9 Tips For Planning A Wedding In 6 Months Or Less For Cheap

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Can you get married in 6 months?

Are you thinking of planning a wedding in 6 months or less?

The average length of an engagement is 13 months.

This gives you plenty of time for those looking to plan a relatively stress-free wedding.

But what if you want to have a short engagement?

There are many reasons why couples may choose to get married sooner than later.

During Covid, I switched my wedding date several times. 

And once we had a go-ahead from the Government, I planned a quick wedding before things closed off again. 

I had a shorter time with less than a 6-month wedding timeline! 

But we made it work. 

Whatever your reason, we will show you exactly how planning a wedding in 6 months is entirely possible. 

Get ready to learn more about:

• Planning a wedding in 6 months checklist (simple guide)

• Our best tips and tricks for those wedding planning in 6 months

• And your 6-month wedding timeline for smooth planning

Whether you have a wedding timeline already in place or you just have a rough idea of when and what should be happening next, here’s an example of what to typically expect when you have 6 months to plan a wedding! 

It’s still possible to have a stress-free planning experience, even if you only have 6 months.

Keep reading for tips on how to plan a wedding with little time.

So can you plan a wedding in 6 months?

Before we get started on the best tips for planning a wedding in 6 months, we wanted you to take the time to like our Facebook Page here! We use affiliate links in our blog posts, meaning we can make a commission if you use any of our affiliate links.

If you are getting married this year, join our Bride Facebook here. 

Don’t forget to check out the wedding printable shop for your wedding planning checklists, worksheets, and freebies. 

If you have more time to plan your day, grab this 12-month wedding planning checklist to help you plan your big day. 

What should be done 6 months before a wedding?

If you have 6 months to plan a wedding, you must make a quick checklist and prioritize your to-do list. 

The little intricate details usually involved when planning a wedding may not be possible. 

Planning a wedding (whether big or small) is a huge investment of your money, time and energy.

You don’t want to waste either. 

You will have to start with the most important items on the list you create.

This way, the part that makes up the wedding is paid for and is ready to go once your big day comes around. 

In the next few weeks, you will need to make quick decisions such as where you will host your wedding, the wedding guest list, your wedding budget and everything else that comes with planning a wedding.

Grab yourself a quick wedding budget checklist such as this one that will help you determine if you can afford a wedding in 6 months, but at the end of the day, I truly recommend our Ultimate Wedding Budget bundle.

It’s designed to meet all your wedding planning needs and ensure you cover all your wedding expenses, leaving little to no surprises. 

Making a budget will help ensure you can afford a wedding within 6 months and also help you avoid spending more than you planned.

Your major wedding vendors to book will be your wedding reception venue and ceremony, food, dress and photographer. 

For a list of all wedding vendors you might need to book, visit our wedding vendor checklist!

Here is how to plan a wedding in 6 months

Planning a wedding is very stressful. 

I am not going to lie about that. 

And having less time to plan a wedding can add to your stress level. 

So can you plan a wedding in only 6 months?

The simple answer is yes. 

If you want to know how to start planning a wedding in 6 months, simply follow this guide. 

It’s a wedding planning timeline outlining every step you need to take in organizing a wedding in 6 months. 

You only technically need a marriage license, an officiant and a few witnesses to be married. 

But if you want an actual plan a wedding that quickly.

You will just need to be creative and work fast to book the necessary vendors required to bring your day to life. 

The six months will go by very quickly.

I recommend you start by booking your wedding venue and all the suppliers in the first month of picking your wedding date.

By getting all the big things booked early enough, you can take your time planning all the minor details.

This will also help you a lot as you won’t feel rushed; you can relax and work on actually enjoying your wedding planning.

Here are the steps for planning a wedding in 6 months:

1. Get Organized

It is easy to become overwhelmed by all the small details needed to plan a quick wedding. 

You must stay focused on your end goal. 

Several tasks and preparations need to be made in a short period.

Working with a checklist is key to ensuring you do not miss anything important. 

We have created a quick list you can follow along with to help you keep track of things. 

Keep on your tasks and check them off as you go.

Even if it’s one thing a day, just keep it moving. 

