For UK weddings
Start about a year out with the budget, the date and the venue, and book the registrar or church straight after. Book the big suppliers next, send invitations three to four months before, give notice of marriage at least 29 days ahead, and give the venue final numbers a fortnight out. Below are all 59 tasks, grouped by when to do them.
13 tasks
Decide the total and who is contributing before you look at venues. Everything else follows from the number.
A season and a shortlist of dates is enough to approach venues; the venue's availability usually settles it.
Before you pay any deposits. Cover for a venue or supplier that goes under is much harder to buy once money has changed hands.
A rough count is enough for now. It decides which venues fit and what each head costs.
Check what is included, the timings, and whether the venue is licensed for a civil ceremony if you want to marry there.
For a civil ceremony, book the registrar through the register office for the district your venue is in. Popular dates go a year ahead. For a church wedding, speak to the vicar or priest about the date and banns.
Unless the venue provides the food. Ask about children's meals and dietary options now rather than later.
Good ones book up as far ahead as photographers. Ask whether they and the photographer have worked together.
Made-to-order dresses and suits can take six months, plus fittings.
10 tasks
Worth doing early for a summer or bank-holiday date, or if many guests will travel.
Ask nearby hotels to hold a block of rooms and give guests a booking code.
Schedule, venue and travel details, dress code, accommodation and RSVP in one place, ready for the invitations.
An organist or choir for a church, or a musician for a civil ceremony. Check what the venue or church allows.
Check both passports have enough validity for where you are going, and that the name on the booking matches the passport.
Allow time for sizing and engraving.
Add gifts guests can claim from your website, or say what you would prefer instead. Do it before the invitations go out.
11 tasks
Guests leave messages from their phones; you read them in the studio or show them on the page.
Add music requests to your website and the DJ gets a list with counts.
Usually organised by the wedding party, but fix the dates now so nobody books a holiday over them.
Set a deadline about six weeks before the day so you have time to chase and give final numbers.
England and Wales: you both give notice in person at your local register office at least 29 days before the ceremony. It is valid for 12 months, so book the appointment early and bring ID, proof of address and the venue details. Scotland: send the marriage notice form to the registrar for the district you are marrying in at least 29 days before. Not needed for a Church of England wedding by banns.
Banns are read on three Sundays in the three months before the wedding, in your own parish and in the parish where you marry if that is different. Delete this if you are having a civil ceremony.
Include the RSVP deadline and your website address.
A civil ceremony cannot include religious readings or music. The registrar will confirm what you have chosen.
Table names, a welcome sign, an order of the day, favours if you are having them, and confetti the venue allows.
11 tasks
Order of service, menus, place cards, table names and signs.
Agree who is speaking and roughly how long. Five minutes each is plenty.
Nails, brows and anything else in the last week; walk in the shoes around the house before then.
Include the first dance, the entrance and the last song, and anything guests have requested.
Include dietary requirements and children's meals.
Most suppliers want the balance two to four weeks before the day. Check each contract.
8 tasks
Arrival times, set-up, the running order and who to call on the day.
Share it with the wedding party, the venue and the photographer.
Who has the rings, who is reading, who greets guests, and where everyone needs to be when.
Rings, documents, cards for the suppliers, and anything the venue needs on the morning.
Plasters, painkillers, a sewing kit, safety pins, tissues, stain remover and a phone charger, in one bag someone else carries.
Put the QR code on tables and signs so guests can add their photos from the day.
Label every box and tell the venue where each thing goes.
6 tasks
Order certified copies if either of you is changing your name; banks and the passport office each want one.
Approve guests' photos in the gallery and save the album before the window closes.
Passport first, then driving licence, bank, HMRC and employer. Each wants to see the certificate or a certified copy.
This list is Ode’s own. Every wedding on Ode starts with the essentials on its task list and the rest waiting in Suggestions, grouped by these same stages. It’s free on every plan, alongside your wedding website, RSVPs and budget.
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