Wedding planning checklist

12 to 9 months before

• Sit down as two families and agree on the kind of wedding: size, style, and which functions you will hold.
• Fix a total budget and who pays for what. Write it down. Everything else follows from this number.
• Make a first guest count for each side. The count decides the venue and the food bill.
• Choose two or three possible dates. If your family follows a muhurat, ask the priest early, because good dates fill up fast.
• Visit venues and book one. Ask what is included: hall, lawn, rooms, chairs, power backup, parking.
• If the venue does not cook, shortlist caterers and taste their food.
• Open one shared notebook or phone folder for quotes, receipts and phone numbers.
• Decide who in each family is the single point of contact for vendors.

9 to 6 months before

• Book the photographer and videographer. Look at one full wedding they shot, not only the best pictures.
• Book the decorator, the makeup artist and the mehndi artist.
• Book the music: DJ, band, dhol or musicians for the ceremony.
• Book the priest, granthi, qazi or pastor, and note what they need you to arrange.
• Start shopping for the bride's and groom's main outfits. Stitching and alterations take months.
• Order or choose jewellery that must be made.
• Block hotel rooms for guests from other cities.
• Send a save-the-date message to people who must travel.
• If you plan a honeymoon abroad, check passports and visa times now.

6 to 4 months before

• Complete the guest list with full names, phone numbers and addresses.
• Choose the invitation: printed card, e-invite or both. Check every spelling before printing.
• Finalise the functions and a rough time for each.
• Plan outfits for parents and close family.
• Book a choreographer if the sangeet has performances, and choose the songs.
• Book transport: cars, a bus for guests, the baraat horse or car.
• Choose return gifts or favours, if your family gives them.
• Do a makeup and hair trial with the artist you booked.
• Start breaking in the wedding shoes at home.

3 to 2 months before

• Send the invitations, first to guests who must travel. Call the elders personally.
• Do the menu tasting and fix the final menu, counters and timings.
• Fix the decoration plan for each function with pictures, so there are no surprises.
• Buy the rings and anything needed for rituals: garlands are ordered later, but lists are made now.
• Buy gifts and envelopes for relatives and for ceremonies such as milni.
• Make a playlist for each function and a list of songs you do not want.
• Collect the papers needed to register the marriage.
• Arrange stay, pick-up and drop for guests from outside.
• Go for outfit fittings.

1 month before

• Do the final fittings and collect outfits. Try everything on together: outfit, shoes, jewellery.
• Confirm every vendor in writing: date, reaching time, place, what is included and the balance due.
• Write an hour-by-hour plan for each day and share it with both families and the vendors.
• Give each responsible relative one clear job: receiving guests, handling payments, looking after gifts and envelopes, guiding the photographer.
• Keep balance payments and tips ready in labelled envelopes.
• Plan the seating for elders and the stage.
• Do not try new skin or hair products now. Stay with what you know.
• Pack for the honeymoon.

The last week

• Give the caterer the final head count.
• Collect jewellery from the locker and decide who keeps it safe on each day.
• Pack the wedding day bag with the emergency kit.
• Hand the list of vendor payments to one trusted person. The couple should not be paying bills on the day.
• Mehndi is usually applied one or two days before. Keep that day light.
• Charge phones and power banks. Clear space on the phone for photos.
• Confirm the timings of cars and of the baraat.
• Sleep. A rested face needs less makeup than a tired one.

The wedding day

• Eat a proper breakfast and keep a water bottle and a few snacks with you.
• Give your phone to a brother, sister or friend.
• Check the essentials before leaving: rings, garlands, documents, the outfit's accessories.
• Leave earlier than you think you need to.
• Ask one person to make sure the elders and the photographer are where they should be for the main rituals.
• Stop planning. Look around and enjoy it.

After the wedding

• Return rented items and collect deposits.
• Settle the balance of every vendor and thank the ones who did well.
• Send thank-you messages to guests and to everyone who helped.
• Register the marriage and keep several copies of the certificate.
• Update documents and bank records where needed.
• Choose the photographs for the album within the time the photographer gave.
• Have the wedding outfits cleaned and stored properly.