The detailed calendar planner with tasks that we have prepared today will help all brides keep control of the entire process of organizing a wedding and not forget anything. The calendar is designed to prepare for a wedding celebration within one year from the date of the announcement of the engagement - this period is quite enough to organize the wedding of your dreams slowly and without unnecessary fuss. Of course, the plan can be adjusted to fit your time frame, add other tasks, remove unnecessary things - it all depends on the format of your celebration, whether you organize it yourself or with the help of wedding specialists and, of course, on how much time you have.
Wedding day!
- have a good breakfast;
- get ready slowly, because you have correctly calculated the required time and have time to do everything;
- if you have planned to photograph the bride's morning, devote enough time to it;
- don't forget your rings and passports;
- Enjoy your dream wedding!
- end the celebration beautifully.
To-do list 2 months before the wedding
So, there are 2 months left before the wedding. There is time left to organize purchases of small items, order services and other matters. What to do during this period:
Outfits for young people
The bride and groom have an idea of their outfits. The style was chosen based on photographs from the Internet. It's time to go to the bridal salon. Why buy in advance - you may not have an outfit in the right size or color. Then place your order and wait for it to arrive. Sometimes it takes a month. For this reason, have time to spare. A dress or suit needs to be adjusted to fit your body shape. It takes time.
Bridesmaids' Dresses
In 2021, it is fashionable to have themed weddings, where the bridesmaids are dressed alike. Therefore, discuss your appearance with the girls. Find an option that suits everyone's tastes. Next, contact a sewing salon for help, take your measurements and wait for the order to be completed. Considering that everyone's height and body type are different, it is difficult to choose ready-made outfits. But if you succeed, you are lucky!
Guest list
You already have a list of guests who will be 99.99% present at the celebration. Call guests and find out their intentions. This will allow you to save your budget in case some guests do not come to the wedding.
Choosing a photographer and videographer
Newlyweds want to capture their wedding day in photos and videos. This is valuable because it will remain as a memory. To have something to remember and enjoy watching, find a suitable photographer and videographer. When choosing, rely on experience, reviews and price.
Pay attention to the specialist’s communication skills. During the filming of the event, he should not disturb the guests. A person must accurately capture the moments. Pay attention to, for example, previous works. Order a photographer and videographer separately.
Where and what kind of wedding cake to order?
Guests expect a beautiful, delicious cake at the end of the wedding banquet. Order from professionals with many years of experience. Be guided by reviews and personal feelings.
Choosing music at a wedding
Prepare the music in advance so that the emotional component of the holiday will be present. Immediately select the tracks that will be useful for the main moments (dance of the newlyweds, ceremony of removing the veil, throwing a bouquet, cutting the cake, etc.). The rest of the music is selected for dancing and entertainment.
Selection and rehearsal of a wedding dance
The dance of the bride and groom is a sensual moment. Decide on the music in advance. Start coming up with moves or contact a choreographer. To prevent guests from getting bored at this moment, choose more cheerful music.
Where should a groom start preparing for his wedding?
- The groom is responsible for purchasing wedding rings. These same rings will be kept by him or his parents until the wedding day.
- The groom should take care of his appearance at the wedding. You need to choose a suit, shirt, shoes and accessories.
- Although the bouquet will belong to the bride, traditionally it is chosen and ordered by the groom. He will give flowers to the bride only on the wedding day after the ransom.
- Questions regarding ordering a wedding procession are also the responsibility of the groom. He will have to not only choose cars, order them for the desired date, but also invite decorators to themed the cars.
Where should you start organizing a wedding?
When planning a wedding on your own, it is better to immediately draw up a clear plan and take into account all current expenses. Collect stories you find online where newlyweds planned their wedding on their own
Study their experience, paying attention to successful decisions and miscalculations. Take note of every little detail that will come in handy later.
For example, buy wedding rings in the late afternoon. Why? Because fingers swell by the end of the day, and rings bought in the morning may later turn out to be small.
