Wedding Planning - The Wedding Count Down

Before you can begin to plan your wedding you need to have a goal to plan too, so you need to have your wedding date sorted. There are many factors that come into play when setting the date for your wedding, such as fixed holidays you need to work around, how much time you have to save money for your wedding, how big you want your wedding. You need to have a general idea of what you want for your wedding before you go and set a date.

For an average sized wedding you will need at least 12 months to plan your wedding, apart from reducing the stress levels by taking time over your wedding planning, the other reason for this is because wedding venues can get booked 1 or 2 years in advance. It stands to reason that one of the first things to do on your wedding checklist is to find the perfect reception venue. You will also need to book the church or the venue where the wedding ceremony will be held. Don't forget your vicar, priest or registrar to perform the wedding ceremony!

You should also start looking for your wedding dress as if your buying it from a bridal shop it make take up to 6 months to be created and perfected.

Start to think about who you want to be in the bridal party, how many bridesmaids and ushers are you thinking about having and the cost implications.

Buy now you really need to have bought your wedding dress if your buying it from a bridal shop. Decide on where you will hire the men's wedding suits from, and buy your bridesmaid dresses. If you haven't done already you need to be looking for the perfect bridal accessories to match your dream wedding dress.

This might be a good time to book your honeymoon so make sure you have valid passports, and any necessary documentation.

Find a wedding photographer, if you can find two photographers you would be happy dealing with, play them off against each other and see what deals you can get, both want your money, and it's a lot of money so make sure they work for it.

You will need to have picked a florist to work with to create your wedding flowers, ensure they are some one who understand what effect you are trying to achieve and take pictures of wedding flowers that you like. This will give your florist something to work from.

Start looking for your wedding rings, you may need to wait for your size to be ordered or made, so it's better to buy your wedding rings earlier rather than later. Just make sure you put them somewhere safe!!

Your wedding isn't very far away now so you should have sorted out the following wedding planning tasks.

You need to be sending out your wedding invitations soon, so make sure you know what wedding invitation design that you want, are you having them handmade or personalised? because you need to allow a few extra weeks for this.

If you haven't already started a fitness and beauty regime for your wedding, you should really start now because you want to look your best on your wedding day.

Speak to your caterers about the menu for the wedding breakfast or buffet, you will have an good idea of how many people you are inviting to your wedding by now so give your caterers an idea of numbers.

6 weeks before your wedding day is the latest you should be sending out your wedding invitations, if you have sent out Save the Day cards, you could possibly leave it another week or two before sending out your wedding invitations, but make sure you give your guests at least a month to pick an outfit and find your wedding present.

Your wedding dress should be ready for fittings now, so make sure you have purchased you bridal underwear and shoes to allow the dress maker to alter your wedding dress so it fits you perfectly.

Get together with your bridesmaids and discuss how you want your wedding day to go, if your bridal party are aware of your wedding day dream they are more likely to ensure things run smoothly on the big day because they want you to be happy.

Don't forget to buy your tiara and wedding jewellery now, many companies that create handmade bridal accessories require up to 28 days at busy times to fulfil orders. Don't leave it to late to buy your bridal accessories as you don't want to be disappointed.