Wedding Planning Tips: 1 Month Before the Wedding

As your big day approaches, it's time to focus on the final details that will make your wedding day truly special. From booking beauty appointments to finalising your wedding day timeline, we've got you covered with our wedding planning tips for the last month before the big day.

Your wedding date is looming large with just one month to go, and you probably have 101 things on your wedding checklist. Remember to have confidence in your planning and your wedding suppliers – everything will turn out fine! At this point, if you feel you’ve forgotten anything, it might be easier to just let it go and focus on the truly important stuff.

If you missed the previous instalments of our wedding planning timeline series, catch up here… Wedding Planning Tips: 12 Months Before the Wedding Wedding Planning Tips: 6 Months Before the Wedding Wedding Planning Tips: 3 Months Before the Wedding

Otherwise, continue reading for our wedding planning checklist, which will help you breeze through the final weeks with ease.

Chase up any last-minute RSVPs

Whether it's a forgetful family member or laidback friends, there’s always one, or two, or three wedding guests to chase up! Sending your wedding invitations digitally and using an RSVP tracker such as Say I do will make this task 10x easier. Gone are the days of manually adding everyone to a spreadsheet and RSVPS getting lost in the post. Say I do will simply flag who’s yet to confirm, and you can follow up with a polite message asking them to get in touch.

Update your wedding website

Ensuring your website is up to date with all your wedding details will make a significant difference to your workload over the coming weeks. As questions come in from guests, add them to your FAQ page so that others can find the answers without needing to call or email you. If you're having a wedding weekend, add some information about the local area for out-of-town guests.

Collate your final guest list

Once you’ve received all of your RSVPs and confirmed any dietary requirements, it’s time to pass the final head count on to your caterer and the venue wedding coordinator. Your venue will need to know how many guests to expect for parking/ceremony capacity, and of course, your seating plan and place cards. At the same time, your caterer will need to start planning food orders, logistics and waiting on staff. Don’t forget to check whether any of your key suppliers need feeding, such as your photographer, videographer, and musicians. It’s a long day for them, too, so they’ll likely need a meal to keep them going!

Confirm your wedding timeline

Weddings generally follow a set order, starting from bridal prep through to the wedding ceremony, the wedding breakfast, and the first dance. Your planner/venue will know how long you need to allocate for each aspect of your day and what might work well logistically. Once you have your wedding day schedule confirmed, don’t forget to share this information with all relevant parties, such as your vendors, key members of your wedding party and each other!

Buy wedding party gifts

It’s traditional and a lovely gesture for the wedding couple to present gifts to their parents, the bridal party, and the best man, groomsmen, and each other on the morning of the wedding. If you're not sure where to start shopping, Pinterest can provide you with some great ideas, from personalised items to cherish forever to accessories that can be worn with pride on the day.

Arrange your final payments to wedding vendors

Most wedding vendors will require a deposit to confirm a booking, with instalments due along the way, usually culminating in the final balance being paid 30 days before the event. Now is the time to settle all your outstanding payments so you can sit back and enjoy the last few weeks, safe in the knowledge that your wedding photographer, videographer, caterer etc, are all locked in and ready to roll.

Create a seating plan

We’ve heard many times over how the seating plan is often the most challenging part of wedding planning. However, don’t let that put you off! It’s also a fun way to introduce guests, for kids to make friends and to segregate the noisy ones! Again, take your planner or wedding venue’s lead on this one – they have done this many times before, so you just need to ensure that table numbers are accurate and put the right people in the right places.

Book hair and makeup appointments

Now we’re really on the straight and narrow – the final details, such as beauty appointments, need to be booked in at this stage. Whether you’re having your nails done professionally, or getting a spray tan or eyelash treatment, make sure to book these in plenty of time to avoid missing out on availability.

Finish your wedding vows

Your wedding vows are arguably the most important part of your wedding ceremony, so hopefully you haven't left them until the last minute! In the final month, it's time to knuckle down and finalise the words you'll say as you exchange wedding rings. Look back over what you've already written and ensure it still feels right to you. Then, ask a close friend for feedback.

Collect wedding outfits

This is one of the last tasks to complete before you pack your bags and head off to your venue for one of the biggest occasions of your life…eek! Once you've had your final dress fitting, your wedding dress should fit you like a glove, the suit should be pressed and looking sharp, and you should be getting used to wearing your wedding shoes. It’s time to consider how your travel arrangements affect transporting your wedding outfits to your venue, especially if you're flying out for a destination wedding!

Well, all that’s left to do now is to wish you a wonderful wedding day! From here on in, your wedding planner and venue will guide you through the final details that are unique to you and your special day. If you’ve landed on this final piece of our wedding planning series, you can look back to planning tips covering the wedding planning process at the 12-month, 6-month and 3-month mark over on the blog.