Wedding checklist

How to use it

Most wedding checklists tell you what to do and leave you to guess when. This one works backwards from your date. Every task sits in a group, from twelve months out to the month after, and each group is dated from your wedding day. Put your date in and you can see at a glance what's already late, what's due this week and what can wait.

1. Enter your wedding date. Type or pick the date. Every task gets a due date straight away, and each group shows the date it starts from. No date yet? The list still works, and the dates appear when you add one.
2. See what's already late. Choose Overdue to see only the tasks whose date has passed. On a short timeline this is the list to work through first, oldest first.
3. Tick off what's done. Tick anything you've already sorted. Done tasks stay where they are, struck through, so you can still see the shape of the plan.
4. Add your own tasks. Add the things only your wedding has to any group. In a timed group they get that group's date. Rename or delete them, and change any date that doesn't suit you.
5. Print it or keep it. Print a clean copy with tick boxes and dates for the fridge, or keep it safe in a free Linenfold account and carry on planning there.

How the dates work

Each group is due at its latest sensible point. Tasks in “12+ months before” are due twelve months before the wedding, “6-7 months before” seven months before, and so on down to two weeks, one week and the night before. “After the Wedding” is due a month after, which leaves room for a honeymoon before the thank-you notes.

The Legal Checklist works differently: each step has its own date. You check the requirements three months out, gather documents at two, apply for the license a month before, bring it and sign it on the day, and order certificates and update your name in the months after. Things to Buy and Others have no automatic date, so they never nag.

A date you set yourself stays put when your wedding date moves; every other task moves with the wedding. A date that has already passed is never quietly pushed forward. It shows as overdue, so you decide whether it still matters.

What happens when you save

Your checklist is kept in this browser, so it's still here when you come back on the same device. Nothing is sent anywhere until you choose to keep it. When you create a free account, your wedding date, your ticks, the tasks you added and the dates you changed come with you. In Linenfold the same list becomes your task list: share the tasks between the two of you, add notes, and see what's due next on your dashboard. The free plan also has a budget calculator and a seating chart maker; see pricing for what Complete adds.

Questions couples ask

How far ahead should we start?

Twelve months or more is comfortable. The first group is the venue, the budget and the people who book up first, like photographers and caterers. Plenty of couples plan in less, and the list works the same way.

We have less than six months. Is it too late?

No. Enter your date, choose Overdue and work through the late tasks oldest first. Many of them, like engagement photos or save the dates, can be skipped or folded into the invitations.

Why does “Apply for marriage license” appear twice?

Once in “1 month before”, where it fits the planning, and once in the Legal Checklist, with the other paperwork steps. They're separate on purpose; tick the one you use.

Can I change a date?

Yes. Choose the date next to a task and pick a new one. It stays as you set it, even if your wedding date changes. “Use the automatic date” puts it back.

Is my checklist private?

Yes. It's kept in your own browser and isn't sent to us or anyone else unless you keep it in an account.

Do I need an account?

No. The checklist works without one. An account keeps it on every device and lets you plan it together.

What's in the free account?

The task list, budget, headcount what-if and seating chart, free forever. Complete is US$99 once, not monthly; the pricing page lists what it adds.

Want the rest of the toolkit? Browse the free wedding planning tools.