Planning weddings is serious business! There are a lot of moving parts that go into making your wedding day the event of your dreams, and the best way to ensure a positive planning experience is to stay organized! If it is an option, I highly recommend involving a wedding planner when preparing for a once in a lifetime event like a wedding, mostly because they bring a ton of experience to the table and can help with everything from keeping your budget intact to helping you stay on track with your planning timeline.

Regardless, knowing when to take care of certain important elements of your day is a key factor in keeping everything on track and (relatively) stress free. Here's a checklist with many of the major wedding planning tasks to give you an idea of ideal times to handle your business -- from booking vendors, to finalizing details.