Tackle your wedding as if it were a project for work

Congratulations! You've set a wedding date, and soon you will be married. Between the romance and the ritual, however, you must survive a challenge: planning your wedding.

Pulling together a wedding celebration can be a stressful task. But it doesn't have to be.

Planning for the perfect wedding starts with the bride and groom summoning up a clear image of the wedding they want before they take a single step. Before rushing out to book a hall, order hors d'oeuvres and ice down the champagne, sit back and dream a bit. Who are you and your fiancé? Who, and what, is important to you? Take the time to define your ideal wedding.

When you've decided on the overall tone for your special day, it's time to get down to business. Women who tackle wedding planning as if it were a work-related project tend to survive the process with greater ease.

Think of yourself as a project manager. Establish an overall framework for completing the work, and set specific intermediate deadlines, schedules and goals.

Here is a suggested timetable for the steps you should take in the months leading up to your wedding.
 
9 months before your wedding

• Choose your wedding date. If you plan to be married in a church or temple, clear the date and time with your clergy.
• Announce your engagement in local newspapers.
• Set your budget. Take time for a talk with your fiancé about the budget and style of your wedding, reception and parties, and who pays for what. Consider hiring a bridal consultant. If your budget won't stretch that far, enlist relatives and friends to assist in specific tasks.
• Compose your guest list. Let out-of-town guests know your wedding is in the works so they can make travel plans.
• Reserve your reception site.
• Choose your attendants.
• Select your wedding gown and accessories.
• Decide on bridesmaids' dresses.
• Determine the theme or mood you'd like to establish with the food, table settings, flowers and entertainment.
• Interview caterers, musicians, florists, photographers, videographers and cake makers. Get written estimates of their costs. Keep track of discussions and bids in a notebook or with wedding-planning software.

6 months before your wedding

• Choose your caterer. Remember to get a written contract.
• Choose your musician(s).
• Book your photographer and/or videographer.
• Select your baker and order the cake.
• Choose your florist.
• Decide on your color scheme.
• Shop for wedding rings.
• Decide on your honeymoon destination. Work with a travel agent to book your travel accommodations.
• Select your wedding invitations. Don't forget to purchase personal stationery for the thank-you notes.

4 months before your wedding

• Register for gifts.
• Help both mothers to coordinate and shop for their wedding-day attire.
• Select music.
• Choose readings for your wedding and write your vows.
• Plan a rehearsal dinner and reserve the location.
• Arrange hotel accommodations for wedding party members who live out of town. Reserve a block of rooms for other out-of-town guests.
• Reserve your transportation.
• Make appointments for gown fittings.
• Check the requirements for a marriage license.
• Make sure contracts are complete with all of the service providers.

3 months before your wedding

• Carefully prepare directions to help guide guests to the wedding and reception, and to hotels.
• Begin addressing invitations and announcements.
• Give the caterer a close idea of the number of guests you expect.
• Make sure all reservations are in place for honeymoon travel.
• Check with bridesmaids to make sure they have their gowns.
• Shop for gifts for your bridesmaids.
• Select your "going away" outfit.
• Make a date with your photographer for any formal portraits.
• Make an appointment to have your hair done just before your portrait session and again the day or so before your wedding.

2 months before your wedding

• Mail out your wedding invitations and announcements.
• Have wedding portraits taken.
• Send bridal portrait and wedding announcement to newspapers.
• Finalize the music that will be played during your ceremony.
• Plan your rehearsal dinner and a brunch for out-of-town guests on the day following your wedding.
• Purchase special accessories for your wedding-day attire.
• Plan a luncheon for bridesmaids.
• Make appointments for a hairdresser, makeup artist and manicurist.
• Finalize honeymoon plans.
• Gather necessary birth or baptismal certificates you may need for your wedding license.

1 month before your wedding

• Get your wedding license.
• Have a final fitting of the gown; be sure the attendants have theirs.
• Check that your menu selections and service plans are locked in place.
• Purchase a special book to keep track of wedding gifts as they arrive.
• Keep writing those thank-you notes on a daily basis!
• If you plan a formal dinner for your reception, it's time to draw up a seating plan.
• Check with your florist to confirm dates and times of deliveries.
• Review your wedding-day transportation plans and make sure drivers are clear about addresses, times and number of passengers.
• Meet with your photographer to specify the formal shots you want taken of the bridal party.
• Review the video plans with your videographer.

2 weeks before your wedding

• Keep writing those thank-you notes for wedding gifts!
• Pick up your wedding rings.

1 week before your wedding

• Make final checks with all your vendors.
• Ask a friend or family member to arrange for wedding gifts that may be brought to your reception to be delivered to your home.
• Wrap gifts for bridal attendants and have them ready for the rehearsal dinner.
• Purchase travelers' checks and reconfirm honeymoon travel and hotel plans.
• See that checks are written and ready to be handed out to vendors.
• Inform your caterer of the final number of guests.

The day before your wedding

• Take time to relax and enjoy a massage, manicure and pedicure.
• Traditionally, this is the day for your rehearsal ceremony and rehearsal dinner. Have fun!

Your wedding day

• Allow plenty of time for dressing, makeup and hair styling.
• Relax, and remember: Take a deep breath. Refuse to let any glitch get to you. Savor every moment of this day.

Best wishes!