Long engagements seem to be out of favor, according to most popular wedding checklists.

Sure, some might have a to-do list that starts around the 1-year-out mark, but it’s mostly dreaming and broad sweeps at that point. But when you reach 9 months? Then things start to get interesting!

Just to catch us up, here’s what those in know say should be done before the end of the 9-month mark (paraphrased from Real Simple):

• Get your tear-file ready: a binder, folder, or other place to keep magazine pages, brochures, and vendor info you collect along the way. A folder on your computer or special boards on Pinterest will also do just nicely. (definitely done)
• Budget: construct one. Figure out who’s paying what and how much you/they can afford. (also done)
• Decide on your attendants. (pretty easy: we’re not having any; done!)
• Guest List: have one. (we’ve got a working list–could use some firming up–and it’s under our max occupancy at the Plantation, so we’re good there)
• Hire a wedding planner/DOC. (came with the venue; done!)
• Pick your date. (oh, we’re definitely done, there!)
• Book the venue. (done!)
• Book the officiant. (done–but I haven’t told you about that, yet)
• Research other vendors–florals, food, music, and photo (not only researched, but 2 of the 4 booked and the other 2 not needed!)
• Host an engagement party. (we opted out of this one; so lets consider it done, too!)

Hey, we’re in pretty good shape!

Of course, on our personal to-do list, there are plenty of things that do need working on. No matter how complete a published planner may try to be, the author has to write for as general a base as possible. Smaller weddings may not need as many of the bells and whistles that some larger ones do, and DIY weddings will have a lot more items to check off.

Without being too specific to our own list, here are some examples of items that might be on the DIY to-do list, up through the 9-month mark:

• Collect items for centerpieces–be it wine bottles, milk glass, vintage books, mercury glass, little animal figures, or even Lego kits. You may not know exactly how many tables you need for centerpieces just yet, so err on the side of too many unless your materials are extremely costly.
• Making paper flowers? Start yesterday. One of the big benefits of faux flowers–paper, fabric, clay, or anything else–is that they won’t wilt if you start them early, and even the potential hassle of storing the delicate items is worth not stressing out the closer you get to the wedding.
• Start researching ceremony options if you’re writing your own or personalizing a more traditional ceremony to suit your needs.
• Going the iPod (Spotify, etc.) DJ route? Start pulling together your play list, seeking out and purchasing or ripping digital copies of the songs you’ll need. And don’t forget a getting ready playlist while you’re at it! Also, look into renting any speakers you might need, depending on the space you’ve got to broadcast to.
• Artists, start sketching your ideas for your paper goods–it’s coming up on time to send out save the dates and you don’t want to have to rush.
• Now is a good time to start putting together your wedding website if you want one. There are plenty of free templates available on the big wedding planning sites, or you could get a free site from wordpress.com or blogger.com

All of the above items are in-progress for us, but not yet settled. I suppose, since the traditional to-dos are taken care of, we might as well concentrate on those for the next month.

 

How’s your planning coming along?
Anything I’ve forgotten at this stage?

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And with that we’re back to our usual blogging schedule. Actually, better than usual if I manage to keep up with the schedule I’ve set for myself! The closer we get to The Day the more things I’ll have to talk about! Thank you for your patience while I was “away from keyboard” this last month–I managed to get quite a few back-end tasks off my to-do list and even spruce up TTB a bit in the process.