9-12 Months

• After you've shown off the ring to everyone you know, your first step is likely to purchase every wedding magazine known to man to pick out your dress, party favors and cake. However, you'll want to use the beginning phases of the planning period wisely. One of the first courses of action is planning out a budget for your wedding reception, choosing a date and decide who's paying for what. From this point, you'll be able to realistically narrow down your searches to services and products that are within your price point. You'll want to establish your overall event theme, if any, book appointments to narrow down your venue and decide who'll be invited.
  
  

6-9 Months

• During the crunch phase of your plans, this is when you'll meet with all your potential vendors, such as your florist to see which flowers will be in season if you plan to use them for your centerpieces. Book pertinent entertainment such as a DJ or dancers. When booking all your service professionals, be sure to ask for references, see examples of past work and get a good feel for if they'll be a good fit for your reception.
  
  

4-6 Months

• Right at the six-month mark is when you'll need to finalize your guest list. Consider if you'll have separate invititations for guests you're only inviting to the reception. Once you've decided on your overall look, start trying out a few bakers to see who "takes the cake." The cake cutting is one of the most popular and anticipated aspects of the reception, so you'll want to be sure your cake is a showpiece. Within four months, you should have vendors finalized and all your guests invited. After this point, you should feel better about how things are coming together since you've gotten a sizable amount of tasks checked off the to-do list.
  
  

2-4 Months

• As you're cruising to the grand finale, leave the last couple of months for getting tweaking for your reception, such as décor to accent the venue, wedding favors, a guest book and thank you cards. Finalize all your needs for centerpieces and get all the supplies you need should you decide to create them yourself. Begin plugging guests into the seating chart. If you and your honey are arriving and leaving in style, book your transportation to and from the reception.
  
  

Final Weeks

• Use the final weeks to confirm all your vendor services, providing them all with setup and breakdown directions for your venue. Confirm with your venue that all the inventory it's providing will be available as well as the time you and your team will arrive to decorate. Be sure you have a separate table for your cake, gift table and guest book. Ask the venue to double check that all lighting will be working properly.
  
  

Final Days

• Write out your checks or arrange for payment of vendors who arrive the day of the reception so you're not being hunted down or interrupted while you're having a good time. Review your entrance and reception program with your master of ceremony or DJ, especially if you've changed the order of when ceremonies such as the cake cutting and first dance are scheduled.