to helping brides and grooms have their dream wedding on a practical budget.

Bridal Guide Pic

Bridal Guide Pic

Bridal Guide Image

Bridal Guide Pic

Most helpful customer reviews

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful.
Best of the Wedding Mags
By sylvie champagne
The three real contenders are Bridal Guide, Bride’s and Modern Bride. Bride’s and Modern Bride seem to be the same magazine sometimes, and in fact are now owned by the same people. If you want something more suited to a “real bride”, it would seem that Bridal Guide is your best choice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Best of the bridal mags, but you can get a lot of the same info on the web
By Emily L.
For my June 2010 wedding, I subscribed to Bridal Guide to get ideas. It is a very useful magazine, with lots and lots of gorgeous pictures and ideas. However, after a few months, I noticed that things tended to be repetitive, which is only to be expected. There’s only so many different ways to fold a napkin, or so many different flower petals to sprinkle on the aisle before the bride walks down. The best part of bridal magazines is the pictures of wedding dresses, at least in my book, but they tend to be the same dresses in each issue for a few months, making it less fun to flip through.

The other downside to bridal magazines, and a big part of the reason that a few of them have shut down, is that most of the info can be found in the big bridal websites, and for free. In fact, they often have far more information, since they collect it over a long period of time, giving you plenty of past information to browse through.

All in all, this magazine is a good resource, and I do recommend it, but if you’re short on cash (gotta save up for that wedding!), skip it and go online.

See all 8 customer reviews…