Planning a Wedding in Two Months - FREE Checklist

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Planning a wedding in just two months might seem overwhelming, but it’s entirely possible. And it can even be fun! Whether you’re keeping things simple or aiming for something a little more elaborate, a short timeline just means staying focused and making quick, thoughtful choices. This guide will walk you through exactly what to do (and when) so you can pull off a meaningful, beautiful wedding without the stress of a long engagement.

Elegant outdoor dinner setup with string lights and floral centerpieces for celebratory events.

I created a great Two-Month Wedding Planning & Timeline Checklist to help you reduce stress and have the best time planning your wedding. Be sure to grab that at the bottom of the post!

1. Set Your Expectations

A short engagement may mean that you have to sacrifice some of your ideal wedding dreams for more realistic ideas. This doesn’t have to mean that it won’t still be amazing, it just means that you will find several areas that will need compromise as you proceed with planning. Set your list of things you MUST have a certain way, and then let everything else have a little flexibility.

2. Ask For Help

With such a short time frame, you’ll need to call in reinforcements to make your big day come together. This isn’t a “Don’t be afraid to ask for help” situation—it’s a “You HAVE to ask for help!” situation. If you’re a Type A person, this might be the trickiest part about planning a wedding in two months! But in the end, you have to focus on the marriage, not the tiniest of details. There are a lot of people who would LOVE to help but need to be asked first, so be brave!

3. Have a Planning Meeting

To start, you need to have a planning meeting with your fiancé. What do you each envision, and what is realistic for your timeline and budget? If your families are going to be involved, then include them in a planning meeting after you and your future spouse have settled on the most important details. Important decisions to make during your planning meetings include:

What is your total budget?
Create your guest list for the wedding
What type of wedding will you have: Time of day (breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner), day of the week (midweek weddings are wonderful, especially for securing a venue).
Where will the wedding be held, where will the reception be held?
Will you have a small reception with hors d’oeuvres after the ceremony or a full meal?
Who will be responsible for what?
Who will be in the wedding party? Contact them right away to make sure they’re available for your wedding date.

4. Set a Date and Send a Save-the-Date Email

Once you’ve had your initial planning meeting, you need to select a date based on the most important people being able to attend: parents and wedding party. Because many guests will need to make work and travel arrangements, send out an email save-the-date while you wait to get actual invitations made. Have this email include the RSVP since you will need to know quickly who can come and who can’t make it.

5. Reserve Your Wedding Venue

Get creative! If you have a wedding midweek, rather than on the weekend, you’ll have many more options for wedding venues, even with a short time frame! Who knows, you might even get your dream wedding venue if you’re willing to have a Thursday wedding or perhaps a brunch wedding on a Saturday.

If the budget is extremely tight, ask around among your friends and family to find out whether you can use someone’s backyard for your event. If that doesn’t work, check other locations like local parks, state parks, clubhouses, or churches. With limited time, flexibility is key to securing your perfect wedding venue.

6. Select Your Bridal Party

Contact those in your bridal party right away about details so they have plenty of time to plan. There may not be time to order traditional bridesmaids dresses, so give them a color palette and let them select a dress that is flattering to them. I recommend asking each wedding party member to have a specific responsibility. Ideas can include:

Hosting the bridal shower and/or bachelorette party. Ask them to include ways to help during these activities. You can have a lot of fun together while you stuff envelopes and address invitations.
Assembling a bathroom basket for the ceremony and reception space
Creating a wedding day survival kit for the bridal party to have on hand
Helping assemble the wedding favors
Arranging the wedding send-off

7. Hire a Photographer and Videographer

Many wedding photographers are booked far in advance! This is another reason to consider a day of the week that isn’t the weekend. If the photographer of your choice is not available, it might be a good time to put out a request on social media and ask for referrals. Taking a chance on a photographer new to the field might get you a great price, especially if you bundle photography and videography duties!

If you aren’t able to find one available in such a short time frame and within your budget, ask around to find a friend or a friend-of-a-friend. My main advice on this is: DON’T USE A FAMILY MEMBER! Use someone that isn’t meant to be in any of the photos or videos. Find someone detached enough that they won’t be found on the dance floor when they should be taking pictures of the dancing.

