Step 1: Agree the budget and who pays
Before anyone visits a venue, sit down with both families and agree three things: the total budget, who contributes what, and who makes final decisions in each area. It feels awkward, but it prevents most of the arguments that come later. Use the budget calculator to get a realistic number for your city and guest count, and read our wedding budget guide for the category split. Keep 10% aside for contingency.
Step 2: Fix the date
If your family follows muhurat dates, ask the family pandit for two or three options early; the most auspicious winter dates are the most expensive and book first. Consider weather (Delhi summers, Goa monsoon), exams and work calendars of close family, and festival periods when travel is costly. A flexible date is the single best way to get a better venue at a better price.
Step 3: Build the guest list, function by function
Write the list for each function separately: the haldi might be 60 people, the sangeet 200 and the wedding 400. Split it into must-invite, should-invite and nice-to-invite. Expect 70–85% of local invitees and 50–70% of outstation invitees to attend. This list drives your venue size, catering, invitations and rooms, so it is worth getting right.
Step 4: Book the venue
Shortlist venues that fit your guest count and budget, visit them, and compare all-in costs rather than headline rent. Use the venue size calculator to check capacity. Our Delhi and Gurgaon guides list localities and price ranges. If you are considering a destination, compare Jaipur, Udaipur and Goa.
Step 5: Book the key vendors
Book in this order: caterer (if not tied to the venue), photographer and videographer, decorator, makeup artist, then music, DJ, mehendi artist and pandit. The best vendors for peak dates are booked 8–12 months ahead. For each category, our vendor guides list price tiers and the questions to ask: caterers, photographers, decorators and makeup artists. If you are thinking about professional help, read planner vs self-planning.
Step 6: Plan outfits and jewellery
Bridal lehengas and sherwanis take three to five months including fittings, so start six months out. Plan every outfit for every function for the couple and close family, and leave a buffer for alterations. Decide what to buy, what to rent and what to borrow.
Step 7: Design the functions
With the venue and decorator booked, decide the look and flow of each function: colour palette, décor elements, music, food and timings. Work out the menu with the caterer and a tasting, and check quantities with the food calculator and alcohol calculator.
Step 8: Send invitations
Send save-the-dates three to four months ahead for destination weddings and two to three months for local ones. Send the final invitations six to eight weeks before. The invitation calculator tells you how many printed cards and e-invites you need, since one card usually covers a household.
Step 9: Organise travel and stay
For outstation guests, block rooms early and plan airport or station pickups. The guest stay calculator estimates rooms and nights. Assign a hospitality lead from each family who guests can call.
Step 10: Write the run-sheet
A month before, write a minute-by-minute run-sheet for each function with every vendor’s arrival time, contact number and responsibility. Share it with vendors and with one trusted person from each family, then follow the wedding-day checklist.
Keep yourselves sane
Schedule one evening a week that is not about the wedding. Delegate whole areas — hospitality, transport, gifts — to relatives who want to help. And remember that guests remember how welcome they felt far more than the size of the stage.