Jewish Wedding: The 12-Month Checklist

You just got engaged. The wedding is a year away, maybe a bit less. You know there are a thousand things to organize and you don't know where to start. Here's the full retro-planning calendar — month by month — so nothing gets missed.

112 months out: the foundations

• Wedding date: not Shabbat or Yom Tov and, depending on your community’s customs, not certain periods (the Omer, the Three Weeks, fast days…): check with your rabbi. Tov flags these periods when you enter the date
• Officiating rabbi: he validates the date, ask him BEFORE fixing anything else
• Ceremony venue: synagogue (for a fully religious ceremony) or reception hall (for a more flexible option)
• Reception venue: visit at least 3-4 venues
• Total budget: set a firm ceiling and stay within 10% of it
• Witnesses: choose them and ask them (your rabbi will tell you how many are needed and who can serve)

210 months out: vendors

• Kosher caterer: get 3 quotes, ask for Beth Din certification
• Photographer: pick someone who has already covered a Jewish wedding (knows how to handle the chuppah, the glass-breaking, the hora)
• Videographer: optional but the #1 regret when couples skip it
• DJ or band: must know traditional Jewish music (Hava Nagila, Yiddishe Mame, etc.)
• Florist: visit with them for the chuppah and centerpieces
• Wedding dress: start trying dresses, allow 6 months for ordering + alterations

38 months out: the save-the-date

Time to announce the date to your guests, especially those who need to travel (Israel, US, other provinces). No need for full details yet — date + city + the couple's names is enough. A Tov.events digital invitation is perfect for this: sent on WhatsApp household by household, with a rich preview inside conversations.

46 months out: the guest list

• Compile the full list: family + friends + coworkers
• Split between 'ceremony + dinner', 'ceremony + cocktail', 'evening only'
• Ask both families for their priority guests (expect 30-40% of the final list from each side)
• Target total: 200-300 guests is the classic range for a Jewish wedding

54 months out: the official invitation

The full invitation goes out 3 months before the ceremony. It contains: times, exact venues, dress code, practical info (parking, recommended hotels), RSVP deadline. Tov.events lets you build a digital invitation and send it to each household on WhatsApp. It appears in English, French, Hebrew or Spanish, depending on the language chosen for each household.

62 months out: the religious ceremony

• Meeting with the rabbi about the content of the chuppah (texts, participants)
• Purchase of the ketubah (marriage contract)
• Preparing the 7 blessings (Sheva Brachot) — choose the 7 guests who will recite them
• For the bride: a visit to the mikveh in the days before the ceremony
• If you are holding a henna (a Sephardic and Mizrahi custom): book the venue, the outfits and the musicians — the evening usually falls in the week before the wedding

71 month out: the details

• Reminder for unanswered RSVPs (in Tov: a pre-filled WhatsApp message per household, which you send yourself)
• Seating chart: prepare it in your usual planning tool using Tov’s CSV export of responses.
• Final confirmation with every vendor
• Prepare the weekend program (if Sheva Brachot dinners are planned)

81 week out: last checks

• Final guest count → caterer
• Printed seating chart (paper + digital)
• Pick up the dress and suit
• Confirm transportation (shuttle for hotel guests if applicable)
• Brief the witnesses on their role during the chuppah

9The big day: enjoy it

You've prepared everything for 12 months. On the wedding day, you shouldn't be managing anything anymore — you should just be getting married. Delegate everything to the witnesses and the wedding planner, if you have one. Enjoy every second, it goes by fast.

Follow this checklist and you’ll arrive at the big day calm. And for the invitation that ties it all together — beautiful design, live RSVP, Hebrew included, WhatsApp sending household by household — that’s exactly what Tov does. For free during the beta.