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6 months before the wedding checklist
3 months to your wedding day
As your wedding day approaches, it’s all probably starting to feel very real. We can only imagine how nervous and excited you and your significant other must be feeling at the moment!
This time will absolutely fly by and although we’re sure most of your wedding arrangements have been sorted by now, there could be final details that need to be addressed to give you and your partner that much needed pre-wedding peace of mind.
1 - Wedding venue final arrangements
Your wedding day is just around the corner and, by this point, most things should be in place with a few minor details left to do. This is the moment to book an appointment with your wedding venue to go over final arrangements, numbers and special requests. You will also be able to start discussing the table plan and work out how many tables you are looking at and the layout of the room for your wedding day.
This will also be the appointment whereby you can bring all of your plans together and work on the timeline for the day to ensure everything is included and is happening at the right time.
Make sure you have most of your suppliers lined up and booked by this point. Ensure to bring a list of the suppliers to your wedding venue on the day of your appointment so they’re aware of who will be arriving on the day. This is when you’ll be able to properly visualise all of your planning coming to life!
2 - Wedding suppliers timeline
Once you have your timeline all confirmed with your wedding venue, make sure you also send it to all of the suppliers who will be present on the day to ensure everyone is aware of the timings and how long they have allocated for set things.
For example, your wedding photographer will need to know what time food is being served so they can work out when they can do set photographs throughout the day and your DJ or band will need to know times to set up and to play until.
Check with your wedding venue what time suppliers can have access to the venue from, particularly on weekends where there could be 2 to 3 weddings one after the other and time might be limited. This will help the venue know when to be ready for and when to expect your suppliers.
It’s also important to consider which of your suppliers might require feeding on your wedding day. Your wedding photographer, for example, might be there all day so it’s essential that you let your venue and caterer know how many suppliers require food on the day of your wedding.
3 - Wedding traditions
Wedding traditions are commonly part of any wedding celebration and old tales predict good luck and fortune in a marriage when these are followed. Regardless of whether or not you and your partner believe that, traditions add to the wedding fun and are a great way to involve your loved ones.
The famous wedding recipe derives from the Old English rhyme, "Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"—which names the four good-luck objects (plus a sixpence) a bride should include somewhere in her wedding outfit or carry with her on her wedding day.
But why these items and what is their relevance? Here are some explanations:
- The old item provides protection for the baby to come
- The new item offers optimism for the future
- The item borrowed from another happily married couple provides good luck
- The colour blue is a sign of purity and fidelity
- The sixpence — a British silver coin — is a symbol of prosperity or acts as a ward against evil done by frustrated suitors
Most couples will follow these traditions on their wedding day, although they won’t always be entirely sure why and where these come from. If you’re keen to include these on your special day, maybe now is the time to start gathering them and thinking about who you might borrow from!
4 - Trail wedding hair & make-up
Your wedding stylist and makeup artist should give you smiles and reassurance with 0 tension on your wedding day. Having the perfect hair and makeup is a must so having the best team on your side is absolutely essential to have a stress-free, peaceful and exciting start to your day.
But what’s the true secret to having hair that stays put and makeup that doesn’t run down your face? Rehearsing it. Up to 3 months before your wedding day, we suggest you book 1-2 runs of makeup and hair trials to ensure you’re absolutely happy with the styles you’re going for.
You might want to bring someone you trust to your appointment, who will be able to help you decide. We also recommend that you try to go out in your chosen hair and makeup, to ensure it’s as long-lasting as you need it to be on the real day. Bringing photos to your appointment is also super helpful to the professionals helping you, as these will help them visualise exactly what it is that you’d like on your day.
5 - Wedding speeches
Speeches are such a great way to get everyone involved in a sweet story-telling moment. They are also all about fun and work as a sort of icebreaker just before your wedding breakfast. Traditionally, you’d have the father of the bride, groom, best man and other toasts, in that order. However, many brides have also decided to make speeches as well as bridesmaids.
Once you know exactly what people are delivering speeches, you can start prompting them to get those done when you’re 3 months away from your big day. 12 weeks will give them plenty of time to start brainstorming and to put ideas together. You can also let your wedding venue know in your timeline appointment who will be delivering speeches and in which order, so they can plan meals around that.
If you’re also making a speech, this is the moment to start writing it down and thinking about how you want to go about it. Regardless of who is making them, now is a great moment to put a plan together!
6 - Break in the wedding shoes
By now, you have probably chosen your wedding shoes and so has your significant other. Although you and your partner may want to look impeccable on your wedding day, which is completely understandable, another massive detail for your day is comfort.
The last thing you want on your wedding day is to be dealing with sore feet! It’s a long day so you want to be as comfortable as possible on your feet. A great idea is to bring a spare pair of shoes with you on your wedding day just in case, as usually by the time everyone hits the dancefloor the shoes have all been kicked off.
If the weather is particularly wet or cold and your venue is mostly outdoors with amazing scenery, some wellies might be a good idea for walking around to take your photos and quickly swapping your shoes before the shot is taken.
Most of the time, men do not think about their shoes and think they won’t need to break them, but in reality the shoes worn on your wedding day are likely to be tighter than the shoes they wear on an everyday basis and also quite stiff when purchased new. Wearing your wedding shoes around the house with some socks on will mean one less worry on the day.
7 - Bridal party roles
By now, you have already decided whether or not you want a bridal party and made the difficult decision of who you’d like to include in it. Now that that’s over, you can start planning what their specific roles will be from now on and, most importantly, on your wedding day.
Having a supportive bridal party is crucial, as they are the ones who will hold your hand through this process and be there for you for anything you might need in the build-up to your wedding. Now that you have decided who your maid of honour, bridesmaids, best man, groomsmen and flower girls/boys will be, you can start allocating them specific roles.
On the day of your wedding, your maid of honour can be given the task to give you full emotional support throughout the day and help you affix your veil or bustle the gown. Your best man may be given the task to hold on to your wedding bands until the ceremony, for example. You could also ask your bridesmaids to show guests to their seats and help make sure everything is running smoothly.
8 - Groomsmen fittings
Just like brides and bridesmaids will be making alterations to their wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, at this stage of your wedding planning the groom, best man and ushers should also start planning to have their suit fittings.
Most men won’t have much of an idea of what they’d like to wear on their wedding day until they walk through the tux shop’s doors. To ensure their day goes as smoothly as possible, picking an attractive yet comfortable attire is key. For their appointment, it’s also important that all those attending bring the shoes they’re planning on wearing so they can get a better idea of what it all looks like when put together.