9–12 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Announce your engagement. Send out e-mails or electronic announcements to save on trees.
• Have an eco-friendly engagement party. Allow for organic, locally grown food and sustainable accessories.
• Arrange for your parents to get together. Schedule a sit-down so you can all discuss your engagement and upcoming wedding.
• Envision your wedding. Sit down with your fiancé and discuss your idea of the perfect wedding, complete with green trimmings.
• Create a budget. You'll need to know how much everyone (both families) and the two of you plan on spending on your big day.
• Set up a planning team. Who's going to help you plan? Are you hiring a wedding planner? If you plan to hire one, start looking early and interview several before deciding on one.
• Select a date. You might want to pick a couple of optimal dates in case you have trouble booking a location. Flexibility is a great asset when planning a wedding.
• Start looking for great green locations. Search for green venues for your ceremony and reception (or both in one location) and book the best ones.
• Start planning your guest list. Start compiling names and addresses of everyone you plan to invite. Put stars by the most important people in case you have to cut some people from the list later.
• Meet with your officiant. If you don't have a minister or priest, start searching for someone to officiate your wedding.
• Shop for the gown. Start your quest for the perfect gown. Flip through magazines, hit the online vendors, and shop for your beautiful organic, sustainable, used, or vintage gown.
• Hit the resale trail. Take a day and visit all the resale stores in your area to get a feel for what each store carries.

6–9 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Interview caterers. Look for caterers who offer locally grown and organic menus, possibly even vegetarian, vegan, and raw choices.
• Select your wedding party. Ask everyone whom you would like to be a part of your big day.
• Choose a color scheme and/or theme. If you plan to have a specific color scheme or theme, decide on it early so your wedding attire and décor can all match up.
• Order your wedding gown. Make sure you order early so you have plenty of time to get special ordered gowns and alterations.
• Shop for bridesmaids' dresses. Let your bridesmaids be involved.
• Look for fabulous green options such as hemp, bamboo, or organic cotton fabrics, or let them choose something they will wear again.
• Pick photographers. Look for digitally green photographers and videographers and pick the ones whose style suits you best. Remember: This is not an area in which you should go for the cheapest choice.
• Hire a florist. Decide on your floral options. Go for the greenest and most convenient possibilities.
• Book the musicians or deejay. Schedule musicians for the ceremony (if necessary) and reception or choose a great deejay.
• Create a gift registry. It is best to start one early. You can always add to it or modify it as you go along. Online registries make this very easy to do.
• Start shopping for unique décor. If you are planning on having décor such as vintage accessories, start shopping early to ensure plenty of time to find what you need. Visit all your local stores and scout out online retailers.
• Send out save-the-date announcements. E-mail these reminders, especially if you have a lot of out-of-town guests coming in, if you are having a destination wedding, or if your wedding is on a holiday weekend.
• Consider honeymoon destinations. Start researching the places you may like to go for your honeymoon.
• Think about wedding insurance. Wedding insurance is a relatively new thing that you can purchase in case anything goes wrong on your wedding day, or even if your wedding gets canceled. You might have to purchase liquor liability insurance if you are going to be serving alcohol at your reception. Make sure you find out from the venue.
• Reserve rentals. Book tents, chairs, tables, fountains, arbors, or any other rentals early so you know you'll have them. If you are borrowing them from family and friends, make sure everything you want is available and in good shape. Pull anything out of storage so you can check it out and see if it needs any minor repairs or a good cleaning.

4–6 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Order your wedding stationery. Order all your invitations (on recycled, handmade, or tree-free paper) or the supplies you need to make your own invitations. If you are getting really creative, such as making your own paper, make sure you get this done long before the invitations need to be mailed out. (Invitations should be sent out six to eight weeks before the wedding.)
• Calligraphy. Practice your hand at fancy writing or find someone else who is good at it. Hire someone if necessary. With the fancy fonts available on home computers, you could also try printing out each envelope.
• Eat cake — and order one while you're at it. Taste test cake flavors and frostings before you make your decision. It may take a while to make a choice and order your wedding cake (made from organic ingredients if possible).
• Complete your guest list.
• Order bridesmaids' dresses. Place your orders for everything; also order flower girl dresses and any accessories for your female attendants.
• Plan your honeymoon. Make your reservations for transportation and accommodations.
• Arrange the rehearsal dinner. Book a location for the rehearsal dinner in a green location.
• Book your wedding day transportation. Look for unique green transportation, hybrids, biofuels, or something fun.
• Look for wedding rings. If you have not picked out your wedding rings, get them ordered now so they can be sized and ready for the big day. Hit vintage jewelers and antique stores for something really unique or meet with local artisans to have something specially made.
• Make sure your passports are up to date. If you are leaving the country, you'll need a passport. Get one or renew yours.
• Look for guest accommodations. Scout out great green lodging choices for your guests. Talk to the hotels; many times you can get group discount rates if you have a large number of guests coming in from out of town.
• Book beauty treatments. Schedule prewedding pampering and book your stylists for the big day.
• Have a DIY party. Are you making a lot of crafts for your wedding? Have a get-together and let your friends and family help.

