Is it possible to plan your wedding in 6 months? Don’t worry, it definitely is! Traditional weddings take a year or two, but if you want to shorten this timeline, then it’s totally doable. In fact, the lack of time can actually make decision making more productive, as you’ll have no time to deliberate on details for too long. You’ll have to keep in mind that your favourite vendors might be booked up, but if you’re flexible then you’ll have no problem. After all, the main things you need are a marriage license, a ceremony and an officiant, the rest is up to you!
You’ll need to cover the basics and organize most tasks for your wedding as early as you can, but if you have a strong game plan this will save stress further down the line. Also, don’t be afraid to ask family and friends for help! You might want to consider finding a wedding planner that will give you professional advice to plan your wedding in 6 months. They’ll have the contacts for vendors that can fulfill your time constraints.
Below is our guide for everything you need to know to plan your wedding in 6 months!
6 Months: Let’s Start!
1. Determine Your Wedding Budget
Before you do anything you need to decide how much you want to spend. To start with, you’ll need to think about who is going to pay for what, and what your maximum budget is. For this, you’ll have to consider what your non-negotiable details are, what you would like and what you can take off the list if prices start to go beyond your budget. Then when you select suppliers and book items, start with your priorities and go down the list. Just remember, you’re on a time constraint so don’t sweat if you can’t budget for certain items, focus on what is most important for you and your partner.
2. Choose a Wedding Date
It’s most likely that if you want to plan your wedding in 6 months, that’s because you already have a date or month in mind, so don’t hesitate and circle that day on your calendar. It will help planning if you can be flexible with your date, especially during the summer months.
3. Who’s Going to Make it onto Your Guest List?
Before you start selecting vendors, you’ll need to know how many guests you’re expecting to attend. You won’t need to know exact numbers, but you’ll need a maximum number. You wouldn’t want anyone arriving without a place to sit and as importantly, you’ll need to have a figure in mind to stick to your target budget!
4. Pick a Venue
After choosing your date ranges and guest list size, you can begin exploring venues you like. The ceremony and reception locations will be some the most important decisions you’ll make while you plan your wedding. Everything else will depend on these details, so you need to get this ticked off the list as early as possible! You’ll also need to be open to different options if you want your wedding to be within the next 6 months. You might find that some venues offer late availability packages. Either way, flexibility will be key as some of your top preferred venues may already be unavailable so consider a weekday if your favorite venue is one you don’t want to sacrifice on.
5. Send Out Your Invitations
You’ll need to give your guests as much time as possible to plan ahead, so as soon as you’ve chosen a date, let your guests know! If you’re having the invitations specially made then try to find a vendor with a quick turnaround time, or if you’re opting for DIY then you can start making them straight away and add on names once you’ve sorted out the guest list. Once you’ve got your RSVPs, you can tie up the venue and catering and you’ll have the main parts of your wedding sorted.
6. Set Up Your Wedding Website & Registry
A wedding website is a useful resource to communicate all the essential information about the wedding on one straightforward platform. This is definitely important for planning your wedding in 6 months, and if you’re detailed enough with FAQs, you can avoid spending time messaging people individually. In the meanwhile, if a wedding registry is something you want to include, you can simply add this to your wedding website so that your guests can find links to gifts easily in one place. You can find all the information and tips you need to create the perfect wedding website right here.
7. Book Accommodation for Your Guests
If you’re planning a destination wedding, or people are coming from far away, they’ll need somewhere to stay. You can begin by booking a block of rooms for your guests, which hotels usually offer a discount for. Make sure to provide several accommodation options for your guests across different price ranges so that each person books an accommodation that makes sense for them.
8. Find Your Other Vendors
Once you’ve gotten your wedding venue out of the way, you can get ahead and start choosing the other key elements for your special day. These include a wedding planner, caterer, photographer, videographer, registrar, florist, band or DJ. If you’re planning a destination wedding in Italy, you even explore the beautiful work of some of Italy’s finest wedding vendors right on WedBoard.
9. Choose Your Wedding Dress
If you want to plan your wedding in 6 months, it may not be enough time for a custom-made design, so it’s best to start trying on dresses as soon as you can. When you visit a bridal shop, it would help to let them know your time frame so that they can guide you on selecting designers that have more availability. For any type of dress you choose, whether it’s high-end or low-end, you’ll need to leave some time for any alterations.
