Guides Planning
The week before your wedding, day by day
By the last week the big decisions are made. What is left is a short list of confirmations, payments and packing, and the job of handing the day to someone else. Here is that week, one day at a time, with a name on every task.
The short answer
In the week before your wedding, start nothing new. Spend one day each on confirming every vendor, settling the money, briefing your point person and packing, and give each job one owner: you, your partner or the point person. By Thursday the plan should be in someone else's hands, so Friday and the day itself are yours.
Most week-of lists are long and unsorted: pick up the dress, confirm the DJ, break in your shoes, pack for the honeymoon. Every item is fair. The trouble is that a list of thirty things with no day and no name lands on whoever worries most, and that is rarely a good plan for two people.
This guide puts the week in order. It uses one example, a wedding on Saturday 12 June 2027, and gives each day one theme and each task one owner. Move the days to fit your own date. The order is what matters.
Before the week starts
Three things should already be done when the week begins. If one is not, it goes first on Sunday.
- The final headcount is with the caterer. Most contracts want it one to two weeks out. Our guide to the final headcount has the method.
- The schedule for the day exists. Not polished, but every moment has a time. Our guide to the wedding day timeline builds one hour by hour.
- Someone has agreed to be your point person. A planner, a venue coordinator, a sibling or a calm friend. They will answer the questions on the day so neither of you has to.
The rule: one name on every task
Before Sunday ends, every task for the week gets one owner. A useful split:
- Each of you owns the vendors you booked. You know the contract, the contact and what was agreed. Confirming them is quicker for you than for anyone else.
- One of you owns the money, the other owns the documents. Payments and tip envelopes on one side; license, rings and IDs on the other.
- Anything that happens on the day belongs to the point person. Vendor arrivals, deliveries, envelopes, what goes home at the end.
A task with two names gets done twice or not at all. If you share a list, the owner is the one who ticks it off. Our guide to planning a wedding together covers splitting work by ownership in more detail.
The week, day by day
| Day | What gets done | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 6 June | Read the plan together, name an owner for every task | Both of you |
| Mon 7 June | Confirm every vendor: time, address, contact | Whoever booked each |
| Tue 8 June | Final balances, tip envelopes, the license | One each |
| Wed 9 June | Brief the point person, hand over the sheet | Both, with the point person |
| Thu 10 June | Outfits, rings, documents, the day bag | One each |
| Fri 11 June | Rehearsal if you have one, deliveries, early night | Point person runs it |
| Sat 12 June | The wedding. Nothing on your list | Point person |
| Sun 13 June | Returns, rentals, start the thank-you list | Both of you |
Sunday: split the week
Sit down together for half an hour with the checklist, the schedule and the budget open. Go through every open task and give it a name and a day from the table. Anything that is not essential by now gets dropped, not squeezed in. This is the most useful thirty minutes of the week.
Monday: confirm every vendor
The average couple hires 13 vendors, according to The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study, so this is a day of short messages. Send each vendor the same four things:
- The address, and where to park or unload.
- Their arrival time and access time, from the schedule.
- The point person's name and phone number.
- Anything that changed since you booked: the headcount, a room, a time.
Ask each to reply to confirm. A vendor who has not replied by Wednesday gets a phone call, from whoever booked them.
Tuesday: money and papers
Money. Many final balances fall due in the last week or two, and some vendors are paid on the day. Our vendor payment schedule lists the usual timing for each. Pay what is due before the wedding now, and put anything due on the day in labelled envelopes with the tips. Our guide to tipping wedding vendors has the amounts.
Papers. Check the marriage license against your state's rules, because the dates are strict. In New York, for example, the ceremony cannot take place within 24 hours of the license being issued, and the license is valid for 60 days from the day after. For a Saturday 12 June ceremony that means a license issued no earlier than 13 April and, at the latest, a full day before the ceremony. Rules differ by state and county, so check with the clerk's office where you apply. Put the license, both IDs and the officiant's details in one folder.
