By eight weeks out, the big decisions are made. What remains is sequencing — and the reason the final stretch feels overwhelming is usually that several things are being done in the wrong week.
This is a working overview. Your venue and planner will have their own deadlines; where they differ, theirs win.
8 weeks out
8 weeks
- First dress fitting, with the shoes and undergarments you'll actually wear
- Confirm the ceremony order and any readings or music
- Send or confirm final invitation details, if you're doing a details card
- Book hair and makeup trials
- Confirm the wedding party's attire is ordered and in progress
- Start the seating plan, even roughly
- Confirm transport for the wedding party and any guest shuttles
- Order or confirm signage, place cards and stationery
6 weeks out
6 weeks
- Hair and makeup trials
- Confirm the menu, including all dietary requirements you know about
- Write the vows, or at least start them
- Confirm the photographer's shot list and family group photographs
- Confirm the music: ceremony, first dance, do-not-play list
- Buy gifts for parents, the wedding party and each other
- Book any beauty appointments — facials, nails, tan, brows — with buffer time
- Chase outstanding RSVPs
4 weeks out
4 weeks
- Second dress fitting
- Give the venue a preliminary guest number
- Finalise the seating plan
- Write and print the timeline for vendors, the wedding party and both families
- Confirm the rehearsal date, time and who is attending
- Apply for or confirm the marriage licence — check the local validity window
- Confirm honeymoon bookings, and check passport expiry dates
- Break in your shoes at home
2 weeks out
2 weeks
- Final guest count to the caterer and venue
- Final dress fitting and collection date confirmed
- Confirm every vendor in writing: arrival time, address, contact, what they need on site
- Make final payments, or prepare them in labelled envelopes
- Prepare cash tips, labelled per vendor, and hand them to one trusted person
- Confirm who is transporting what — cake, décor, gifts, the dress
- Write out place cards and finish the seating chart
- Assemble the wedding-day emergency kit
1 week out
1 week
- Send the final timeline to everyone involved
- Confirm hair and makeup arrival times and the running order
- Pack for the wedding night and the honeymoon
- Steam or press everything that needs it
- Collect the dress, suits and any rentals
- Confirm accommodation for the wedding night
- Check the weather forecast and confirm the wet-weather plan with the venue
- Delegate three jobs you were planning to do yourself on the day
72 hours
The last three days
- Hand over all logistics to your planner, coordinator or the person taking that role
- Give someone the vendor contact list and the payment envelopes
- Confirm nail, tan and beauty appointments are done — not on the day before
- Drop off décor, signage, favours and anything the venue is storing
- Charge everything: phones, cameras, speakers, power banks
- Eat properly and drink water. It sounds trivial; it isn't
- Stop reading the group chat
The wedding eve
The night before
- Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, ending earlier than you think
- Lay out everything for the morning: dress, shoes, jewellery, undergarments, vows, rings, licence
- Give the rings and the licence to the person responsible for them
- Pack the overnight bag and put it where it's going
- Set two alarms and tell one person to check on you
- Write anything unsaid in a card rather than carrying it into the morning
- Go to bed at a reasonable hour
For the honeymoon that follows, the honeymoon packing list covers documents, outfits by occasion and the shared items couples always double up on.
