The Ultimate Wedding Checklist for Grooms

info

The Ultimate Wedding Checklist for Grooms

Congratulations on the engagement! Your ring looks gorgeous, and your cheeks already have that bridal blush. Now wedding planning is in full swing. Thankfully, you don't have to do it all yourself. Instead, there's a wedding checklist for the groom so you can focus on the flowers, dress, and design while he focuses on the logistics, groomsmen, and keeping his side of the family happy.

Here's a detailed groom wedding planning checklist to ensure your dream wedding runs smoothly.

Key Takeaways:

Start planning a year in advance to ensure you get your first choice in vendors and venue.

The groom is responsible for his party, including tuxedos, gifts, and transportation.

The groom can handle logistics like renting a DJ and an event tent.

12 Months Before

You and your fiancé should knock out a few wedding details as soon as you're engaged. A year may feel like really far in advance, but believe me, time will fly! What should a groom do for wedding planning? Here are five tasks to get him started.

Iron Out Wedding Basics

This is the fun part of wedding planning. Finally, you can find that perfect wedding venue together and pick the ideal date. So whether you want to walk down the aisle with spring flowers in full bloom or plan a cozy winter wedding, choose that dream date and lock in a venue for the ceremony and reception.

Create a Guest List

Another daunting task that you'll want to knock out sooner rather than later is the guest list. You'll need a guest list to send out those save-the-date cards, which go out at least eight months before the big day.

Your lovely groom can work on the guest list for his side of the family while you work on your side of the family.

Look for Vendors

Vendors book up fast, so you'll want to jump on booking your favorite band, photographer, and more. However, that's not all on your shoulders.

Your fiancé is responsible for finding the DJ and officiant to perform the ceremony. The groom can also handle other logistical details like rentals, chairs, tables, and an event tent. With him taking care of those technical items, you can focus on design and décor (the fun stuff!).

Choose the Wedding Party

The groom should pick out who he wants by his side during the wedding. He should also carefully select the best man. The best man is more than just his old drinking buddy. The best man is responsible for helping with logistics like tux fitting, scheduling, and the bachelor party.

Create a Registry

The wedding gifts will trickle in as soon as people start hearing you're engaged. If you want to carefully guide people's selections away from yet another crock pot and towards that new espresso maker you've been eyeing, then you and the groom should start on your registry and wedding website.

6 Months Before

You are halfway to the wedding! While you're elbow-deep in wedding invitation designs and fabric samples, your groom has a few responsibilities of his own. What are the groom's responsibilities?

Select Wedding Bands

You and your groom pick out your wedding bands together. He will handle the sizing of the rings and paying for them.

Plan the Honeymoon

While the honeymoon is technically on the groom's to-do list, we all know the bride is behind the plans. So it's time to pull out that Pinterest board of exotic getaways and settle on one.

Then you can hand off the planning to the groom. He'll take care of airfare, hotels, car rentals, visas, travel insurance, and activities.

He can also throw in some surprises for you, like a fresh bouquet waiting in the hotel suite or your favorite champagne.

4 Months Before

The wedding is fast approaching, and his checklist is getting busier.

Arrange Gifts

The groom is responsible for several gifts to thank those at the wedding, including:

Best man gift
Groomsmen gift
Mother-in-law gift
Bride's gift

Tuxedo Fitting

Now is the time to pick out the tuxedos with the help of his best man (and beautiful bride). He'll also get fitted for his tux.

3 Months Before

The wedding invitations are going out, and the wedding is starting to feel real—time to think about the ceremony.

Arrange Transportation

The groom is responsible for making sure the wedding party has a way to get to the ceremony and then the reception.

A limo is a classy and luxurious choice. However, the groom can also have fun and go a little out of the ordinary with his favorite sports or classic cars. However, he should probably steer away from a party bus or monster truck.

Write Vows

You and your groom will start writing your vows at this time. You'll want to leave plenty of time to think of the perfect words. Then, you'll also want time to practice the vows so you both can recite them by heart.

2 Months Before

Most of the big items are out of the way. Now you can focus on refining the small details and adding the final touches to your ceremony and reception.

Prepare a Reception Speech

The groom is responsible for a reception toast speech. He should write that now, so he has time to practice it (preferably in front of a small audience of groomsmen to ensure he didn't throw in any embarrassing stories).

Plan the Rehearsal Dinner

The groom works alongside his parents to plan the rehearsal dinner. He'll also make sure everyone who should be there knows when and where to be.

1 Month Before

It's the month of your wedding! You never thought this month would arrive. Here are a few items the groom can do leading up to the main event.

Haircut and Grooming

The bride isn't the only one that gets a little pampered (though the groom might not feel the same way about it). The groom should book a hair appointment. He can also consider other details like a teeth whitening appointment or tanning.

Take Care of the Legal Side

There are mounds of paperwork associated with getting married. Thankfully that's not on your plate. The groom will take care of all legal affairs like adding you to his insurance, changing the address if you're moving after the wedding, and other details.

He should also file for the marriage certificate no later than one week before the ceremony and no earlier than 90 days, depending on how long the certificates are valid in your state.

Final Checks

Time for one last check to ensure everything's in order. The groom is in charge of checking in with his family, groomsmen, and ushers so everyone knows what's happening on the big day, including seating arrangements and speeches.

He will also do a final inventory of rings, accessories, rental items, and gifts to make sure everything comes in and is ready. The DJ usually requires the finalized song list in the last month, and vendors want a final head count.