2–4 MONTHS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Finalize tuxedo rentals. Order tuxedos for the guys or decide on their attire options.
• Get the information on the marriage license. Call your county clerk's office to get all the details on what you need to bring and when you need to apply.
• Meet with your vendors. Sit down with all your vendors, especially caterers, to pick menus, select wine, and cover all the little details.
• Choose your music. Pick out the music selections for your ceremony and your special songs for the reception.
• Customize your ceremony. If you are planning anything special, such as handfasting ceremonies, rose ceremonies, or lighting the unity candle, decide on exactly what you want to do and when in the ceremony it will happen.
• Start working on your vows. Think about what makes you love your fiancé, and choose unique but not overly personal wording.
• Purchase gifts. Pick out thank-you gifts for all your attendants. Consider choosing sustainable and green items they are sure to use. Get gifts for your parents and any other special people as well. Don't forget something special for your fiancé while you're at it.
• Pick out favors and other wedding accessories. Try to choose greenly.
• Get a room. Book a nice hotel room for the actual wedding night.
• Get showered. Bridal showers and other prewedding parties are usually held a month to three months before the wedding. Bachelor and bachelorette parties are within the same time frame. Do not ever have them the night before. You'll have enough to do, and no one wants a hangover on their wedding day.
• Accessorize. If you haven't already done so, make sure you have all your bridal accessories for the big day: veil or tiara or other head-piece, stockings, garter, shoes, undergarments for the wedding, lingerie for the honeymoon, a purse or little handbag, and anything you need for the wedding such as a flower girl basket, ring bearer pillow, toasting goblets, or cake knife.

4–8 WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Mail your invitations. Invitations should be sent out six to eight weeks before the wedding.
• Try it out. Spend a day trying out hair styles (with your headpiece) and makeup colors.
• Complete any alterations you need done to your gown.
• Call your wedding party. Get in touch with all your attendants. Make sure that all of the guys have been fitted for their suits or tuxes and that all of the ladies have their dresses and shoes. Make sure the flower girl and everyone else has everything they need.
• Touch base with your vendors. Connect with and confirm all details with your vendors to make sure everything is running smoothly.
• Make your DIY purchases. Are you planting flowers or making any food for your big day? Get your list together for everything you need and start gathering your ingredients.

2–4 WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Finalize your RSVP list. Go over your guest list, and call anyone you haven't heard from.
• Make seating charts. If you are planning to create a seating chart, now's the time to do it. Or you can go the green route and skip the hassle and the place cards.
• Write your toast now so you'll be ready.
• Do your final fitting. Get your final gown fitting and make sure the gown gets cleaned and pressed before you bring it home.
• Print your place cards, favor tags, or seating chart.
• Confirm, confirm, confirm. Get last-minute confirmations, finalize times with vendors, and give the musician or deejay a copy of your song list. Be sure to include must-have songs and songs to definitely avoid.
• Get your hair cut. This goes for both the bride and groom.
• Plant it. Now is the time to transfer any potted flowers or plants into the containers they will be in for the wedding. This should give them time to establish roots and fill out a little before the big day.
• Assembly line. Any favors, tags, table tent cards, or other crafts that are nonperishable and that have not been assembled yet should be done now. Get friends and family involved so it all gets done.

1 WEEK BEFORE THE WEDDING.

• Do a final head count. You'll probably need to turn in a final guest count to the caterer. Don't forget to include photographers, deejays, bartenders, waitstaff, and any other vendors and staff you will be feeding.
• Round up reliable people. Get your reliable people together to collect all your stuff from the reception if you plan to leave without doing it yourself. Make sure you appoint people to do cleanup if your location or catering service does not do all that.
• Call your transportation. If you have scheduled rental transportation, make sure the vendor has the right times and locations.
• Arrange carpools and shuttles. Make sure all your eco-friendly carpooling and shuttle buses are ready to roll on the right date and time.
• Beautify yourself. Get all your final beauty treatments done.
• Pack. Get everything together and pack for your honeymoon.
• Take care of money. Place all your final vendor payments in envelopes ready to be delivered on the wedding day.
• Double check. Are all your crafts done? Do you have everything you need? Is everything ready to go to the location?

1–2 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING

• Rehearse the ceremony and have the rehearsal dinner. Make sure everyone is clear on where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing during the ceremony.
• Set up. Some locations may allow you in the night before to decorate and set up. Take advantage of it and get everything done ahead of time.
• Flower power. If you are doing your own (real) flowers, get them now and put them all together to be ready for your wedding.
• Relax. Take a deep breath and enjoy everything. Find a little quiet time for yourself.