We all know that the beginning stages of wedding planning can be overwhelming, that’s a fact. There are many things to consider -- dress, venue, budget, bridal party, and the multiple wedding-related events and activities leading up to the big day. Our advice? Take a step back, take a deep breath, and plan your wedding schedule out; from appointments to the rehearsal dinner and everything in between.

Many people enjoy seeing plans laid out visually, in a chart, graphic, or even written list/ schedule. We’ll call it your “wedding rundown.” A special planner/ organization notebook only for your wedding may be a helpful tool for this process. Perhaps you’d like to color code or artificially embellish your wedding rundown to make it more visually appealing and easier to understand. If it helps you to physically see the events that are coming up, we advise that you create some sort of visual layout of your wedding activities, from start to finish. Do you anticipate venue hunting first? Write that on your wedding rundown. Have you made an appointment at a wedding dress boutique or tux shop? Add that to the list. Wedding cake testing? Yep, throw it on there.

Any wedding-related detail, no matter how small, should be added to your organized schedule in order to plan around appointments and check things off your to-do list. Of course, your engagement party, rehearsal dinner, bachelor/ bachelorette party, and any other major wedding event are important to add to the calendar, as well. These larger events may take some coordination with your wedding party, family members, and closest loved ones; so be sure to plan ahead. After all, they’re also adding your wedding rundown to their schedule, and specific dates need to be nailed down by all parties before adding to the list. This will eliminate the need to move appointments around and re-coordinate later. If it helps you to segment off activities, plan on a monthly basis. According to Brides.com, having a monthly timeline helps narrow down to-do action items.

Once you write each planned wedding-related event on your wedding rundown, you’ll have a better idea of which things on your to-do list still need to be scheduled. Everyone can agree that nothing feels better than checking things off a to-do list, especially when it’s something as important as planning your special wedding day. For example, reading through your wedding rundown of appointments and events may highlight the fact that you haven’t set up a cake testing yet, or a follow-up try-on appointment for your bridesmaids' dresses. This is why creating a schedule is so important, because now you’re able to pencil these in on a date when there are no planned activities.

No matter how tedious it may be, creating your wedding schedule piece-by-piece in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand way will only help you along in your scheduling process. This is a great beginning step to wedding planning and will make you feel accomplished and productive as you check off appointments and happenings.

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