• Apply for your marriage license within 90 days of your wedding – not before
• Source out a venue to host your wedding ceremony
• Find an officiant and reserve your date

Are you planning to get married in a church?

Some churches or places of worship require you to take premarital classes and counselling. 

Find out what the timelines are for those and book it asap. 

It needs to be completed before the ceremony. 

So you online have 5 to 6 months to complete it. 

Book Your Reception Wedding Venue

• You only have 6 months to plan a wedding, so find your venue
• Take a tour and book your wedding reception asap
• If your venue does not come with a caterer, find and book one 
• If you require rentals for the venue, book this too
• And if your ceremony location and reception are separate, book transportation

Book All Required Vendors

• Wedding photographer 
• Entertainment & Music (DJ/Band)
• Your florist
• Wedding decorator 
• A cake artist
• Hair and makeup
• Transportation
• Wedding Invitations /stationery for your wedding
• A wedding planner for the day

This is a quick essential list of wedding vendors you will need for your wedding. 

When you research the wedding vendors, write down the name of those you wish to book, use our vendor’s checklist printable, take notes and quickly scan them against your wedding budget to ensure that they are within your budget. 

I suggest grabbing our epic wedding vendor appointment tracker to ensure you won’t miss anything important. 

And don’t forget also to grab my wedding vendors checklist printable right here:

Other checklists you might need to stay organized when booking your wedding vendors are listed below:

• Vendor Appointment Tracker
• Vendor Payment Tracker
• And vendor’s checklist printable

Those planning a wedding in 6 months will need all the help you can get to ensure you have a great day with no hitches. 

• Book your wedding dress appointment
• Choose and buy your dress
• Take your bridesmaid dress shopping
• Get your wedding bands
• Shop and send out your wedding invitations
• If it’s a destination wedding – send out save-the-date cards.
• Thank you cards need to be designed
• Your wedding guest book should be ordered
• Groom and groomsmen need to get the menswear sorted and finalized.
• Don’t forget about your wedding favours for your guests.
• Stamps to send out your invites and thank you cards need to be bought

Wedding Gifts For Wedding Party

• Gifts for your parents on the day
• Gifts for your husband to be
• And something special for your bridal party like this or this.

Now that we have all these sorted, our next tip for organizing a wedding in 6 months is to ask for help. 

2. Get All The Help You Can

If you have family and think they might be helpful, talk to them about it. 

And we mean from both sides of the family. 

Family and friends can be accommodating, especially if you have a great relationship with them. 

Plan a small family gathering or ask them individually to see how and where they can be helpful. 

And remember, it doesn’t have to be monetary. 

Simply asking your mom to research affordable florists and cake artists around can be helpful. 

Your MOH or your bridesmaids can start looking up and making appointments for dresses. 

Remember, you have a short time to plan a wedding. 

All the help you can get will go a long way. 

Having them involved in little things can relieve you of some stress you might have from planning a wedding in 6 months or less. 

You may want to look into hiring a professional planner as they can help with wedding vendors and deals.

Although they can be an extra expense, if organizing events isn’t your thing, they will be worth their weight in gold and have a wealth of experience under their belt to help guide you.

3. Don’t be too picky when planning a wedding fast

Honestly, you don’t have a lot of time. 

So don’t be too picky. 

When planning a wedding in a limited time frame, it’s essential not to be too picky.

You might not be able to have the exact wedding dress you dreamed of your whole life or even the right wedding book. 

Your caterer, photographer or wedding venue may not be what you want because vendors can be booked up in advance.

Be open to different suggestions from wedding professionals!

If you can be flexible with your wedding dates and other vendors, you can carry on with the rest of your wedding checklist, which will share below.

A good wedding planning printable like this one might also be genuinely helpful when planning a quick wedding with little time. 

4. Make a small guest list

You only have 6 months to plan a wedding, this is a limited time.

If you want your wedding to be stress-free and beautiful, I suggest you only cater to immediate friends and family.

This means you need to cut your wedding guest list!

This is the best way of avoiding more stress.

Limiting the number of people you want to attend your wedding will also help you save some money.