8. Mail Your Wedding Invitations ASAP

I know some people make a big deal out of every wedding detail, but why stress out over things like the wedding invites? Have a simple engagement photo shoot and get the edits done as quickly as possible. You can either use a free wedding invitation template from a big box retailer like Costco or Walmart, or expedite the shipping from a site like Minted, Shutterfly, or Vistaprint. Don’t let wedding invitations become a source of stress, keep them simple and focus on getting them out quickly.

9. Find A Wedding Dress

There’s probably not enough time for a custom wedding gown or even major alterations, so it’s important that you begin your hunt right away. If the bridal stores near you don’t have what you are looking for, consider other options. You could rent your bridal gown, look online for previously worn dresses, or borrow a dress from a friend.

Consider the big stores such as David’s Bridal. They are large enough to have a great selection and can do alterations quickly in most cases. You can find a great wedding dress right of the rack! When you walk in or make an appointment, be sure to let your salesperson know your budget and the time frame so she can select only the dresses that will work for you! Be sure to ask what types of alterations they can do in your time frame. You might be surprised to discover they can do a wide range of alterations that can make the dress you choose more unique to you!

10. Obtain a Marriage License

You may be wondering what the requirements are to get a marriage license. The rules for obtaining a marriage license vary from state to state. Check with your city clerk’s office to make sure you’ve got everything you need. Many will have information on their website about waiting periods, identification and documentation needed, and fees required.

11. Flowers and Decor

Many venues will already be decorated enough that you won’t need to decorate much at all. Still, you may want to have simple arrangements for the bridal party and the ceremony/reception space. If you’ve got a friend or family member with a creative streak, purchase in-season flowers in bulk from a wholesale store (like Costco or Sam’s Club) the day before the wedding and ask them to make the flower arrangements. You can get inexpensive bulk vases to put them in. Honestly, I’ve found that the Dollar Store has great options for inexpensive vases that are perfect for flower arrangements. I have ordered flowers from Costco Online twice now and can attest to the fact that they are beautiful and very affordable!

This is where flexibility on colors and style are the theme of the day. You won’t be able to guarantee certain flowers, but with a broad enough color palette and style, you can certainly make it work! For even more simplicity, consider a flower-free centerpiece. They can be assembled ahead of time, which means you can DIY it rather than finding a vendor or helper to do it on your big day.

12. Order Your Wedding Cake

A lot of large, well-known bakeries are booked months in advance. However, grocery stores, Costco and smaller bakeries make delicious cakes on short notice. Consider more contemporary dessert options like a cupcake tower, a donut display, or a waffle cake.

13. Simplify the Food

Hosting a brunch wedding? Many breakfast foods can be made and/or purchased in advance, which makes them ideal if you’re doing it yourself. Rather than a full meal, you might consider serving hors d’oeuvres during a cocktail-type reception following an early afternoon ceremony. If you have foods set up buffet style and allow guests to serve themselves, you can avoid hiring a full wait staff. You should consider hiring a couple of people though to manage the buffet table, cleaning up spills, refilling water and beverage pitchers and managing trash cans. You may consider older teens in your family or friend group for these jobs?

Don’t forget the desserts! A chocolate fountain or candy buffet is easy to arrange. Be sure to ask for help and make sure everyone knows their job during the wedding and the wedding reception so that everything goes smoothly. Check out these amazing dessert buffets perfect for a wedding reception!

14. Secure Entertainment

I hired a friend that graduated in piano performance to play background music at my reception. Others will go with hiring a band or DJ. The type of entertainment you select will largely be determined by your style, theme, and budget. The important thing is to get creative. Get on social media and ask around for lesser-known groups that will have more open availability.

Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Ideas

Helpful Wedding Resources

ENJOY THE PROCESS!

It sounds so simple, but the stresses of planning a wedding are real! This will be a test of compromise, multitasking, budgeting, reconciling different opinions, and so much more! What a great preparation for marriage, which is really what this is all about! Don’t forget to enjoy the process of planning the celebration of your marriage.

Get Your Free Two-Month Wedding Planning and Timeline Checklist Here!

Congratulations on your engagement!