Free Wedding Checklist Planner

This free wedding checklist will help you stick to your low budget wedding planning, no matter who's paying for what parts of the event or how big or small your wedding will be. You can't wait until the last minute to book everything and buy everything or you will spend thousands of dollars but if you start early and you have some cheap wedding ideas in mind, this checklist will help you get what you want when you need it.

The best cheap wedding plans pan out when couples start their planning early enough and use a free wedding checklist planner which are available on many wedding websites. You'll be able to get the best deals and maybe even have the time to do some of the projects yourself for ultimate savings. But using a free wedding checklist planner will definitely help you keep things in order and know when to do what, like when to order wedding favors or when to book your venues.

The online free wedding checklist planner software at EZWeddingPlanner.com is my favorite. It's what my daughter and I used to both keep within our budgets and timelines.

If you're more comfortable with a printable free wedding checklist planner that you can keep on hand with you, check out the Printable Wedding Planner website. Use their free wedding plan checklist and really enjoy planning your wedding every step by ticking off your to-do items one at a time as you move closer to the exciting day.

So what makes up a free wedding checklist planner? Below is a general outline of a wedding checklist that basically shows what things you need to book ahead of time versus things that can wait until a couple of months before the wedding. And the earlier you can start your wedding planning, the most money you can save and the more headaches you can avoid. you'll get the most use out of it and save the most money.

Keeping this in mind helps to make the planning easier and keeps you on track, especially when you've started planning early enough to allow yourself some breathing room.

Different wedding planners will have different schedules, but it's best to start your own wedding plan checklist at least nine months to a year before your wedding date (preferably longer if you can do it). This is a general outline of what a free wedding checklist for low budget weddings should include:

Setting the date for your wedding. This is probably of the most important decisions you'll make, even more important than where you'll have the event and what dress you'll wear. A lot rides on what date you pick for your wedding, not the least of which is how much money you can save depending on what date you choose.
Put together a tentative guest list. This will most likely change as you get closer to mailing out your invitations, but it will give you a good starting point for deciding how large of a venue you'll need and about how many people you'll be feeding.
Book your venue. Depending on where you're having your ceremony and/or reception, venue sites tend to book very, very early, sometimes up to two years in advance. So make this your top priority. This includes both ceremony and reception locations, unless you're having both at the same location.

My Wedding Reception Planning
A guide to help you with your wedding and wedding reception planning. This site not only provides information, tips and advice to plan your wedding and reception but also requests audience participation with surveys and special invitations to voice opinions and bridal plans and problems.
Book your music. Again, live bands and disc jockeys often book their dates up to two years in advance as well. If you want to all but guarantee you get who you want, put this second on your wedding checklist.
Book your photographer. If you're going to contract a professional photographer, this must be booked early on too. Just like with a band or DJ, photography services book very early for weddings.
Think about your reception menu. Start doing a price comparison to decide on how to cater your reception.
Decide on a theme. Your theme will determine just about everything else on your list from your wedding favors and decorations to your bridal party gowns and reception decor.
Start thinking about your wedding favors. Don't let this be one of the things you cut in order to cut costs. If you plan early enough, you can save money here and still give your guests thoughtful Thank You favors to take home.
Plan your wedding invitation package. This includes your Save the Date cards, invitations, ceremony programs and thank you notes after the ceremony. If you plan early enough, you can save a lot of money even with a large guest list and still make your invitations say "You're important," to your invited guests.
Decide on your wedding ceremony and reception flowers. Real or silk will determine how far in advance you can get your flowers but you should start comparing prices early.
Select a bridal bouquet design for yourself and your bridesmaids. with the wide range of flowers, colors and designs, you can choose simple or elaborate, fresh or artificial for your bouquets.
Decide on a wedding cake. The type of cake you want will determine how far in advance you need to order it and where you'll order it from.
Start shopping for your bridal party attire. Will they be casual, formal; gowns or tea length dresses? Start getting some ideas early so you're ready for when you need to purchase them.
Start looking at shoes. If you already have a gown in mind, you may be able to get the shoes first. Otherwise, just get an idea for now and do the actual shopping and purchasing later.
Start shopping for your wedding gown. The earlier you can do this, the less stress you'll be under later to find the right one. You also want to have some breathing room for alterations should you need any.
Get registered with a gift registry. Make sure you do this early enough so that just in case someone gives you a bridal shower, the guests will have some good ideas for gifts.

Shop for Bridal Party Gifts. Many couples can have a hard time trying to come up with bridal party gift ideas, especially if they're on a budget, so don't leave this task until the last minute.

Rehearsal Dinner Ideas. You can actually plan the rehearsal dinner just a couple of weeks beforehand, depending on how many people you're inviting and where you're having the dinner. But even if you need to make reservations, you should only need to do this a couple of days in advance.

Wedding Car Rental - Planning Your Transportation to the Wedding. There are a few considerations to making a grand Cinderella-like entrance to the ball without spending a fortune doing it. Learn how to stay on budget and still arrive in grand entrance style.

Again, this is a general free wedding checklist planner that you can tailor to your specific needs depending on the size and formality of the event, how many attendants will be in the ceremony, size of the guest list, etc.

If at all possible, you should set your wedding date for at least 6 to 12 months away so you give yourself plenty of time for the details. Keep in mind that if you plan to book a popular reception venue, a DJ or caterer, some of these vendors book up to two years in advance so if you really want them, you may actually have to change your wedding date and if they tend to be expensive, you're going to need some cheap wedding ideas to help you save costs in other areas so you can get the venue you want.

If you're planning a military wedding, you'll have additional considerations and things to add to your wedding plan checklist. So stop by our Military Weddings page for important tips and resources.

Planning a Destination wedding? Then you have some other items to add to your free wedding checklist planner also. Read our article about different destination wedding packages and how to find what's right for you.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the planning or not sure you have enough time even with a free wedding checklist? Read about hiring a personal wedding planner or certified consultant to take the stress out of the planning process.