The Perfect Bridal Checklists

Oct 9, 2014

The Perfect Bridal Checklists

9:42 AM | Posted by Antee Gurung | | Edit Post

- A must have for every future bride to bees -

Dear readers,

 I love a perfectly planned wedding and if I wasn't a designer, I would have loved to plan weddings. I love reading wedding articles, making scrapbooks and lookbooks. Thankfully there's an app for that these days which makes it even more fun. Anyways, I just stumble into Vogue's wedding book 2014 and it gave me the inspiration to do a post on weddings and how to achieve that wedding you've been dreaming about. So here is my gift to all the future brides to be.

P.s At the end of this post there is an actual checklist which you can copy, save, print and use. I guarantee you full success! 

Bridal Checklist

Source: Vogue

Many women dream of their wedding day long before it actually becomes a possibility or even a reality. For some there might be mental checklist, a virtual lookbook or actual bank of ideas. For others its just another life event. Whoever end of the spectrum you belong to , all brides to be  must be armed with a foolproof to do list.

A systematic countdown in the run up to one of the biggest events in your life is vital. You are likely to swing from extreme vocal excitement to unbearable hair pulling frustration and nail biting nerves. In spite of every effort you make, you will turn into a bridezilla, at least once. But through these crazy heady and ultimately 12 months of planning, remember to keep things in perspective.

1. Start thinking of the kind of wedding you want? Is it a beach wedding, a palace wedding or a traditional temple ceremony? The all important tast is booking the venues. So decide all the numbers of functions and set your dates?

2. Send out a ‘save the date’ emails to give international guests ample time to pan their visit.

3. This is also great time to start that fitness regime. Crash diets are never a good idea, the last thing you do is faint in the mandap.

4. As your destination and venues are finalised, you can start putting together a mood board of looks for each function. 

5. Start with the jewellery first and build your clothes around it.

6. Start working with your designer and tailor to craft these ensembles. You want enough time for your sketches, fabric options and fittings.

7. Make a guest list. Gathering addresses is a cumbersome but crucial step. Marrying means meeting not just the parents but the extended family.

8. Delegate responsibilities and tasks to close relatives and friends, including putting someone in charge of outstation visitors and their needs.

 Book the mehendi walas. Ensure that your wedding and reception outfits are ordered and selected.

9. Book your honeymoon.  Depending on your choice of destination, make a shopping list of beachwear or winter wears.

10. This is a do or die milestone. Not only do u feel panic attacks coming on, but this is also when you realise that your fiancé has yet to order his clothes. This is when you see your checklist and your mood board. 

11. Decide on the bar, the playlist, the DJ. Think about your wedding gift wish list and consider setting up gift registry.

12. Book a make up artist for hair and make up and go through trial round of hairstyles and looks that complement your outfits. Finalize all the changes on your wedding invitation before it goes on print.

13. Book the right photographer, because the image he or she captures will be the lasting memory of your big day. Discuss your preferences with him/her in detail.

14. Book the caterers and bakers. 

15. If you agreeable to the bachelorette party/hen night, have it early. This gives you enough time to recover form hangovers, the ignominy of the night before and to expunge the puffiness under your eyes.

After this, indulge in a spa treatment and facial for that much needed respite.

16. This is  a home stretch. Send out the wedding cards; meet the florists and decorator and review options. Book the final fittings and alterations for your wedding outfits. Fill in any missing blanks on accessories. Focus on much on the glow on your skin and sense of well being as reaching your desired weight.

 

17. Collect your outfits. Consider teeth whitening. Get the final haircut or trim.

 18. Review each days ensembles- do you have everything you need from bindis to bangles, shoes, bags and baubles?

19. Breathe, sleep well, stay hydrated, pack an overnight bag, eat sensibly, do some light cardio, meditate, listen to music, have a laugh with your friends, get a manicure, and pedicure and unwind. 

20. Go on a date with your fiancé, just to remind yourselves that you are in this together.

21. Have a massage to de stress completely and think the beach resort or clean mountain air that awaits you and decide when it’s respectable to have your first drink at reception.