5 Months to go
1. Go Shopping for Your Wedding Party
Another major element you’ll need to think about when planning your wedding, is who is going to be involved in your wedding party. Are you going to have a big wedding party, or keep it small? Once you’ve decided, it’s time to shop! To make this process as quick as possible, organize a date that you can take your whole party to try on dresses and suits for the big day.
2. Buy Any Extra Accessories
You’ve already picked out your dress, so now it’s time to accessorize! This includes buying your shoes, jewellery, hair pieces, veil and any extra items.
3. Book Your Remaining Vendors
There will be some more vendors that you’ll need to book when you’re 5 months away such as, hair stylist, make up artist, the cake for your wedding day and any transportation that you’ll need for your wedding, including the dress rehearsal, ceremony, and reception.
4 Months to go
1. Start Your Honeymoon Planning
If you’re planning to jet off after your wedding, now is the time to start organizing your honeymoon. You might have some ideas in mind, but if you’re looking for some honeymoon destination inspiration, then check out our list of the most romantic places to honeymoon in Italy. In the meanwhile, some things you might want to consider are the following: Do you want to spend your time sunbathing without a care in the world? Are you more of an adventurer? Or do you want to fly away to a dream destination? On the other hand, if you don’t have a budget for a honeymoon straight after your wedding, you can even consider a romantic weekend away to a spa to relax as newlyweds.
2. Buy Your Wedding Rings
Your rings are going to symbolize your union forever, so make sure that you choose ones that both you and your partner love! Dedicate some time to shopping around and trying on different styles to see what suits you best.
3. Organize Your Bachelor and Bachelorette Party
You’re in luck, this is a task that can go straight to your best man or maid of honor! You just have to let them know what you like and confirm any choices. Bear in mind that with short notice, not everyone will be able to attend, so consider options that are as close to home as possible.
4. Plan Your Rehearsal Dinner
As well as making sure you plan your wedding day, you’ll also need to plan your rehearsal dinner. So look at venues and any extra details for the event.
3 Months to go
1. Confirm Your Guest List
Guests will have had time to decide whether they can make it or not, so gather up any remaining RSVPs. You’ll need to let your venue and caterers know what the final head count is.
2. Plan a Tasting Session With Your Menu and Cake
Get ready to try out some delicious treats! Meet with your wedding caterer and cake baker to decide on the menu for the reception, and your cake flavors.
3. Hair & Makeup Trial
Don’t risk not liking your hair and makeup on your wedding day so make sure to plan a trial with your vendors. This is an enjoyable and important part when you plan your wedding, as it will be a chance for you to see if something doesn’t work. After all, you want to look perfect on your special day!
2 Months to go
1. Create a Table Plan
After collecting all of your RVSPs you can start organizing a table plan. You might come across hurdles while you’re trying to seat everyone, so set some time aside with your partner. But don’t worry, it’ll all work out in the end!
2. Buy Your Wedding Favors
Wedding favors are a way to show your appreciation to your guests for celebrating your big day, so make sure to buy these now so that they are all ready in time. You’ll also want to give meaningful gifts to your bridal party and thank them personally. Now is also a great time to write out those thank you notes!
3. Have Your Bachelor and Bachelorette Party
Enjoy some downtime with your loved ones and celebrate the exciting ramp up to your special day!
1 Month to go
1. Confirm all of Your Vendors
With one month to go, you’ll have to confirm everything and make sure everyone is prepared. Check any extra details so you don’t have any surprises on the day!
2. Get Your Marriage License
This is an essential part of the wedding planning process, each location will have different requirements for marriage licenses so you definitely can’t leave it until the last minute. If you’re going for a destination wedding, consider doing this 2 months ahead of time and make sure you’ve read through every requirement.
3. Write Your Speech
Unless you’re a pro at improv, make sure you get ahead with writing, so you’re not rushing to write out your heartfelt letter until the last day. If you’re considering writing your own wedding vows, then check out these helpful tips on how to write the most beautiful wedding vows for your big day.
3. Create a Wedding Day Timeline
To make your day run as smoothly as possible, include creating a timeline as part of your wedding planning. If you’ve chosen a wedding planner, they can help you organize this down to the minute! Don’t forget to communicate the timeline with your vendors and wedding party, so that they know what to expect.
You’ve done it! Now that everything is tied up, all you have left to do is focus on enjoying your special day with your loved ones. For more tips and tricks to plan your wedding, such as how to create a wedding website and 6 steps to creating our wedding budget, head to WedBoard to start your destination wedding planning!
Featured image: Daniela Tanzi