Consult your parents, they know exactly how to organize a cheap wedding, because in the old days all newlyweds organized the holidays on their own. Create your wedding story together. Only in a close-knit team can the wildest ideas and fantasies come true. Feel like one unit in a team called “bride and groom”, and then you will have a memorable wedding!
Budget calculation
Newlyweds who want to organize a wedding on their own are first concerned with the question of how much the event will cost. We advise you to create a wedding cost calculator in advance, which will allow you not to forget about the little things and show exactly where the amounts went. The most important expense item is the bride's wedding dress. A more expensive option is to buy it at a salon. A custom-made dress will cost a little less, and the bride will receive a completely exclusive option. The following are the costs for:
- wedding rings;
- the bride's bouquet;
- ordering a wedding cortege:
- car decoration;
- decoration of the banquet hall;
- organization of a wedding banquet;
- services of toastmaster, musicians, photographer;
- shoes, accessories, makeup, hairstyle;
- other wedding attributes.
You should always add 20% of the amount budgeted for your wedding to your expenses. As practice shows, additional expenses arise during the wedding celebration for all couples. For example, the bride will want to release doves into the sky or ride in a luxurious carriage with footmen in livery through a city park. Even organizing a holiday on your own will not be cheap, but a wedding is a unique event that does not happen every day and not to everyone, so it is worth any financial outlay.
Selecting a date and submitting an application to the registry office
To submit an application to the registry office, you need to come to the Wedding Palace at the place of registration of the bride or groom. It is better to arrive among the first to avoid wasting time in line and choose the best date and appropriate registration time. The application will be valid one month before the appointed day, and then two months after it, if the newlyweds for some reason were unable to appear on the appointed date. Before going to the registry office, take the minimum list of necessary things:
- valid passports;
- pens for quickly filling out the application;
- money for state fees;
- great mood.
Making a guest list
One of the first to be compiled is a list of invitees, because during the time of independent preparation for the wedding, the plans of the intended guests may change several times. Usually the list is divided equally: relatives and friends from the bride and groom’s side. To do this, you need to choose a time, take a piece of paper, a pen and together write down those relatives and friends whom you want to see on the main holiday of your life.
After determining the final line-up of guests, send wedding invitations to the selected people. This event is organized at least 2-3 months before the celebration. When inviting a married couple, use two invitations, in which the names of each spouse will be written separately. To feel comfortable on your wedding day, invite only those people you really want to see at the reception, and not those you “should” invite.
In 5-7 months
Preparing any celebration, especially a wedding, requires a lot of effort and time. Therefore, after enjoying the impressions of a marriage proposal for some time, sharing this joy with family and friends, you should immediately begin planning this special event and draw up a preparation plan by month. It’s good if time is not pressing for the newlyweds, and they can afford to spend at least six months on the organization, during which they can calmly think about, discuss and plan everything.
- When everyone has already become accustomed to the status of the bride and groom, where to start preparing for the wedding? The first step is to purchase a special diary in which all the thoughts and decisions of the newlyweds regarding the wedding celebration will be recorded. You can also make a memento out of it, where the couple will note their experiences, and paste in photographs recording all stages of preparation for the wedding.
- We got a notebook, now we decide on the timing, that is, we set a wedding date. Each couple has their own motives for choosing a particular date: their favorite time of year, whether the date coincides with another event (birthday, parents’ wedding, anniversary, etc.), features of the thematic design of the celebration (for example, Christmas or Halloween decor) or maybe , they are running out of time if the couple is already expecting a new addition. So, choosing a wedding date is an individual matter. The only thing to consider is the day of the week on which this date falls. This is due to: traditions, the work schedule of registry offices, church regulations.
- Since registering a marriage in state civil registry offices (i.e., registry offices) is an integral part of the official registration of marital relations, the step-by-step preparation plan includes, among the first points, the choice of a registry office. This is a mandatory step even for those who prefer to forego a formal wedding ceremony. As a rule, marriage registration takes place in district palaces, and you have to choose only when the bride and groom live in different districts or want to get married in the main wedding palace.
