Wedding Planning Tips: 12-Months Before the Wedding

Welcome to Say I do’s first ever wedding planning blog series. In this series we’ll be guiding you through some hints and tips to help with the planning of your wedding at key milestones along your wedding planning journey. We’ll be sharing everything from essential must-do tasks to simple suggestions and helpful reminders, focusing on what needs to be done at the 12-month, 6-month, 3-month and 1-month mark leading up to your wedding day.

Whilst the average wedding is typically planned in 12-18 months, weddings can also be planned in as little as a few weeks. But if you have your heart set on a specific venue, or you have a large guest list and want all the bells and whistles that come with a beautiful big wedding bash then you will definitely need at least 12 months to plan. Keep reading for the most important things you need to be doing, booking and researching at this initial stage of planning your big day.

If you missed or need the instalments of our wedding planning series, catch up here…

Wedding Planning Tips: 6 Months Before the Wedding Wedding Planning Tips: 3 Months Before the Wedding Wedding Planning Tips: 1 Month Before the Wedding

Work out your wedding budget

Kicking off with one of the biggest, if not the biggest driving factors behind your wedding day – the financials. You won’t be able to get very far into planning if you haven’t worked out your wedding budget. This is an incredibly important task which needs to be organised as soon as possible. Consider how much you have in savings, how much you might be gifted from relatives and how much money you can save between now and the big day to put towards your wedding fund.

Draft up your guest list

Another very important task to complete at the 12-month mark, even if it’s simply just a ballpark figure. Your number of wedding guests will have a direct impact on so many elements of your big day, from how you allocate your budget to your venue size and location.

Start looking at wedding venues and checking availability

Wedding vendors, especially venues, are renowned for booking up far in advance. And if you have always dreamt of hosting your special day on a popular weekend date this is even more reason to start researching venues in your desired area asap.This is when the planning starts to get really exciting - request brochures, check availability and start booking some viewings in!

Start gathering wedding inspiration using a tool such as Pinterest

Maybe you have already decided on your colour palette, or maybe you don’t know where to start? Either way, kicking off your wedding research with a visual platform such as Pinterest will help to get the wedding inspiration flowing! This is the place to gather your ideas and experiment – think about your ‘theme’ / colours / venue décor / wedding outfits etc. Whilst Pinterest is an incredible resource for wedding planning couples it can also be quite overwhelming. Our top tip is to search with intention and always be as specific as possible with your search terms.

Set a date and book your celebrant / church / wedding licence

Once you’ve settled on your venue you can officially set a date! Woah, now it starts getting real! Don’t forget to look into public holidays, local events, big sporting events and any other significant occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries that your chosen date might coincide with. Once you’re happy it’s time to confirm your wedding ceremony location and time. Whether that’s with a celebrant at your venue, or at the local church – make sure you book this in good time so that you secure the time slot that works best for your day.

Arrange appointments at bridal boutiques

It might seem a long way off but if you’re having a dress designed and created from scratch, having it flown over from abroad or you need a lot of alternations the sooner you start this process the better.

Hire a planner

Hiring a wedding planner will make your life so much easier (they’re the experts after all), but understandably not everyone’s budget can stretch to cover this. Therefore you may wish to plan the day yourself, along with the help of your venue. If this is the case, tech is your best friend. Create a personalised wedding website with Say I do, utilise our planning tools such as digital invitations and RSVP organisation and keep on top of your personalised checklist to keep you on track day to day.

Research and start booking vendors

As with venues, top wedding vendors can also get booked up to 18 months in advance so it’s best to get cracking with researching some of your key wedding suppliers - request their brochures and check out their availability. We would suggest starting with your photographer, caterer, celebrant and florist.

Get wedding insurance

Finally, prioritise getting wedding insurance. Organising and hosting a wedding is an expensive process and a big investment so it’s best to err on the side of caution and get insured as soon as you can. This could be as soon as you start planning or once you have a couple of key elements confirmed and booked such as your wedding date and venue.

Whilst this is a good starting point, this list certainly isn’t exhaustive. You might find there are some tasks that you prefer to tick off your checklist early or ones that you want or need to deal with a little further down the line – every wedding is different. Keep your eyes peeled for our next instalment: Wedding Planning Tips: 6-Months Before the Wedding.