Congratulations, you’re engaged! Once that immediate high has settled, the reality kicks in - you have a big event to organise. Depending on your venue choices, you may have support in finding all the relevant suppliers you need to facilitate your big day, or you may have to do the ‘donkey work’ yourself. We know there is a lot to think about, so we’ve laid out a timeline suggestion for organising your suppliers for the big day below. Getting the key suppliers nailed makes the rest go swimmingly!
First Priorities: 12 months out or ASAP
Dependent on the timeline between engagement and wedding, you want to start this checklist 12 months out, or now if your wedding is within 12 months.
If any of these suppliers are absolute musts, it’s worth contacting them in advance of 12 months before possible, just to see if they have waiting lists open (many suppliers do, as they’re so busy due to the delays caused by the COVID pandemic).
Choose your venue
Your venue determines many of your other hire choices. If you opt for a venue with a package including a florist, DJ, and catering, for example, finding these suppliers can be ticked off your list. If you opt for a stand-alone barn though, for example, you’ll be finding everything from the ground up. Setting a date with your venue also determines what other suppliers will be free to help.
Choose your caterers/ food and drink options
Food and drink are a big part of many people’s big day. If you have a real feel for what you want, get in touch with the caterers quickly, as their dates book up fast. You will also want maximum time to determine your menu, especially if you’re choosing something unique to yourselves. You wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to go for that all-important tasting, either! Once you’ve got your caterer booked, the menu specifications and tasting can take place over the next few months.
If your caterers and venue don’t source drinks and or the bar, you’ll need to sort this too. Be aware that importing alcohol can be expensive, but can also still work out as the cheapest option.
You’ll also need to remember glassware if you’re not using a venue’s glassware. Remember that people want different vessels for different drinks (the basics being a champagne flute, white wine glass, red wine glass, and water tumbler - but additional vessels include a variety of beer glasses and cocktail glasses), and you’ll need more than one of each per person, as wedding guests are prone to putting down their glass and fetching a new one!
For reception drinks, consider how you’re planning to serve them, too. A waiter topping up guests’ glasses cuts down glass use, whereas circulating trays of fresh, filled glasses will guarantee your guests get through much more glassware.
The evening bar depends on how many different types of drinks you serve - you’ll likely need different vessels for cocktails, spirits & mixers, beers, wines, and fizz, so keeping the selection more limited might bring down your hire totals.
Do you need a wedding designer/stylist?
If you do, it makes the most sense to get them on board from the very beginning. They are there to help you streamline your relationships with suppliers, consider every eventuality, and help make creative judgments - so it’s a waste of your money (and harder for them) to ask them to step in months down the line. If you’re not choosing to hire a wedding designer/events organiser, it’s time to make a checklist of everything you want, work out when you want it done, and get all the relevant suppliers on board.
Identify your ideal suppliers and book them
Got a must-have wedding band, or photographer? Get them booked, now. These are the sorts of suppliers who are a solid foundation - it doesn’t matter if your designs and colour palettes change, these are the foundational suppliers you want to be sorted.
Consider venue-specific hires, and get them sorted, too. WEThire provides luxury bathroom hire (toilets and shower blocks), but we can get booked up far in advance so get organised.. These fundamental suppliers might not be the ‘cherry on the cake’ when it comes to the look of your wedding, but having to compromise on these foundations can really impact the feel of your wedding (Imagine your high-end wedding accompanied by standard porta-potties!), so get them nailed down. Suppliers we’d list as foundational (venue-dependent), would include bathroom facilities, any utilities (if you need to sort out onsite electricity and water), and marquee/tent hire. Also, consider any accommodation needs the bridal party has. If you can’t or choose not to stay onsite the night before, and the night of, the wedding, get rooms booked as appropriate at your preferred venue for the bride and bridesmaids, groom and best man/groomsmen, and mothers and fathers of the bride and groom.
Start the quest for the dress
Finding the ideal dress can take time, and most wedding dresses also require tailoring to your figure. Alterations can take months, so it’s wise to leave a good period so that you’re not rushed. Aim to have your dress ordered by 9 months out, so there’s plenty of time for alterations.
Nail down your aesthetic
This goes hand-in-hand with choosing your dress to some extent, as these choices might influence one another. Before you start choosing your bridesmaids' dresses and flowers, and any soft hires like rugs, seating, or candles, for example, you’ll want to know what sort of look you aim for.
Get a wedding website
This is the best way to keep all of the information your guests will need in one place (and saves you explaining again and again where they can find accommodation or the nearest taxi firm!). This will be the place you can expand a little on your story, should you wish, and you can get guests to RSVP this way to save on return postage fees. Add information about timings for the day as and when you get these confirmed, as well as location, local accommodation, taxi firms guests will want to use, and any additional information that makes the day go easily. Guests can also make menu choices here, and be linked to your wedding registry/gifts preferences.
Next: 9 months out
At 9 months out, you’ll hopefully have your wedding dress ordered, and a feel for the type of event you’re hoping to create. Next - get in touch with the suppliers who can make this aesthetic happen.