THE DAYS AFTER

 22. Before you know it, the grandest happiest day of your life will be over and soon will be the honeymoon. Your return to complete your last tasks: sending out thank you notes, selecting photos and figuring out how you should be addressing your in-laws.

Here is the "Perfect Checklist" which might come in handy to every future brides :)

 Complete the task, tick on the box and de-stress!

Sixteen to Nine Months Before

• Start a wedding folder or binder.
  Begin leafing through bridal, lifestyle, fashion, gardening, design, and food magazines for inspiration.
• Work out your budget.
  Determine how much you have to spend, based on your families’ contributions and your own.
• Pick your wedding party.
  As soon as you’re engaged, people will start wondering who’s in.
• Start the guest list.
  Make a head count database to use throughout your planning process, with columns for contact info, RSVPs, gifts, and any other relevant information. (Want to keep costs low? It may be brutal, but the best way to do it is to reduce your guest list.)
• Hire a planner, if desired.
  A planner will have relationships with—and insights about—vendors.
• Reserve your date and venues.
  Decide whether to have separate locations for the ceremony and the reception, factoring in travel time between the two places.
• Book your officiant.
• Research photographers, bands, florists, and caterers.
  Keep their contact information in your binder.
• Throw an engagement party, if you wish.
  But remember that your invitees should be on your wedding guest list as well.

Eight Months Before

• Hire the photographer and the videographer.
  No need to talk specifics yet, but be sure that the people you hire are open to doing the shots that you want.
• Book the entertainment.
  Attend gigs of potential acts to see how they perform in front of audiences, then reserve your favorite.
• Meet caterers.
  If your wedding venue doesn’t offer its own catering service, look for one now and hire the service this month or early next.
• Purchase a dress.
  You’ll need to schedule time for at least three fittings. Veil shopping can be postponed for another two to three months.
• Reserve a block of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.
  Pick three hotels at different price points close to the reception venue.
• Register.
  Sign up at a minimum of three retailers.
• Launch a wedding website.
  Create your personal page through a free provider such as weddingchannel.com. Note the date of the wedding, travel information, and accommodations. Then send the link to invitees.

Seven to Six Months Before

• Select and purchase invitations.
  Hire a calligrapher, if desired. Addressing cards is time-consuming, so you need to budget accordingly.
• Start planning a honeymoon.
  Make sure that your passports are up-to-date, and schedule doctors’ appointments for any shots you may need.
• Shop for bridesmaids’ dresses.
  Allow at least six months for the dresses to be ordered and sized.
• Meet with the officiant.
  Map out the ceremony and confirm that you have all the official documents for the wedding (these vary by county and religion).
• Send save-the-date cards.
• Reserve structural and electrical necessities.
  Book portable toilets for outdoor events, extra chairs if you need them, lighting components, and so on.
• Book a florist.
  Florists can serve multiple clients on one day, which is why you can wait a little longer to engage one. Plus, at this point, you’ll be firm on what your wedding palette will be.
• Arrange transportation.
  Consider limos, minibuses, trolleys, and town cars. (But know that low-to-the-ground limos can make entries and exits dicey if you’re wearing a fitted gown.)
• Start composing a day-of timeline.
  Draw up a schedule of the event and slot in each component (the cake-cutting, the first dance).

Five to Four Months Before

• Book the rehearsal and rehearsal-dinner venues.
  Negotiate the cost and the menu. If you’re planning to host a day-after brunch for guests, book that place as well.
• Check on the wedding invitations.
  Ask the stationer for samples of the finished invitations and revise them to suit your needs.
• Select and order the cake.
  Some bakers require a long lead time. Attend several tastings before committing to any baker.
• Send your guest list to the host of your shower.
  Provided you, ahem, know about the shower.
• Purchase wedding shoes and start dress fittings.
  Bring the shoes along to your first fitting so the tailor can choose the appropriate length for your gown.
• Schedule hair and makeup artists.
  Make a few appointments with local experts to try them out. Snap a photo at each so you can compare results.
• Choose your music.
  What should be playing when the wedding party is announced? During dinner? To kick off the dancing? Keep a running list of what you want—and do not want—played.

