If your wedding day is coming up this spring, there's there's lots of stuff you can focus on in order to stay on top of things and right on schedule. Here's a great checklist of to-do items for the bride, the groom and the couple together.
For the Bride
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Confirm delivery date for your wedding dress. After you verify the day, schedule a first fitting for alterations.
Buy any undergarments or lingerie you will be wearing under your wedding dress. You'll need to have these for your first fitting -- and any fittings after that, too.
Schedule trial runs with your stylists for both hair and make up. If you plan to do this stuff yourself, or have a friend do it for you, now is the time to start practicing.
Choose thank-you gifts for your bridesmaids. If the gifts require personalization, like a monogram or engraving, go ahead and order them. If you plan on making anything, it's a good idea to start on that now, too.
For the Groom
Give groomsmen any information they need concerning their attire. If they need to purchase something, tell them where and what they need to get. If they need to rent a tux, tell them where and when they need to get measured.Choose thank-you gifts for your groomsmen. Go ahead and place the order for anything you plan to have personalized.
Arrange for wedding night accommodations. If you and your bride are not immediately leaving for your honeymoon, it's nice to plan for an overnight stay at a fancy hotel or local bed and breakfast. These kinds of places fill up fast, so reserve your room now to be safe.
For the Couple
Finalize your guest list. It's always a good idea to run the list by both of your parents too. This is also the perfect time to gather any addresses you still need.Start addressing your invitations. If you have a hefty guest list, this task can be a large and tedious one. It never hurts to get a head start. Or, if you are using one, go ahead and send your invitations to the calligrapher to address them.
Buy favors for wedding guests. If you're ordering them from an online source or catalog, shipping can take up to six weeks. If you plan on making any kind of do-it-yourself favors, you'll want to start that process too.
Shop for your wedding bands. If you plan to surprise each other with the wedding rings, you still want to go window shopping together and find out what the other likes best.
Finalize your honeymoon plans. If you are traveling out of the country, make you have any and all documents in order (passport, birth certificate, vaccinations).
Decide on accommodations for your out-of-town wedding guests. Usually the best thing to do is find a hotel near both your ceremony and reception locations (if they are in different spots). You can set aside a block of rooms for your guests to reserve -- often at a discounted rate.
Finalize plans with your caterer, florist, ceremony location and reception location. This is also a good time to figure out the balance you still owe, and make arrangements to pay each vendor.
Take care of the marriage license. Find out your state's requirements. Most states require a blood test from both of you, and you'll need those results in order to apply for your marriage license.
Meet with your officiant or coordinator and finalize all the ceremony details. Sit down with the appropriate person to communicate all the songs, reading and special requests you have for the service.
Make out a ceremony program. After you've verified all those ceremony details with the coordinator or officiant, it's the perfect time to go ahead and put together the order of the ceremony for your guests to follow along. If you plan on having these printed professionally, you'll want to take care of those arrangements now, too.
Order your cakes. You've most likely taken care of the wedding cake by this point, but if not, this is the time to do that. You can also decide on the grooms cake and place that order.
Finalize song and music selections. Talk to your musicians and/or vocalists for your ceremony to make sure they have access to any sheet music they need. Give your band or DJ your song preferences for the reception.
You're almost there! The final couple of months leading up to your wedding day can be some of the most stressful days you'll have. But, if you remember take things one step at a time, and use this checklist as a guide, your spring wedding will be the most amazing day of your life.
