Wedding planning checklist: the decisions, in order.
One of the situations people bring to Atlas. A wedding is being planned and every decision unlocks another three. The checklist below is free to use whether or not you ever open Atlas.
Written and kept up to date by the Atlas team · Last reviewed
Most wedding lists are lists of things to want. This is the order the decisions actually have to be made in, because three of them set the price of everything else — how much you are spending, how many people are coming, and what date you are holding.
Tick items off right here — no account needed. Your ticks stay in this browser.
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Everything you have ticked comes across already done.
First — the three decisions everything else waits on
Until these are settled, no quote you receive means anything.
Then — the bookings, hardest to replace first
Availability, not price, drives this order. Good venues and photographers go a year ahead.
Then — the paperwork that makes it legal
This is the part people leave late, and it has real deadlines.
The last fortnight
By now nothing new should be starting. This is confirming and handing over.
What to confirm with your registrar or venue
Marriage law and notice periods differ by country, state and even venue, and getting them wrong can invalidate the day. Confirm the legal requirements with the registrar or authority where the ceremony takes place, and get supplier terms and cancellation rules in writing. Nothing here is legal advice.
Where Atlas carries it
A wedding is a year of small commitments to a dozen different people, each with a date, a deposit and a detail you agreed once in an email.
That is what Atlas is for. You describe the situation in your own words, hand it whatever you already have, and it keeps the pieces in order, remembers what you decided, and tells you what is next. Atlas informs. You decide.
No account yet? You will be asked to sign in first, then the checklist loads with your ticks already in place.