Wedding checklist by month, free PDF
Everything there is to do, in order of how long is left until the big day. From a year before to the morning you pick up the bouquet. Print it, stick it on the fridge and cross things off.
What's inside
Six A4 pages, ten time blocks and 46 tasks with little boxes to tick. The same checklist works for a wedding of 40 people or 200, the only difference is how many calls you make. The whole list is right here below, so you can tick things off without printing it.
Done
0 of 46
Your ticks stay in your browser on this device. No login, and nothing is sent anywhere
12+ months before
11 tasks
9 to 11 months before
5 tasks
6 to 8 months before
5 tasks
4 to 5 months before
4 tasks
2 to 3 months before
5 tasks
A month before
4 tasks
Two weeks before
3 tasks
A week before
3 tasks
The day before
3 tasks
The wedding day
3 tasks
Why in this order
The order isn't random. What's at the top gets booked first because it fills up fastest: venues and photographers can be booked up a year in advance. What's at the bottom can't be done any earlier, because it depends on numbers that only come in later.
If you skip something, it's not a problem, just come back to it. This is the order that gets you there without a rush, not a rule.
Deadlines that are the law, not a suggestion
Most of the checklist is a suggestion. A few items are not, because behind them there is a registrar, a priest or a bridal shop that can't fit you in sooner.
Giving notice of your intent to marry happens a month to a month and a half before the date. The marriage takes place between the 30th and the 45th day after you give notice.
The certificate for a church wedding is valid for three months. If you get it in January for a May wedding, it will have expired before you need it.
The wedding dress is ordered six to nine months before, because it is made and you wait for it, and alterations take a few more weeks.
Set your RSVP deadlineat least two weeks before the venue needs the final number. The venue usually asks for it a week before, and you need time to call the people who haven't replied.
What the first weeks after the engagement look like, when all of this is only starting to come together, is described in the article what to do after the engagement (in Croatian).
Where it comes from
From the IDo wedding planner, copied over task by task. It is the same checklist that brides fill in on paper. The planner has 192 pages in all: a budget, a guest list, questions to ask before you book, and a chapter on what comes after the wedding. The planner is in Croatian.
If you'd rather use your phone
In the app you get a to-do checklist that remembers your ticks, so you don't have to remember what's already done. It comes with a guest list with RSVPs, all free.
Every celebration also comes with a wedding budget: enter your budget and prices, and it keeps track of what's paid and what's left. Have a look at everything you get.
If just one deadline is worrying you
- How far ahead should we book the venue?
- For Saturdays from May to September, a year to a year and a half ahead, and even earlier on the coast. Outside the season, six to nine months is enough.
- When do we register the wedding with the registrar?
- A month to a month and a half before the date. In Croatia the marriage takes place between the 30th and the 45th day after you give notice of your intent to marry, so registering too late means moving the date.
- When should I order the wedding dress?
- Six to nine months before. Bridal shop dresses are ordered and then you wait, and alterations take a few more weeks after that. Leave only the shoes and accessories for the last two months.
- What if we only have six months?
- It can be done. Flip the order: first ask which venue, photographer and musicians have a free date, then choose your date from that. You'll get to everything else on the checklist.
- Does the checklist work for both civil and church weddings?
- Yes. The church tasks, like the marriage preparation course and the certificate that is valid for three months, are marked separately, so for a civil ceremony you simply skip them.
Everything else is in the planner
The guest list is one part of planning. The IDo wedding planner has 192 pages and takes you from the first ideas to what comes after the wedding. It is written in Croatian.