Planning the Wedding: Free Printable Wedding Planner

Planning is the key to a success. There are those who say, “to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail” and never was a truer word spoken when it comes to planning a wedding.  I’m a huge advocate of planning – it’s the most sensible approach to organizing such a big, important occasion. And, not forgetting, there is a very good reason why most betrothed couples take on average 12-18 months planning their Big Day: There is A LOT to consider.

So, for my own wedding, I decided to approach it much like I did my GCSE exams I sat for when I was 16 – by creating a visual wall chart which helped me tackle things in bite-sized pieces. There are loads of lists out there; vast, exhaustive lists of what you need to do 12 months before, 9 months before, and the last week of your engagement.  But nothing really worked for my brain – I’m very visual and get great satisfaction from seeing physical proof of my progress. This chart was color-coordinated and had lots of blanks for me to fill in along the journey. And the best part of the chart was that I was never overwhelmed with what I still hadn’t organized. Bite sized pieces = Simple.

So, to make this a little more suitable for a broader range of weddings, I have customized my Personal Planning Chart and adapted it for you to download and print: Wedding-Planner-18-to-12-months-before_Layout-1 (Free Template!)

It prints onto four pages, which you can either store away neatly in your wedding file, or you can pin it up on your wall for a more hands-on approach like I did. It is by no means exhaustive as I wanted it to be suitable for small or large weddings, but covers the important elements which most brides and grooms will find helpful. Pin bits to it, sketch out ideas, and add photos for inspiration – it makes for a great keepsake too!