Wedding Vendor Checklist: Who to Book and When

Book the vendors who need your date and place first, then the ones who fill up early, then everyone else. Start with the venue and officiant a year or more out. Book the caterer, photographer, florist and music nine to twelve months out. Book hair and makeup, rentals, cake, transport and stationery between eight and three months before. Write down every deposit and balance with its due date, and plan the tips before the last week.

Step 1: Book the venue and officiant first

Every vendor asks the same two questions. What is the date, and where is it? You can't answer either until the venue is booked. So the venue comes first, a year or more out if you want a popular Saturday.

The officiant comes next. The Emily Post Institute's one to two year planning list puts "Meet with your officiant or clergy member" alongside choosing your ceremony and reception locations. The same list says to decide whether to hire a wedding consultant. Make that call now. A planner helps you choose every vendor after this one.

Ask the venue three things before you sign. What is included, such as tables, chairs or in-house catering? Which vendors are required or not allowed? When does the event have to end? The answers decide which rows of your checklist you still need.

Step 2: Book the caterer, photographer, florist and music (12 to 9 months)

Caterers, photographers, florists and musicians work one wedding a day, so popular dates go fast. Emily Post's one to two year list says to "Interview and book wedding professionals, including the caterer, florist, photographer, and musicians." Its 9 to 12 month list follows with "Finish hiring wedding professionals. Sign contracts for services."

Book in the order the date matters most to each one. The caterer needs your venue and a rough head count. The photographer only needs the date, but good ones book early. A florist can wait a little longer if your date isn't in peak season. For music, decide between a band and a DJ before you call, since the prices differ.

Ask each one for a tasting, a full gallery or a sample playlist before you sign. A highlight reel only shows the best day of the year.

Step 3: Finish your wedding vendor checklist (8 to 3 months)

The middle months fill in the details. Book these once the venue, food and photos are settled.

Skip any row you don't need. A courthouse ceremony with dinner at a restaurant needs only two or three of these rows. Add a row the moment your venue tells you a vendor is required.

Step 4: Track deposits and final payments for every vendor

Each contract has its own money terms. Many ask for a deposit when you sign and the balance closer to the date, but the amounts and dates differ for every vendor. With ten vendors that is twenty or more payments over a year. Write these six things down the day you sign.

1. The deposit amount and the date you paid it.
2. Whether the deposit is refundable, and when it stops being refundable.
3. The balance and the date it is due.
4. Whether the price includes a service charge or a gratuity, and who receives it.
5. Any date you must give a final number, such as the caterer's head count.
6. The cancellation terms.

Pay deposits by credit card when the vendor allows it. The Federal Trade Commission's guide to disputing credit card charges says the dispute process covers charges for things "you didn't accept or weren't delivered as agreed." Your letter must reach the card issuer within 60 days of when the first bill showing the error was sent to you. That window counts from the bill, so it protects payments made shortly before the service best. For a deposit paid a year ahead, the signed contract is your main protection, so keep it.

Final balances tend to bunch up in the last month. Say your photographer's $1,600 balance is due 30 days before, the caterer's $3,800 is due 14 days before, and the florist's $900 is due 7 days before. That is $6,300 leaving your account in one month. Add up your balances by month as soon as you sign, so the money is there when the bills come.

A wedding vendors checklist PDF can hold the names. The dates and totals change every week, so they belong in a spreadsheet. Our wedding vendor payment tracker is a spreadsheet for Excel or Google Sheets with room for 40 vendors and 200 payments. For each vendor it works out what you have paid, what is left, and the next due date and amount. It marks each one overdue, due soon, add the rest or paid in full, adds up the overdue and due-soon totals, and builds a month-by-month cash plan for 12 months. Printable pages come with it, a vendor overview, vendor cards and a payment log, so the paper copy can go in your binder.

Step 5: Plan tips by vendor before the last week

Tips are easiest when you plan them like any other payment. Decide who gets one, how much, and who hands it over. Then add the total to your budget. The wedding budget guide holds a tips-and-buffer line for exactly this.

Start with the catering contract. A service charge may go to the staff, or it may go to the company. Ask which, in writing. If the staff already receive it, a second tip pays them twice.

Wedding vendors don't have their own etiquette table, so use the everyday one. For that, Emily Post's general tipping guide gives these norms, and they map onto the people who serve you on the day.

The officiant amount comes from the Emily Post Institute's page on thanking the officiant. The fee might be as low as $100 with little contact beforehand, and as high as $500 when the officiant has met with you several times. The page suggests asking the officiant's church or synagogue what is commonly offered, then giving the fee on the day in a sealed envelope with a handwritten note of thanks.

Step 6: Hand over final payments and tip envelopes

The last weeks are for paying, confirming and handing over. The Emily Post Institute's list for the final weeks includes "Have final consultations with the caterer (head count) and other professionals as necessary." Use those calls to confirm each balance and arrival time.

Pay every balance by its due date and mark it paid. Then get cash for the tips. Put each tip in its own envelope with the vendor's name and the amount written on the front. Give the whole stack to one person the night before, with a list of who gets which envelope and when. You'll be busy, and nobody wants to carry cash on their wedding day.

After the wedding, send notes. According to the Emily Post Institute's wedding thank-you advice, you don't need to write to every vendor you hire. It also says anyone who exceeds your expectations will appreciate a courteous note of thanks.

A vendor is only booked once there's a signed contract and a deposit you can point to.

When a vendor payment tracker is the wrong choice

A tracker earns its place when you have many vendors and payments spread over months. If your venue includes food, drinks, flowers and a coordinator, you may only have three contracts. A note with three due dates will do.

Our tracker is also a file, not an app or a vendor directory. It doesn't find vendors for you, make payments or send reminders to your phone. You open it on your computer, type in each payment and check the due-soon total each week. If that works for you, the vendor payment tracker keeps every balance in one place for $9.