Wedding Planning Checklist for Australian Couples, Month by Month

We pieced this list together while helping our sister plan her wedding. The order matters more than the exact month: a venue and a date unlock almost every other decision.

The checklist at a glance

When	What to do
12+ months	Agree a budget and who's chipping in. Rough guest list. Pick a season and two or three possible dates. Visit venues and book one.
10–12 months	Meet celebrants and book one (how to choose). Book your photographer (and videographer if you want one). Ask your wedding party.
9–10 months	Send save the dates. Set up your wedding website. Hold a block of rooms if guests are travelling.
8–9 months	Book caterer (if separate from the venue), band or DJ. Start dress shopping.
6–8 months	Book florist, hair and makeup, cake. Order outfits for the wedding party. Add travel and accommodation details to your website.
6 months	Ask your celebrant about your Notice of Intended Marriage: when it's due and what to bring. Book transport, hire and styling. Order wedding bands.
4–5 months	Book honeymoon and wedding-night accommodation. Lock in the guest list. Plan the ceremony with your celebrant. Hair and makeup trials.
3 months	Send invitations. Choose an MC. Order signage, menus and place cards.
2 months	Write vows. Draft the running order of the day. Hen's and buck's parties usually land around here.
4–6 weeks	RSVP deadline. Chase the stragglers. Final numbers and dietaries to the caterer.
2–4 weeks	Seating plan. Final dress fitting. Confirm arrival times with every supplier. Check your paperwork is all in order with your celebrant.
Week of	Send final details to guests. Pay any balances due. Drop off place cards, signs and the seating chart at the venue.
Week after	Return hire items. Start thank-you cards. Order your official marriage certificate from your state or territory's Births, Deaths and Marriages registry if you're changing your name.

To keep a copy, print this page or paste the table into a spreadsheet and add a column for who's doing each job.

12 months or more: the decisions that set everything else

Budget before venue. Sit down together, and with anyone contributing, and agree a total before you look at a single venue. Our guide to making a wedding budget walks through it, and the average wedding cost in Australia shows what each category costs. Venues usually take the biggest single share of the money, so knowing your ceiling stops you falling for a place you can't afford.

Guest list, roughly. You don't need names yet, just a number. Fifty guests and 150 guests need very different venues.

Season and date. In the southern states, spring and autumn Saturdays go first. In the tropical north, the dry season (roughly May to October) is peak time and the wet season brings storms and humidity. Summer down south is lovely but hot, and an outdoor ceremony in January needs shade, water and a wet-weather or extreme-heat plan. Check school holidays and long weekends in your state and your guests' states before you commit: they push up accommodation prices and some guests will already have plans.

Venue. Once you've booked it, you have a date. Everything else hangs off that.

10–12 months: celebrant and photographer

Good celebrants and photographers are booked by the date, so the popular ones go early for spring Saturdays. Meet two or three celebrants before choosing. You're looking for someone who listens, and who explains the legal side clearly.

This is also the time to ask your wedding party. People like to know early, especially if they're paying for outfits or travelling.

9–10 months: save the dates

Send save the dates once your date and venue are locked in, and only to people you're certain to invite. Interstate guests and anyone flying in from overseas will thank you for the warning. Our guide on when to send invitations and save the dates has the full timeline, including how slower Australia Post letter delivery affects posted cards.

Set up your wedding website at the same time, even if it only has the date and town on it. Guests will look for it.

6–8 months: the second round of bookings

Florist, hair and makeup, cake, transport and hire. These suppliers can take more bookings per day than a photographer, so there's a bit more room, but don't leave them past six months for a peak-season date.

Your NOIM. Around six months out, or the day you book your celebrant if that's sooner, ask them about your Notice of Intended Marriage. The Marriage Act sets an earliest and a latest date for your celebrant to receive it, counted back from the wedding. Ask your celebrant for your dates and which documents they need to see, then put the due date in your calendar.

3–5 months: guests and invitations

Lock the guest list before invitations go out. Changes after that get awkward. Send invitations about 8–12 weeks before the day, or 3–4 months for a destination wedding. Our invitation wording guide has examples to copy, including wishing well and adults-only lines.

Choose an MC now too. A good one keeps speeches to time and makes announcements so you don't have to.

The last six weeks

This is when the checklist gets dense.

• RSVP deadline (4–6 weeks out). Set it a couple of weeks before your caterer's final-numbers date. Ask your caterer when they need numbers, then count back.
• Chase late replies. A short, friendly message a few days after the deadline catches most of them.
• Seating plan (2–4 weeks out). You can't do it until RSVPs are in.
• Supplier run sheet. Send every supplier the address, arrival time, a contact on the day and the timings that affect them.
• Paperwork. Check with your celebrant that everything is in order for the legal side.

The week after

Return hire items, settle anything still owing and start your thank-you notes while you remember who gave what. Your celebrant registers the marriage with your state or territory's Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, and you order the official certificate from that registry. If you're changing your name, you'll need it before you can update most of your ID.

Only six months? Here's the shortcut

Six months is plenty for a wedding. You just do things in a different order and accept a bit less choice.

Week	Do this
Week 1	Agree budget and rough guest numbers. Shortlist venues with your date free.
Weeks 2–3	Book venue, celebrant and photographer in the same fortnight. Ask your celebrant about your NOIM straight away.
Week 4	Send save the dates (or skip them and send invitations early). Put up your wedding website.
Months 2–3	Book caterer, music, florist, hair and makeup. Buy your outfit. Many dresses take months to order, so look at off-the-rack and sample sales.
Month 3–4	Send invitations. Order rings. Plan the ceremony.
Last 6 weeks	Same as the full plan above.

Shortcuts that help:

• Be flexible on the day, not the season. A Friday or Sunday at a popular venue often has gaps that Saturdays don't.
• Pick a venue that does the catering. One booking instead of two, and the venue coordinator often knows the local florists and hire companies.
• Skip printed invitations. Online invitations arrive the same day and replies come straight back.
• Raise the NOIM on day one. It's the one deadline you can't move by paying more.

Common mistakes

• Booking suppliers before the venue. Your photographer is no use if your date changes.
• Forgetting the guest count drives cost. Every extra guest adds catering, drinks, a chair and a bigger venue. Settle the number early.
• No wet-weather plan. Australian weather can turn quickly in any season. Know where the ceremony moves to if it rains or hits 40 degrees.
• Leaving dietaries to the last minute. Ask on the RSVP, not the week before.

Your checklist, counted back from your date

Add your wedding date to Online Wedding Invitation and you get this checklist with every task dated for your wedding, including the reminder to ask your celebrant about your NOIM. It's free, and it squeezes the plan to fit if you have less time.

Create your free checklist

Quick questions

What should we book first?

The venue, then the celebrant and photographer. The venue gives you the date, and good celebrants and photographers book out by date, especially for spring and autumn Saturdays.

When do we lodge the NOIM?

Ask your celebrant the day you book them. The Marriage Act sets an earliest and a latest date for them to receive it, and they will give you both for your wedding.

Can we plan a wedding in six months?

Yes. Book venue, celebrant and photographer in the same fortnight, raise the NOIM with your celebrant straight away, and be flexible on the day of the week rather than the season.