Three Months Before

• Finalize the menu and flowers.
  You’ll want to wait until now to see what will be available, since food and flowers are affected by season.
• Order favors, if desired.
  Some safe bets: monogrammed cookies or a treat that represents your city or region. If you’re planning to have welcome baskets for out-of-town guests, plan those now too.
• Make a list of the people giving toasts.
  Which loved ones would you like to have speak at the reception? Ask them now.
• Finalize the readings.
  Determine what you would like to have read at the ceremony—and whom you wish to do the readings.
• Purchase your undergarments.
  And schedule your second fitting.
• Finalize the order of the ceremony and the reception.
• Print menu cards, if you like, as well as programs.
  No need to go to a printer, if that’s not in your budget: You can easily create these on your computer.
• Purchase the rings.
  This will give you time for resizing and engraving.
• Send your event schedule to the vendors.
  Giving them a first draft now allows ample time for tweaks and feedback.

Two Months Before

• Touch base again with all the vendors.
  Make sure any questions you or they had on your first draft have been answered.
• Meet with the photographer.
  Discuss specific shots, and walk through the locations to note spots that appeal to you.
• Review the playlist with the band or deejay.
  Though you probably won’t be able to dictate every single song played, you should come prepared with a wish list.
• Send out the invitations.
  The rule of thumb: Mail invitations six to eight weeks before the ceremony, setting the RSVP cutoff at three weeks after the postmark date.
• Submit a newspaper wedding announcement.
  If you’re planning to include a photograph, check the publication’s website: Some have strict rules about how the photo should look.
• Enjoy a bachelorette party.
  Arranging a night out with your girlfriends generally falls to the maid of honor. But if she hasn’t mentioned one to you by now, feel free to ask—for scheduling purposes, of course!—if a celebration is in the works.

One Month Before

• Enter RSVPs into your guest-list database.
  Phone people who have not yet responded.
• Get your marriage license.
  The process can take up to six days, but it’s good to give yourself some leeway. If you are changing your name, order several copies.
• Mail the rehearsal-dinner invitations.
• Visit the dressmaker for (with luck!) your last dress fitting.
  For peace of mind, you may want to schedule a fitting the week of your wedding. You can always cancel the appointment if you try on the dress then and it fits perfectly.
• Stock the bar.
  Now that you have a firm head count you can order accordingly.
• Send out as many final payments as you can.
• Confirm times for hair and makeup and all vendors.
• E-mail and print directions for drivers of transport vehicles.
  This gives the chauffeurs ample time to navigate a route.
• Assign seating.
  Draw out table shapes on a layout of the room to help plan place settings. Write the names of female guests on pink sticky notes and the names of male guests on blue sticky notes so you can move people about without resketching the entire setting.
• Purchase bridesmaids’ gifts.
  You’ll present them at the rehearsal dinner.
• Write vows, if necessary.
• Get your hair cut and colored, if desired.

Week of the Wedding

• Reconfirm arrival times with vendors.
• Delegate small wedding-day tasks.
  Choose someone to bustle your dress, someone to carry your things, someone to be in charge of gifts (especially the enveloped sort), someone to hand out tips, and someone to be the point person for each vendor.
• Send a timeline to the bridal party.
  Include every member’s contact information, along with the point people you’ve asked to deal with the vendors, if problems arise.
• Pick up your dress.
  Or make arrangements for a delivery.
• Check in one last time with the photographer.
  Supply him or her with a list of moments you want captured on film.
• Set aside checks for the vendors.
  And put tips in envelopes to be handed out at the event.
• Book a spa treatment.
  Make an appontment for a manicure and a pedicure the day before the wedding. (You might want to get a stress-relieving massage, too.)
• Send the final guest list to the caterer and all venues hosting your wedding-related events.
  Typically, companies close their lists 72 hours in advance.
• Break in your shoes.
• Assemble and distribute the welcome baskets.
• Pack for your honeymoon.

I hope you liked it <3

Xoxo 

Tags: Bridal Checklists, People and lifestyle, Planning, Weddings