The 6 Month Schedule

Here's a helpful template to get you through the six months leading up to your wedding.  Of course, this schedule is a guideline and can be rearranged as you see fit.

 Monthly Schedule of Things to Do

Month 1

• Confirm Location – Ceremony, Cocktails and Reception

Sign Contract and Send Deposit

• Music – Book Ceremony, Cocktails and Reception Music
• Photographer – Sign Contract and Send Deposit
• Videographer – Sign Contract and Send Deposit
• Order Wedding Dress

Get Swatch of Wedding Dress

• Order Save the Date
• Book out of town hotels

Month 2

• Prepare Initial Guest list
• Send Save the Date
• Order Bridesmaids dresses 
• Get Swatch of Bridesmaids dress

• Book Officiant
• Register for gifts
• Reserve Bride and Groom accommodations for Wedding day
• Reserve Rehearsal Dinner Location
• Reserve Brunch Location

Month 3

• Reserve Hair and Make-up
• Order Wedding Invitations
• Order Thank you notes

Month 4

• Centerpiece Sample Set up

Choose Linens, Napkins, Chair covers

Napkin treatment

Discuss Ceremony décor and Personal Florals

                        Choose Charger, Silverware, Glassware, China

• Choose favors if you want them
• Choose seating cards
• Select/order cocktail napkins, guest towels

Month 5

• Food Tasting
• Location walk thru with vendors
• Discuss Event Schedule
• Discuss Hair and Make-up Schedule
• Order Wedding Cake
• Final bookings of honeymoon plans
• Choose rings
• Choose menu for the rehearsal dinner
• Final guest list ready early to mid-November

Invitations sent to calligrapher

Invitations in the mail on mid-November

• Choose Bridesmaid and Groomsmen gifts
• Compile budget for event
• Order Grooms and Groomsmen tuxedos
• Look for rehearsal dinner outfit
• Look for bridal shower outfit
• Buy shoes, start wearing around the house

Month 6

• If you are saying vows start writing thoughts
• Hair and Make-up trials
• Talk about procession for ceremony
• Order Wedding Programs
• Order Printed Menus
• Order Table numbers
• Talk about out of town gifts/welcome baskets
• Approve welcome letter to out of towners
• Send out rehearsal dinner invites
• Order transportation for bride and groom
• Order transportation for out of town guests

• Get the following:

1.    Guest Book

2.    Pen

3.    Garter

4.    Something old

5.    Something new

6.    Something borrowed

7.    Something Blue

8.    Hankie

9.    Unity Candle

10. Kippot/Glass for breaking

Month of Wedding

• Call any guests who have not rsvp’d
• Seating arrangements for wedding reception
• Final Dress Fitting
• Call in final guest event count 5 days before event
• Deliver welcome gifts to out of towners
• Leave everything else to your planner and have fun!

Setting up the Seating

All my recently married friends had one piece of advice for me...start your seating chart early.  The seating chart can easily be pushed aside for later, especially when you have so many other things going on.  But where people sit influences a guest's entire experience, making its mark on his/her memory...whether its good or bad!

One friend told me to get a big piece of poster-board and some small post-its so you can move around the names easily if anyone changes their RSVP.  So, I sat down and made an empty chart (pictured above).  Once you've got your empty tableau, you can just put names on your post-its and shift them around as you see fit.

Balancing Your Budget

So, I have a few friends recently engaged that have been asking for this document....thought I'd share. When making your budget, create a spreadsheet that includes all the costs for your weekend with names, contact information, and prices for your vendors; down payment cost. date the contract was signed, and the date the dp was paid; the balance for your accounts and the date final payment is due;  how and when you made the payments.

To get yourself started be sure to include the following:
VENUE:                                                                                                         
Venue Fee                   
Ceremony Fee
Catering  (per plate, apps, dessert, and cake)
Liquor (bartenders, types of liquor, champagne toast)
RENTALS:
tables
chairs
linens
place settings/glassware
other
LIGHTING:
labor
lights
fire license
FLORAL:
centerpieces
decor
ceremony/altar
bouquet
bridesmaids bouquets
boutineers
 

Accerorize This!

So, the wedding is ten weeks away and the dirty details are starting to really creep up on me...and with it added costs.  For instance, when it comes to what you're wearing for the wedding, there are a bunch of little pieces that can dramatically deepen the cost of your outfit.  So, try and account for these as much as possible early on.

One of the most obvious accessories for the big day is, of course, the veil. Not everyone chooses to go with a veil and if you do there are about a million to choose from.  I think it's really impossible to pick the perfect veil without your dress.  Try them on together and figure out the length and trim that lets the dress and, most importantly, you stand out the most.

Apparently there are a whole host of traditions about the veil, which I had no idea about.  In the Jewish tradition there is an entire ceremony dedicated to the veil called the bedecken.  The bedecken was historically the moment when the groom, or a member of the groom's family, checked out the goods he was getting.  In the ceremony the bride would be seated in a room where the groom's rep would enter and lift the veil to ensure that a) there wasn't a swap out, and b) that the bride was to his liking.  Only then could the marriage continue.  Fortunately, I live in a time and place where the bedecken is unnecessary.

Another important accessory are your shoes.  While there are no special ceremonies surrounding your shoes, there is a more modern tradition of taking plenty of pictures of this particular accessory.  Most brides I've talked to say one thing...get comfortable heels (as comfortable as you can) because even before you change into dance shoes, you are on your feet for hours. 




Many women splurge on shoes and buy pricey designer heels.  Give me an excuse and I'll take it for sure!  Since all my friends are getting married I've gained a few tips from the other brides: 
1) Stay away from Louboutin unless you're already used to wearing them because the pitch becomes unbearable after a few hours on your feet.
2) Buy from Nordstrom's because they'll take ANYTHING back (sometimes even after you've worn them)
3) Order Jimmy Choo's online and not in the store or you'll be stuck with only store credit and no chance for a refund.  And the "Clue" is supposed to be one of the most comfortable wedding shoes.
4) You can always buy one pair for pictures (and return it) and wear a different pair :)