Your Wedding Planning Checklist
You said yes. Maybe it happened over dinner, on a hiking trail somewhere above Malibu, or in your own living room surrounded by the people you love most. However it happened, congratulations, you’re engaged. Now here’s your wedding planning checklist.
And then, somewhere between the champagne toasts and the Instagram announcements, someone asks: “So, when’s the wedding?” And just like that, the planning begins.
Here’s the truth: planning a wedding in Los Angeles is exciting, and it can also feel incredibly overwhelming if you don’t have a roadmap. Between venues that book out 18 months in advance, vendor teams to coordinate, and a thousand small decisions that somehow all feel urgent, it’s easy to lose the joy in the logistics.
This wedding planning checklist is designed to bring that joy back. Think of it less like a to-do list and more like a season-by-season guide — one that helps you stay organized, make confident decisions, and actually enjoy the process of planning one of the most meaningful days of your life.
Let’s walk through it together.
The First Two Weeks: Celebrate Before You Plan
Before you open a single spreadsheet or create a Pinterest board, take a breath. You just got engaged. Give yourself at least a week — ideally two — to simply be in it.
Tell your family. Call your best friends. Pop the champagne again. This moment is worth savoring before the planning takes over.
Once the initial excitement settles, here’s where to begin:
Set your budget together. This conversation isn’t the most romantic one, but it’s one of the most important. Talk with your partner (and anyone contributing financially) about what you’re working with. Your budget shapes every decision that follows.
Get a rough sense of your vision. Are you dreaming of a grand ballroom celebration with 200 guests, or an intimate dinner party with 40 of your closest people? You don’t need all the details yet — just a general direction.
Think about your engagement announcement. Many couples choose to share the news on social media, and an engagement photo session is a beautiful way to mark this season. It also gives you gorgeous images to use for save the dates down the road — more on that later.
12–18 Months Out: Lock in the Big Three
If you’re planning a wedding in Los Angeles, you need to make the big decisions early. This is not an exaggeration. LA venues and vendors book out fast, sometimes 18 months to two years in advance, especially for popular dates in the spring and fall.
Choose your wedding date. Consider the time of year, your guest list (out-of-town family?), and any personal significance. Golden hour light in Southern California is absolutely stunning in the late afternoon, which is worth factoring in if you’re thinking about your photos.
Book your venue. Your venue will likely determine your guest count, your caterer, and your overall aesthetic, so this decision carries a lot of weight. Tour a few options, ask detailed questions about what’s included, and don’t wait to sign once you find the right one.
Book your wedding photographer. I’ll be honest with you here: photographers book out just as quickly as venues, sometimes faster. Your wedding photos are the one thing you’ll have long after the flowers have wilted and the cake has been eaten. They’re how you’ll remember the way your partner looked at you during the ceremony, the way your dad squeezed your hand before you walked down the aisle. This vendor category deserves the same urgency as your venue.
Start your guest list. Even a rough draft helps. You’ll need it for venue capacity conversations and for planning your save the dates.
9–12 Months Out: Build Your Vendor Team
With your venue and photographer locked in, now you can build out the rest of your team.
Hire your key vendors. Your caterer (if not included with the venue), florist, DJ or band, and officiant should all be booked in this window. Reach out to vendors your venue recommends — they’ve worked together before, and that coordination matters more than couples often realize.
Start dress shopping. Wedding gowns typically take four to six months to arrive after ordering, plus additional time for alterations. Start earlier than you think you need to.
Send your save the dates. Once your date and venue are confirmed, get these out. Aim for 12 months before the wedding for destination or holiday dates, and 8–10 months for local celebrations.
Schedule your engagement session. This is one of the most underrated parts of the planning process. Beyond giving you beautiful photos for your save the dates or wedding website, an engagement session is a chance to get comfortable in front of the camera before your wedding day. Couples who do an engagement session almost always feel more relaxed and natural when it comes to their wedding portraits, and it shows in the final images.
6–9 Months Out: Details Start Coming Together
You’ve got your foundation. Now it’s time to fill in the details. Check your wedding planning checklist.
Send your invitations. The general rule is eight weeks before the wedding for local guests, and 10–12 weeks if you have out-of-town or international guests. Work backward from those dates to make sure your invitations are designed and printed in time.
Plan the honeymoon. If you’re traveling internationally, start sooner. Flights and accommodations for popular destinations fill up, and you’ll want something to look forward to.
Finalize your floral and décor vision. Meet with your florist to review inspiration, discuss seasonally available blooms, and nail down your color palette. If you’ve been building a Pinterest board, this is the moment it becomes useful.
Register for gifts. Most couples complete their registry around this time, and your guests will start looking for it once invitations go out.
Schedule your engagement session if you haven’t already. Seriously, this one keeps moving on the list because couples keep pushing it. Don’t push it.
3–6 Months Out: Confirm and Coordinate
This phase is all about making sure everything and everyone is aligned.
Confirm all vendors and review your contracts. Reach out to each vendor to confirm dates, times, and logistics. Re-read your contracts so there are no surprises.
Plan your rehearsal dinner. Book the restaurant or venue, and send invitations to the wedding party and immediate family.
Finalize ceremony details. Work with your officiant on the structure and timing of the ceremony. Share this with your photographer so they know exactly what to expect and can be in the right position for every moment.
Share your wedding day timeline with your photographer. A detailed timeline is one of the most valuable tools for a smooth wedding day. Your photographer can help you build one that ensures enough time for portraits, family formals, and the moments in between, without anyone feeling rushed.
The Final Month of Your Wedding Planning Checklist: The Home Stretch
You’re almost there. This is the time to tie up loose ends and, just as importantly, give yourself permission to slow down, double-check your wedding planning checklist.
Final dress or suit fitting. Bring your shoes and any undergarments you plan to wear so the alterations are accurate.
Get your marriage license. Requirements vary by county, so check with Los Angeles County Clerk’s office for specifics on timing and documentation.
Write your vows. If you’re writing personal vows, don’t leave this until the night before. Give yourself time to sit with it, edit it, and practice saying it out loud. (Yes, out loud. You’ll thank yourself later.) Don’t let ChatGPT write your vows. I know it’s easier, and AI makes your ideas sound more flowery, but your partner will know, and it might piss them off.
Create a shot list for your photographer. This doesn’t need to be a 47-point spreadsheet, but it should include the family groupings you want for formals and any must-have moments that are specific to your day.
Pack your emergency kit. A small bag with safety pins, stain remover, pain reliever, blotting papers, a phone charger, and a few snacks goes a long way. Assign it to someone in your wedding party.
Rest. In the final week, your job is to show up. Let your vendors take it from here. Trust the planning you’ve done, trust the team you’ve built, and trust that you are going to have the most incredible day.
One Last Thing Before Your Big Day, Refer to Your Wedding Planning Checklist
Planning a wedding is one of the most creative, logistical, emotional, and love-filled projects you’ll ever take on. There will be moments where it feels like too much, and moments where it feels exactly like enough.
The goal of this wedding planning checklist isn’t perfection. It’s presence. Because at the end of the day, what you’ll remember most isn’t whether the centerpieces were exactly right or whether dinner ran seven minutes late. You’ll remember how it felt. You’ll remember looking across the room at your person and thinking, we actually did this.
And those moments? Those are worth every spreadsheet, every vendor email, and every decision that led you here.
If you’re newly engaged and starting to think about wedding photography in Southern California, I’d love to be part of your planning process. Reach out to start a conversation. I’d be happy to answer questions, talk through your vision, and help you figure out what you actually need from your wedding photos.