With fewer guests, you can cherish everyone that made the effort to be there, with no pressure to ‘get to everybody.’

This will also make it easier to pick caterers and venues within your 6-month wedding timeline and has the added bonus of keeping costs lower, allowing you to work within your budget.

Grab this guest list planner and start working on who you plan on inviting. 

5. Consider getting married during the off-season months

Since you only have 6 months to plan a wedding, getting married during the wedding off-season will give you a better chance to book quality wedding vendors as they might be available on your chosen date.

This is the best way to ensure quality without sacrificing your dream wedding. 

From potential discounts to more flexible scheduling for your guests, getting married during the off-season months might be your ideal situation.

The wedding off-season, which usually runs from December to March, is a great option for couples looking to stretch their wedding budget a little further and aren’t afraid to embrace the cold weather temperatures.

Trust me, winter weddings are not as bad as you may think.

My top reasons to consider this option:

• Less competition
• Flexible dates
• Huge discounts
• Winter wonderland romance
• Low honeymoon rates

8. Create your wedding website

If you are planning a quick wedding, you will want to give your guests as much time as possible to save the date!

Creating a wedding website is an excellent way of getting all the information to everyone promptly.

Not only will it save costs on expensive wedding invitations, but they are relatively simple to set up, and once you are ready, you can send everyone a link and have all the information they would need in one place.

Here are the 5 best wedding websites: 

• The Knot
• Minted
• Zola
• Joy
• Riley & Grey

9. Enjoy your wedding planning

The most important thing you need to remember is that you are getting to marry the love of your life sooner rather than later.

Although this might add a little stress to your planning process, try to keep this idea in the back of your head. 

I recommend you enjoy the planning process as it will go by quickly. 

Blink, and you will already be married.

If your top priority is keeping your wedding simple and getting married, don’t play the comparison game!

This will only overcomplicate things, you will overstress and possibly overspend.

Remember the entire point of this day: You’re getting married to your best friend.

And THAT is what matters most.

Keep reading, as I have included a checklist for planning a wedding in 6 months!

It’s a short-notice wedding planning checklist to help you plan a wedding in 6 months or less without losing your sanity. 

6 Months Before Your Wedding Timeline 

Use this 6-month wedding checklist to plan the perfect wedding in less time than usual. 

Plan a wedding in 6 months by following our tips and the guide below.

You will be less stressed out. 

You can plan a fabulous wedding in 6 months!

• Pick your wedding date—This heavily depends on what venues are available for you- don’t forget that weekday weddings are also possible and should not be disregarded.
• Create a detailed wedding budget— Are you getting help paying for your wedding? How much are you willing to spend for your wedding? Grab this wedding budget planner right now. 
• Book your wedding venues – choose a venue as soon as you can. These do book quickly. You might not get married in that fancy venue. It could be a restaurant or a hotel banquet hall; either way, book a venue asap. Book your wedding venues for both your ceremony and reception—Be sure to sign your contracts and make a deposit.
• Hire your wedding caterer— Decide on what you can afford when it comes to food – are you serving stations, having a buffet, or a sit-down meal? Work with the caterer to come up with an affordable wedding menu. Your wedding caterer will help determine all this while helping build your reception wedding menu.
• Decide on your wedding theme – A wedding theme will set the tone for your big day. Once you have your wedding budget decided, start picturing your day. Do you see yourself having a rustic wedding, or maybe you dream of having a destination wedding?
• Find and order your wedding dress – Get inspiration and visit the store. Consider getting second-hand wedding dresses. With less time, you might not be able to get alterations done. Get a dress that needs little work. 
• Who is standing by you? – You will need to decide and select your wedding party. Choose your bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl/s, your ring bearer/s and the rest of the wedding party. Consider what they will wear. 
• Make your guest list – Remember, you don’t have a lot of time, make sure you cut the wedding guest list. Your list will also determine how much you spend and the type of wedding you will have. 
• Did you hire your wedding planner yet? – They will help you plan and streamline your day. 
• Book your wedding photographer and/or videographers – Don’t slack on finding a great photographer. Find a few you love, meet with them asap and confirm a booking. Famous wedding photographers are typically booked a year or more in advance. 
• Book your wedding officiant – If you know someone that can officiate, book them. If not, look up some wedding officiant and book them asap. 
• Order the save the date wedding cards – You can get these online on Etsy or on Minted. Do it quickly and don’t waste any more time. 
• Create a wedding website – It will help keep guests updated, especially since you are planning a wedding on short notice and on a limited timeline. 

