Depending on how long you have until your wedding, planning a wedding can be a long, leisurely process, or a chaotic, stressful process. One of the things that I used to tell my brides when they had a little while until their weddings was that everything was going to be like roller coaster. There would be times when they would have lots of things to do and decisions to make, and then there would be lulls when nothing really had to be done. Having over a year before my own wedding date, this was something that I myself didn’t quite understand, and so as a result, I was constantly stalking my email inbox, feeling like I was forgetting something. In reality, there just wasn’t anything that needed to be done- but I drove myself crazy!

Well, this “roller coaster” of wedding planning usually ends up presenting as three “phases” of wedding planning- Just Engaged, Planning The Details, and Almost Down The Aisle. If you’ve browsed ELD at all, you may have noticed that I’ve divided all of the tips and advice here on Every Last Detail into these three phases. But recently I realized that I haven’t actually explained any of those phases yet. So I thought today would be the perfect time to go over the three phases of wedding planning! [Plus, you can think of this as a sort of “guide” to the Tips & Advice page here on ELD- since it’s based around the three phases!]

Phase 1: Just Engaged

 The “Just Engaged” phase is quite self-explanatory. This phase consists of everything that you need to do when you are just starting off in planning your wedding. This includes establishing a budget, finding and booking vendors, and starting your wedding dress search. It’s also a great time to educate yourself about weddings in general, since there are all kinds of things that you might not already know. After all, you’ve never planned a wedding before!

Phase 2: Planning The Details

 The “Planning The Details” phase is of course my favorite time. This is when it’s time to get into the design, decor, and details of your wedding. From florals and design, to invitations and reception seating, planning the inner workings of your wedding will happen during this phase.

Phase 3: Almost Down The Aisle

The final phase, “Almost Down The Aisle“, is really quite important. This is when you have to make sure you have all your ducks in a row so you can have a successful wedding day! There are certain things that need to be done in the months before your wedding day, the weeks before, and even a few days before! Usually these are things that can’t be done way ahead of time- like confirming guest counts, assigned seats, and the day’s timeline.

As you can see, these three phases are really quite simple, but they’re also helpful to keep in mind throughout your planning. Hopefully when you break up your wedding To Do’s into these three phases, they won’t seem quite so daunting and things will be a little less stressful.

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I want to hear from all of you now! When is your wedding, and what “phase” of wedding planning are you in?