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Planning a wedding can be a lot of work. There are so many vendors to coordinate, items to consider and decisions to make. To help make the process a little easier, I’ve come up with a timeline for planning your wedding. This list of items is broken down by month so you can tackle the tasks in smaller segments.

And because I don’t want to completely overwhelm anyone that is newly engaged, I’m breaking this planning timeline into two posts. Today’s post will cover from around a year up to four months before the wedding. And tomorrow I’ll share a list of to-dos from month four right up until the big day!

timeline for planning your wedding

9-12 months

  • Choose your wedding date
  • Hire a wedding coordinator
  • Determine the kind of wedding you want including the type of location, theme, colors, how many guests, whether it will be formal or more casual
  • Set a budget and determine who will pay for what expenses
  • Book your ceremony and reception venues
  • Hire a wedding photographer
  • Schedule your engagement session
  • Order your wedding dress
  • Secure passports, visas, birth certificates, and any other documents you need for travel (for a destination wedding or the honeymoon) and/or marriage licenses

6-9 months

  • Choose your wedding party
  • Choose wedding party attire
  • Hire a caterer
  • Hire an officiant (if needed)
  • Hire ceremony musicians
  • Hire a band, DJ, or both if needed, for the reception
  • Hire a  videographer
  • Hire a florist
  • Create a wedding registry

4-6 months

  • Send Save the Date cards (if you plan to do so)
  • Schedule fittings for your wedding dress and bridesmaids gowns
  • Arrange marriage prep courses, if necessary
  • Reserve rental items
  • Hire a decorator
  • Finalize your guest list
  • Select & order invitations & other wedding stationery
  • Set date, time & location for rehearsal dinner
  • Make arrangements for out-of-town guests
  • Start planning your honeymoon
  • Shop for your wedding gifts to each other
  • Shop for your wedding gifts for your wedding party
  • Shop for your wedding gifts for your parents
  • Buy wedding bands

These timeline suggestions have been pulled together from a variety of wedding sources, plus our own personal experience. Each wedding is different and will vary.

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I’ve held off sharing these festive family photographs until after the holidays as not to ruin any Christmas surprises. And sadly, now that December 25th has passed, it’s time to post them. The purpose of this year’s quick Christmas minis was to give clients a Christmas card worthy photo that also represented Southern Maryland. And I couldn’t think of anything that did that better than a red rustic barn!

Southern Maryland Christmas

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It’s The Bride’s Choice today! When I asked Laura to share her favorite image from her Swan Point wedding, she chose this one from the ceremony.

Here’s what she had to say about the photograph: “I love this photo because it captures all of the true emotion of the day — I said “I do” too early, and then started laughing as soon as I realized what had just happened!  This photo is a great memory of all of the happiness and excitement of our wedding day, and of course the laughter that we always share together.”

To see more photos from Laura and Dave’s wedding, view their full blog post here.

swan point

(Note: I’ve paired Laura’s favorite image with a pretty detail shot to make it a horizontal image for the blog.)

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I wrote and shared the article below on how to choose a wedding photographer earlier this year. Now that we’ve officially entered engagement season, I thought it would be helpful to revisit this topic for all the newly engaged brides-to-be!

Choosing a wedding photographer

Choosing a wedding photographer can be a difficult task! There are no do overs when it comes to your big day and the pictures so how can you ensure you pick the right person? A lot of times we’ll rely on our gut instinct and we’ll know immediately whether we like someone on a personal level. This is a great start for choosing your photographer. They’re going to be by your side for an entire day that just so happens to be one of the biggest of your life. Add to that the consultations, engagement session, and album design process, and you’re now talking about a relationship that could span up to two years. So trust your gut and if you like someone, they’re definitely worth considering!

But liking the person isn’t enough. You’ve also got to love their work. If you view their images and find yourself oohing and ahhing over each one, that’s a good sign. It’s even better if you can envision yourself in the photos. On the other hand, if you find yourself saying something like, “I like this image, but I’d change this…” then that’s a sign that you might not be a good fit for one another. Trust me when I say that you want to find someone whose style matches your own. It doesn’t really work to hire someone and ask them to change the way they shoot. You’ll both end up disappointed in the end.

As you’re reviewing someone’s work, ask to view an entire wedding that they have photographed. Portfolios and web sites are going to include only the best images. But to get a true picture (no pun intended!) of what your wedding day photos will look like, you’ll want to look at a wedding day from start to finish. Ask to see a wedding at your venue if they have one, or one that is similar. If you’re having your ceremony in a dimly lit church, then looking at photos from an outdoor ceremony isn’t going to be helpful. Look for consistent, well exposed images throughout the day.

If you’ve found someone that meets these criteria, you can feel confident in your decision to work with them and know that together you’ll create beautiful images!

choosing a wedding photographer

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