4-5 Months Before The Wedding 

We share everything that should be done 6 months before a wedding on this post. 

Grab your wedding printable planner, and be sure to take notes. 

For those that want a DIY wedding checklist that they can change little or even create their own, I suggest grabbing this really cute wedding planning bullet journal printable. 

• Sign up for a wedding registry – I love to use Amazon; they have pretty amazing things for couples and newlyweds. You can sign up for the Amazon wedding registry today.
• Pre-Wedding Parties – Start planning your bridal shower and bachelorette party with your maid of honour and bridal party. Decide on a budget and locations and send guest lists to the person planning them!  
• Buy wedding bands – You will need this for the ceremony. This is a good time to get them down if they need to be engraved. 
• Entertainment – Are you having music played by a violinist or live music during your ceremony, cocktail or reception dinner time? Do you have a DJ, and will they make special announcements during the evening? This is the time to organize that. 
• Decided on your reception menu – Make sure you work with your caterer to ensure you get the best menu possible.
• Decide on your wedding favours– When favours are simply little thank you gifts you give your wedding guests for attending your day. For destination weddings, a little welcome basket is always classy. Fill it up with various practical and easy items to take back home. Little things such as bug spray for a ranch wedding or sunscreen for a beachside bash. Here is a list of wedding favours that will wow your guests. 
• Place an order for your wedding cake – I recommend ordering a one-tiered wedding cake (for the bride and groom), and the rest should be cupcakes to save money. 
• Consider room blocks – If you have guests from out of town, consider booking rooms at discounted rates. Update your wedding website.
• Book your honeymoon – It’s time to plan your honeymoon. Research honeymoon destinations & get an idea of what honeymoon destination is right for you! Sign up for a honeymoon fund.

Don’t forget to grab your wedding planning printable or journal planner for wedding planning.

Here are a few fantastic ways you can use a bullet journal to stay organized in the days leading up to your big day:

• Write a list of all your wedding DIYs, stationery and decor items
• Organize your list of potential wedding venues
• Track all your daily wedding to-dos
• Use it to keep an overview of the monthly to-dos
• You can also use it to list everything you’ll need for your honeymoon or destination wedding
• Jot down ideas for your wedding vows
• Track your wedding budget

And so much more. 

As I mentioned, you can also use it to create your 6-month wedding planning checklist!

Get your copy right here.

2-3 Months Before Your Wedding Day 

Wedding day is fast approaching. 

It’s to time to finalize all the little details. 

• Bridal shower – hopefully, someone planned a bridal shower for you. Shop for your outfit (there are cute dresses on Lulu’s)
• Order your wedding invitations – you will want to send out your wedding invites 6-8 weeks before your big day. This is a great time to design and order your invites.
• Book all your vendors – Florist, transportation, hair & make-up, including make-up & hair trials, and book a restaurant for your rehearsal dinner.
• Wedding music – Make a reception playlist – work with your DJ – don’t forget to grab your wedding song planner. If you’ve hired a DJ, now’s the time to put your heads together. Can’t stand Top 40 music? Determined to dance to “My Girl” with your father? Terrified of what will come out of Uncle Joe’s mouth if he gives an unplanned toast? Solve it all via clear communication.
• Ceremony order – Plan the order of the ceremony. Create a wedding program if you can. 

1 Month Before Your Wedding 

Your wedding plans should be almost complete. 

This is where you do a lot of confirming and get into the details. 

