I want to preface this by saying this engagement timeline can be adjusted to whatever fits your needs. If you wanted to have a wedding in 3 months, you can make that happen too, I am just going to talk about the average engagement length and what that looks like on a schedule.
so you just got engaged! Yay! time to celebrate with friends and families! Once you are ready to start planning, most couples are engaged on average for 1-2 years before their wedding happens. In that year to two years, you may be wondering when you should be doing XYZ (again these are just based on averages, you can totally do things on your timeline as well)!
typically 1-2 years out the following vendors start booking up:
Venues
Photographers
Videographers
Planners
Usually about 6 months to a year out you should start booking your:
Caterer
Florals
Desserts
Rentals
DJs
and any other vendors you want
If you are having speciality wedding outfits, I recommend starting to look at those about a year out. I don't recommend longer than this because bodies and opinions change- so if you are having a longer engagement, hold off on this one until you need to!
About 12-14 months out from your wedding date, start thinking and scheduling engagement photos if you want them and want to use them for save the dates.
Save the dates are usually mailed out about 10 months from the wedding. This gives guests a heads up- especially if they need to purchase flight/accommodations.
Usually invitations go out 3-4 months from your wedding date, with a month to a month and a half as the RSVP deadline. This gives you venue a month (which some require) to give them a headcount and gives you time to contact the RSVPs you did not receive back (and yes there will be some).
My rule of thumb is almost everything should be done a month before you wedding. This gives you enough time to make adjustments if you need, but also time to breathe before the big day.
Keep in mind, these are just averages, and what works for one person may not work for others, so take all of this with a grain of salt and utilize what you need and toss what you don't ;)