Free toolWedding payment scheduleEnter your vendors, deposits and due dates. See what is paid, what is left and the heavy months.Plan my paymentsWednesday: hand over to the point person
Give your point person one sheet, on paper and on their phone:
- the schedule for the day, with every vendor's arrival time,
- each vendor's name, contact and what they are bringing,
- the envelopes: who gets which, and when,
- who has the rings, the license and the folder,
- what goes home at the end, and with whom, including anything rented.
Then walk them through it. Ten minutes of questions now saves ten interruptions on the day. The caterer or venue may also want the final guest list with dietary notes and table numbers; send it today if it has not gone.
Yes, I Do
The wedding day, hour by hour
Lay out the day from getting ready to the send-off, and see what still needs a time.
Thursday: pack
One of you packs the documents and the day bag: the folder, the rings, the envelopes, chargers, a small kit of plasters, safety pins, painkillers, a stain pen and snacks. The other gathers the outfits and anything that goes to the venue: signs, the guest book, favors. Label each box with where it goes. If the venue accepts deliveries on Friday, arrange it today.
Friday: rest
If you have a rehearsal, keep it short and let the officiant or point person run it. Drop off what the venue will take. Then stop. Phones away early, a proper meal, an early night. If something comes up now, it goes to the point person.
Saturday: the wedding
Nothing on your list. Questions go to the point person. If a vendor calls either of you, the answer is their name.
Sunday: after
Return anything rented or borrowed, and make sure the license is on its way back with the officiant, or with you if your state asks you to file it. Then write down every gift and helper while you still remember, the start of your thank-you notes. Our guide to wedding thank-you notes has the schedule.
What to leave alone this week
- New projects. A craft that is not finished by Sunday is dropped or handed to someone else.
- New guests. The caterer has the number. A late yes goes to the caterer once, by the person who owns the headcount.
- Experiments. A new haircut, a new skincare product, new shoes worn for the first time on the day.
- Rewriting the schedule. Small changes, yes. A new order of the day, no: every vendor planned around the one you sent.
Keep the week on one list
The week goes smoothly when both of you, and later your point person, look at the same plan. In Yes, I Do the checklist is dated from your wedding date, so the last tasks land in the last weeks, and either of you can tick one off. The day screen holds every moment with its start and end time and a note for where, who and what to bring. On the guest list, the guest packet gathers the attending guests with their dietary notes and tables, ready to share as a PDF or a CSV with the caterer or venue.
Questions
What should you do the week before your wedding?
Confirm every vendor's arrival time and contact, pay the balances due before the day, prepare the tip envelopes, check the marriage license, brief your point person and pack. Give each task one day and one owner, and start nothing new.
When should you make final payments to wedding vendors?
When the contract says. Many balances fall due one to two weeks before the wedding, and some, such as hair and makeup, are paid on the day. Pay the early ones before the week ends and hand the day-of envelopes to your point person.
When should you get your marriage license?
Inside the window your state sets. In New York the license is valid for 60 days and cannot be used within 24 hours of being issued, so for most couples a visit to the clerk three to six weeks before the wedding is safe. Check the rules with the clerk's office where you apply.
What should you not do the week before your wedding?
Do not start new projects, add guests after the headcount is in, try a new haircut or skincare product, or rewrite the order of the day. Each of these creates work for someone else in the week everyone is busiest.
Who should be the point person on the wedding day?
Someone calm and organised who is not in the middle of the day themselves: a planner or venue coordinator, a sibling, or a friend. Brief them by Wednesday with the schedule, the vendor contacts, the envelopes and what goes home at the end.
Sources
- New York State Department of Health: Information on Getting Married in New York State, revised May 2022, for the 24 hour waiting period and the 60 day validity of a license.
- The Knot Real Weddings Study 2026, full data read-out (PDF), 10,474 US couples married in 2025, for the average of 13 vendors hired.