How to spend your wedding day
I would like to list a few options on how you can spend your wedding day. And for convenience, I gave these timings their own names. These are not generally accepted names, but they can be found in the conversations of the organizer and in general among wedding industry specialists. Next, I will describe in a little more detail what the timing of the wedding day consists of.
When we meet before the wedding, I am always ready to help with creating wedding timings and will tell you how to spend your wedding day more conveniently.
Classical
1. Getting ready for the bride at home or in a hotel 2. Meeting with the groom 3. A trip to the registry office 4. A walk with a photo shoot 5. Restaurant Pros: 1. Mom and Grandma will be happy 3. It’s easier to find a restaurant 5. No need to go to the registry office on the eve of the wedding 6 No need to think about how guests will get home Disadvantages: 1. Possibly long journeys 2. A lot of travel is tiring 3. You need to provide yourself and your guests with transport 4. Long wait for registration at the registry office 5. You need to try to choose a really comfortable restaurant
You can see an example of such a wedding here
European
1. Getting ready at a country hotel 2. A walk near this place or on the territory of the complex 3. On-site registration near the restaurant of the same country complex 4. Restaurant on the territory Pros: 1. Beautiful! – Country clubs are always well-groomed 2. Not tiring – You don’t have to go anywhere 3. You don’t have to spend money on transport for yourself 4. You can tell the guests to come on their own. Or hire a bus from the nearest metro 5. A restaurant outside the city may be cheaper than in Moscow 6. It’s easier to organize all the contractors 7. It’s always more pleasant for guests to be in nature Cons: 1. You definitely need to have a plan B if it rains during off-site registration 2 Guests need to somehow go home after the wedding. You need to either organize a bus to the city, or let them leave by taxi at their own expense 3. If the wedding is in a tent, and you want to decorate it beautifully, then it will be more expensive than just choosing a restaurant you like based on the interior
You can see an example of such a wedding here
Mixed
1. Getting ready at home or at a hotel 2. A trip to the registry office together 3. A walk with a photo shoot 4. Arrival at a country club 5. On-site registration and meeting with all guests 6. Restaurant Pros: 1. No need to worry about transportation for guests 2. There is no need to go to the registry office on the eve of the wedding for painting 3. You can visit beautiful places for a photo shoot in Moscow 4. In general, the day passes quite easily, not counting moving around the city Cons: 1. If you go from Moscow out of town, you may get stuck in a traffic jam 2 You will still have to spend money on a Car for yourself. Unless you drive your own car 3. You cannot control the process of preparing the site yourself. In case you are organizing the wedding yourself 4. Also read the “cons” of European timing
You can see an example of such a wedding here. You must understand that the listed points can be swapped and make your holiday just the way you see it. Both pros and cons are subjective concepts. And you must make a decision for yourself.
I will express the objective opinion of almost all wedding specialists that a wedding day with on-site registration outside the city is the best choice
Action plan 2 weeks before the wedding
There are two weeks left until the wedding day. Emotionally, anxiety is growing; it seems that the period will be tense. But that's not true. The main tasks are organized. All that remains is to buy some small things. Think about how to decorate the bride's room where the ransom will take place. Refuse the “drive-up” buyout; it is better to rent a hotel room.
How to seat guests
Two weeks before the wedding, finish what you have been putting off all this time. Draw a seating chart for the guests, label each place, and number the tables. This way guests will feel comfortable and sit correctly.
Trying on a wedding dress, trial makeup and hairstyle
Do a hair and makeup test. This will save nerves on a special day. You will already know what the appearance will be. Try on wedding dresses to prevent surprises.
Selecting and ordering flowers for a wedding
Before the wedding, choose the bride's bouquet. When choosing, consider the color of the dress and the interior. Buy flowers to decorate the hall and tables. Avoid compositions with strong odors.