• Final count – Get the final RSVP count of your wedding guests (call anyone you have not heard from)
• Dress fitting – Schedule your final dress fitting
• Seating plan – Create your reception seating chart/ floor plans 
• Floor layout – Create placards for seating arrangements
• Vendor final numbers – Make any last-minute adjustments with vendors if necessary – send your caterer and venue a final guest count.
• Get your marriage license – typically done 30 days out
• Break in your wedding shoes –  you want to be comfortable on the day and not hurting
• Wedding party details – Get your wedding party together to discuss roles and responsibilities for the wedding day (remember, they are not your wedding planner) simple roles such as who stands next to who, when to walk and picture details, etc.) 
• Wedding timeline details – Send your day-of timeline to all your vendors (unless the wedding coordinator handles it) – check the wedding printable shop for a copy!
• Photos want list – Discuss details with your wedding photographer and have a must-have shot list.
• Vows – Don’t forget to write your wedding vows
• Last-minute purchases – Buy any last-minute things such as alcohol for the reception, ceremony, umbrellas, flip flops etc.
• Prepare wedding emergency kit – Don’t forget to prepare a Bridal Emergency Kit (here is what to include in your wedding day survival kit)
• Confirm details – Make sure everyone has their hotel rooms booked, transportation for the day is good to go, and the wedding party has everything they need (suits, dresses, accessories and so on.)
• Rings – Get your engagement ring or rings cleaned (be careful, I have heard of rings going missing)
• Rehearse – If you are having a rehearsal dinner, notify your bridal party (this should have been sent out with your invites), book the rehearsal dinner restaurants, get your outfit ready and be prepared.
• Confirm, confirm—confirm details with every vendor on your list. Try to send in as many final payments as possible.
• Purchase gifts for bridesmaids – Consider something cute like this. 
• Party one last time –  Attend your bachelorette party.

Week of Wedding Checklist

You are almost there.

Hang on a little longer. 

All the little details should now be in place.

This is the final week of wedding planning, and your emotions might run high. 

Get all the small details sorted, including any last-minute adjustments.

Here is what you should be doing this week if you are planning a wedding in 6 months or less:

• Wedding Day Timeline – Finalize your day-of timeline for everyone (wedding vendors, the wedding coordinator and the venue coordinator)
• Beauty needs – Get your eyebrows done, go for your manicure/pedicure
• Final dress fitting –  a friend or bridesmaid should come with you so she can learn how to bustle if your dress requires it.
• Pick up your dress –  if you haven’t brought it home with you already. 
• Wedding vows – Practice your vows out loud
• Time off from work – Hopefully, you took the week off for your wedding
• Get your suitcase – Pack your back for the hotel stay/ honeymoon
• Organize your wedding supplies– Pack everything you will need for your wedding (decorations, seating charts, wedding favours, place cards, card box, veil and dresses, shoes, the rings, marriage certificates, USB with photos for slides, extra music, basically everything should be ready to go)
• Skincare – Book your waxing appointments, do it earlier in the week to give you time for your skin to settle 
• Payments – Pay all your vendors, prepare tips for the day of payments 

Day of wedding checklist

The big day is finally here, and it’s time to enjoy it. 

Here are a few things you can do to ensure your day goes as smoothly as possible. 

• Eat breakfast – it’s going to be a long day.
• Take it easy – Try to stay off your feet as much as possible
• Bottle up – Stay hydrated 
• Air out your wedding attire – The first thing is to take your dress and veil out of the bag to air out 
• Wedding photography shots – Anything you want to be captured should be displayed for the photographer (rings, bouquet, invitations) 
• Love letters – Exchange notes with your partner
• Be grateful – read our positive wedding day affirmations. 
• Have fun – And enjoy the day

Next, you might want to read our wedding day tips to learn more about what you can expect on your actual wedding day. 

If this is not feasible, consider eloping. 

Did you like our 6-month wedding planning timeline?

Don’t forget to grab this Miss To Mrs. bridal box subscription: must-have items for every bride-to-be!

Get your first box for free.

Related: 

• Best wedding vendor payment tracker for couples
• Biggest Wedding Trends for 2019 A Every Bride Must Try
• Tips For Planning An Anniversary Party In A Few Easy Steps
• 35 Epic Wedding affirmations for a smooth day

Check out our wedding printable shop to get more checklists, printables and everything you need to plan a wedding.

6 Tips For Planning A Wedding In 6 Months Or Less For Cheap