Timeline: 6-8 Months

Plan hotel accommodations for out-of-town guests*
This is actually a pretty easy task, although it may seem annoying. For this Hotel Planner is your best bet. You just input the information for your dates and what you need, and local hotels will "bid" you a price for each room. When reserving a block of rooms, the most important thing is to make sure that you are not financially responsible for the unused rooms in the block. Most hotels will give you a discount and a link or contact person that all of your guest can go through to reserve a room. Typically they will reserve a set amount of rooms for your date, so your guests are guaranteed a room if they book there. Also some hotels will give you a free wedding night suite with the block, so negotiate.

Finalize guest list & send Save-the-date cards*
The guest list should obviously be completed before you send your save the dates, unless you are splitting the list into an A and B group and don't really care if your B group receives a save the date. Also, make sure you have your hotel block and website up, so that you can put the information with your save the dates. Usually save the dates are sent 6-8 months before the wedding.

Book photographer and videographer*
Really amazing photographers get booked way ahead of time, so if you have your eye on someone and if photography is really important to you (which it should be) get this done asap. Sometimes the photographer will also do the videography and a lot of brides are not even having videographers now, so the photographer is really the main goal with this task.

Create your wedding registry
Same as the wedding website and hotel, you'll want to have this done generally around Save the dates, just so the info is on the website, which will be on your save the date. This can probably wait for 2-3 months before the wedding, because most people won't start shopping until last minute.

Order wedding cake
You really just need to book your cake baker and do your taste tests so you know you have someone that can give you a cake for the date you need. You should have a general design in mind, but it's really not necessary to have the whole cake planned to the tee.

Book ceremony officiant
This is pretty important if you don't have a lot of officiants in your area and your date is during season.

Select bridesmaids’ dresses
Bridesmaid dresses take around 2-4 months to come in depending on where you get them, so its helpful to the bridesmaids and your sanity to get this done early. At the very least decide your color and general style and the price range that is doable for your bridesmaids.

Book florist
Again, not too important but you don't want to put it off to the point where there's no one left to do your flowers. Decide whether you want to do DIY or are going to go with a florist, and have a general budget and idea of what you want.

Book DJ and ceremony musicians
In most towns there are tons of DJs, so if it's not too important to you, this can be delayed a little bit. You should know a few price quotes and have it narrowed down to a few DJs though. Ceremony musicians are pretty scarce for the regulars, so if you really want musicans this should be done by 6 months.

Book wedding day transportation
Not a necessity, but if you are using limos, vintage cars, carriages etc. make sure you know what you want and you'll probably want to put a deposit down around 6 months, just to reserve your date.

A word of caution: Just because some of these timeline items aren't too important and I say you can push them off, doesn't mean you should. I did for my wedding and it worked out well, but that's because I was a good planner and knew which vendors I wanted ahead of time, I just didn't officially book them. If you do leave these tasks to be done later, just be aware that you will most likely be a little stressed out about having so many things to do. You would be surprised the amount of little things you don't think of having to do until the month of the wedding.

Timeline: 9-12 Months

This is the detailed time line for 9-12 months. Most of the items are very important because they are prerequisites for the rest of your planning. The sooner you get these done, the sooner you can get to the fun stuff.

Plan budget*

You can't figure out what you can afford for each vendor if you don't know your total budget. Also it's easier to narrow down vendors, when you know you can't afford them. You should also prioritize what's most important to you and relate it to the wedding. For example, for me the photography was the most important, so that's what I spent the most money on.

Make rough guest list*

To get a basic quote from any vendor, you will need to know a rough estimate of the number of guests you will have. The venues will have occupany limits, so knowing a rough count will help you know if certain venues are even possible.

Set wedding date*

Of course you will need to know a date before you select venues and vendors. Sometimes, if you have your heart set on a specific venue you can choose your date on what they have available, although you will still need to decide a general season you would like your date in.

Book ceremony & reception location*

The venues are the first things to be booked. Popular venues in season may be booked a year in advance, so if you really want a certain venue make sure you book it asap! If you are out of season or have a flexible date, you may have a little more time. Also, the venue may set the tone of your wedding, which will set what you may want to wear, eat and how to decorate.

Select bridal gown*

Unless you know you want to buy an off the rack dress or buy preowned, the dress is one of the first things you should do. If you are ordering from a designer, most dresses have a lead time of 8 months. Some designers can rush the dress or have a shorter lead time, but if you don't want to be restricted by time, start shopping asap.

Select members of wedding party

This is the least important task, especially if you are only going to have a small wedding party and they are in town. Otherwise, if they are out of town, you should give them notice, so they can arrange travel plans etc. You probably already know who will be your maid of honor, best man, groosmen and bridesmaids, but discussing it with your fiance sooner better than later is best.

What we can offer you!

At Blissful Events, we have a few unique and specialized services we offer. We do offer the usual wedding planning and day of coordination, but we can also include other services some planners don't.

1. Full Wedding Planning
We start from the beginning, planning from the first decision. Ideal for the bride that doesn't have a lot of time.

2. Partial Wedding Planning
This can start anytime; From a few months out to a few weeks out. We can finish anything you started and help tie up the last contracts.

3. Day of Coordination
When you only need us for the day of your wedding. We will coordinate the ceremony and reception.

4. Vendor Consultation
If you just want the details of all the vendors without having to sort through them yourself. We can match your needs to give you recommendations of vendors that fit your needs and price range.

5. Set-up
If you just need someone to setup your decor, but don't trust your friends to do it.

6. DIY
This is for the bride that really wants to DIY, but doesn't know how or doesn't have the time. We can do your projects for you and still save you money.

7. Money Saving Consultation
If you just want to know what are some major areas you can save money on, & lower priced venues and vendors. I can give you directions on what to do, where to go and how to save money.

Why Choose Blissful Events?

There are a lot of wedding planners around and you're probably wondering why you should choose us. We just love weddings and we love to help brides! Most planning companies seem to offer the same basic packages, but with us you will receive more value for your money. Being a recent bride, I understand your expectations and can relate to what you are trying to acheive with your wedding. We truly care about each one of our brides and will treat your wedding as if it is our own. Once you book with us, I will make sure I am available to answer all of your questions, no matter how small. We will never leave you wondering what's going on with your wedding and we will always get back to you as soon as we can. The reason why you want a planner is to make your decisions easier; We know about vendors, DIY and money saving ideas. With us, you will receive personalized advice to make your wedding planning easier. Email or call us and we will be happy to show you how great your wedding will be!