Just eight months till your wedding; how exciting! Hope your planning is going well! Use these handy lists to make sure you’ve got your bases covered.

Start checking out florists. You don’t need to know what you want yet; your goal is simply to find a florist you love who can pencil you in for your wedding date.

Reserve appointments with your makeup artists and hair stylists. Don’t worry about the details just yet; you just want a commitment from them because makeup artists and hairstylists book up fast, especially if you’re getting married in a popular month.

Place the order for your bridesmaids’ dresses, or start heading to department stores to hunt down your dream dresses. If ordering, it’s important to leave enough time for the dresses to be made, shipped to you, and for the girls to have their alterations done and shop for accessories. The sooner, the better. (Want inspiration? Check Dessy‘s latest selection.)

Call nearby hotels for discounts. Many hotels will reserve blocks of rooms or offer you exclusive discounts for promoting their hotels to your guests. Try to select hotels in a variety of price ranges and if at all possible get them close together so your guests can mingle with one another during any wedding “down time.”

Order your wedding invitations (or keep making them if you’re a DIY bride). Very exciting! Gotta love stationery. Be sure to order extras for B-list invites as well as keepsakes for you and your family. Need last-minute ideas? Visit Wedding Paper Divas.

If you plan on using one, start looking for calligraphers in your area to address your wedding invitations once they arrive. You might also want them to do your place cards and/or escort cards – or recruit a friend with nice penmanship!

Start thinking a little more about your wedding music. Ensure you have entertainment/musicians for all aspects of the day by now and begin envisioning what songs you might like to hear on the big day. Keep a list so you can write down your faves as you think of them (no more going, “Ugh, what was that song again?!?”).

Continue to work on your wedding registries. It’s basically impossible to ask for too many things! We loved MyRegistry.com and used it for our own wedding.

Update your wedding website. Change over your pics and include info about the hotels you’ve been researching.

See your previous checklist.
See your next checklist.