Send ‘Save the Dates’
Now you know how you want your event to look, consider this when choosing your Save the Dates cards to make the aesthetic of the whole day combine beautifully. A traditional day? Perhaps you’ll choose thick white paper embossed with silver, and send the invite from the parents of the bride. Doing something a little more modern? Perhaps your Save the Date might include a little illustration, incorporate some of the colours you intend to use, and be more like a party invitation. Make sure to include your wedding website, if you have it, so people can be updated with your timeline as and when you finalise it, without waiting for the formal invitation.
Book your florist
If you had your heart set on one particular floral designer, you hopefully got them booked earlier as an ideal supplier. But 9 months out should give scope for most florists (although, like all suppliers, COVID has seen a real backlog in events so they’re still very busy). Go to them with a clear budget and a real feel for what you want, but let them use their creative flair to interpret your brief - you’ll almost always benefit from allowing a talented creative to interpret your ideas rather than asking them to copy something you’ve seen on Pinterest.
Update your wedding website
By now you’ve likely confirmed where your ceremony is, and when. Update your wedding website, and add any information you have nailed down. You should also choose your gift registry if you want guests to purchase something specific for you. Alternatively, many couples are now asking for contributions towards their honeymoon.
Book, Book, Book
Now you know your ideal aesthetic, it’s time to look at the smaller aspects of your wedding’s design to pull the aesthetic together and make for a special atmosphere. Working with either your wedding designer or taking insight from creative suppliers such as florists, you might want to hire specific glassware, cutlery, crockery, speciality chairs, or table linens to fit your aesthetic. You might want to create ‘areas’ for your guests (for example, hiring seating areas, rugs, and cushions), or add to design features from your florist’s design by buying or hiring complementary candles, candelabras/hurricane lanterns/tea light holders, for example. Always ask your creatives for their input here - as well as making sure the aesthetics align, your florist may have a relationship with some recommended suppliers that may save you money. Choose any extra ornaments or adornments such as table favours, confetti, and any extras now too.
Book your officiant
Depending on your venue, you may be fulfilling the legal part of your marriage onsite or elsewhere. If you’re using a church first, make sure you’ve booked the ceremony in, and fulfilled all of their requirements, for example arranging to have your banns read (your marriage needs to be announced over three Sundays over the three months preceding your big day). If you’re having a secular ceremony, get your officiant booked in. If you can’t marry onsite, never fear - you can book your legal ceremony at the local registrar, and either choose something more personal on the day of, or still follow a traditional format (you’ll just already have done the ‘legally binding’ bit).
Set the mood with music
You may just opt to walk down the aisle to a recorded track, then curate a playlist to listen to during the wedding breakfast and the party. But many couples choose to up the ante by hiring musicians for various aspects of their day. Would it be special, for example, to hire a cellist to play as an accompaniment to you walking down the aisle? Would some French cafe-style jazz set the mood perfectly for your reception drinks? Would a singer add that unique touch to your first dance? Would a lively band, or DJ, conjure up the perfect mood to get everybody on the dance floor? You need to make all of these choices, and get listening to the bands, DJs, or musicians who you’re considering - then book them. If you’re just opting for a curated playlist, make sure of any limitations imposed on you by your venue (for example, do you have to hire a PA system, and if not, what system do your music choices get played through - can you play directly by hooking up a phone or laptop?).
Book your honeymoon!
Whether you’re intending to have a huge blow-out exotic vacation post-wedding or a quiet weekend away locally, it’s ideal to have at least a day or two to yourselves after the big day to take it all in, and spend some time together! Get this booked in now so you don’t have to compromise on what you want, and so that you’re not worrying about this nearer the day.
Get the suit
If you’re conscribing to the traditional wedding of bride and groom, wedding dress and suit, now is the time to get the groom’s suit sorted. Again, it may need some alterations, so making sure to give at least a couple of months before the big day for any tailoring is ideal. Whatever sort of ceremony you’re planning, try to get the couple’s outfits ordered by 6 months out, to avoid any undue stress.
Finally: 3 months out
Some couples end up making arrangements until the 11th hour, but if you can organise most of the ‘predictables’ by three months out, you’ll avoid tonnes of stress.
Order the cake
Now your aesthetic is firm, you probably know how you want the cake to look - but how do you want it to taste? Make sure to taste your supplier’s cake before the big day! Make sure to bear in mind, too, any dietary requirements from your guests, and keep any ‘alternative’ cakes (for example, gluten-free, or vegan) strictly separate from any contaminants.
Buy your rings
Unless you want bespoke jewellery, ordering your wedding bands three months out should give plenty of time for any size adjustments in time for the big day.
Send out invitations
Hopefully, these tie into your Save the Date cards, so shouldn’t cause undue effort in terms of design. Make sure to include a link to your wedding website, the location and times for your ceremony, and RSVP information.
Book your hair and makeup trials
Make sure you book a trial, if you’re choosing a professional makeup artist or hairdresser, as everybody’s tastes vary. You want to look like the best version of yourself on your big day - not like a complete stranger!
Write vows, choose readings, and write speeches!
Don’t leave it until the night before to write your speech! Your guests will be able to tell if you put a little more time and thought into the process, and it’ll take the stress off you, too. Equally, choose the people you might like to deliver speeches on your big day now to give them time to practice.
We hope our supplier timeline helps give an outline of your journey from engaged to wed! For that extra touch of luxury for your big event, choose WEThire.
