Wedding planning timeline for Lebanon

First: the date, the venue and the ceremony

Three things are tied together, and none of them can be chosen alone. The venue has its dates. The church or the mosque has its own, and both have periods when a wedding is not held at all. Go to them with two or three possible dates, and expect to move.

Once the date is fixed, everything after it has an anchor. Fix it before you tell anyone a month. A date that moves after two hundred people know it costs far more than a date that takes three extra weeks to settle.

• Arrive with two or three candidate dates, not one.
• Check the religious calendar before you ask about availability.
• If there are two venues, measure the drive at that hour on that day.
• Get in writing what the date includes and what it does not.

About a year out: the big bookings

This is when you book what there is only one of. The venue and the ceremony first, then the photography and the video, then anyone who does one wedding a day. In summer these go early, and a year ahead is not early.

Start the conversation about paperwork now too, even if there is nothing to sign. Ask the church or the mosque for the exact list of documents: where each one comes from, how long it takes, and which ones expire. Some come from the place of baptism or from a registry in another town. Write the list down.

• Venue and ceremony, confirmed on the same date.
• Photographer and videographer.
• Ask the church or the mosque for the full list of documents.
• Estimate the number of guests, because it changes every choice after it.

Nine to six months: dress, food, music

The dress takes longer than anyone expects, because it is not one appointment. It is a first fitting and then two or three more. Start looking around nine months before, and order at least six months before if it is being made for you.

Catering and the tasting sit here as well, with the band or the DJ, the flowers and the cake. If the venue does its own food, this is when you taste it and settle the menu in principle, knowing the numbers come much later.

This is also the moment to gather names and phone numbers, and to find out who among the guests coming from abroad needs a visa. A visa can take months, and it is the one item on this list that nobody can speed up for you.

• Dress ordered; the suit after that, but not much later.
• Menu settled in principle, numbers to come.
• Music, flowers and cake booked.
• Start the guest list as a file, with phone numbers.

Six to four months: hair, makeup and the details

Book hair and makeup now, and put the trial later, a month or two before, close enough that your hair is the length it will be on the day. Book for everyone else who needs it, mother and sisters included, because they take chairs and time in the morning schedule.

Rings, shoes, the suit, the transport between the church and the venue, and where people will park. If there are two venues, this is where the hour-by-hour plan gets built, because that plan is what your guests will read later.

For a summer wedding, think about the heat and the light now, not in July. An outdoor ceremony in August at four in the afternoon is a different event from the same ceremony at six.

Two months out: the invitation goes out

Send the invitation about two months before, and earlier for anyone flying in. A digital invitation fits in one short link: the date, the schedule with both venues, directions on Google Maps and on Waze, an add-to-calendar link, and the RSVP.

Because family in Lebanon does not all read the same language, put English, French and Arabic on the one invitation and let each person read the version they want. Send the link to each household in a one-to-one message, so each reply comes back from a number you know and you are not decoding we are four out of a group chat.

If you want a gifts section, it holds your own details, written by you. The money reaches you directly; it does not pass through the invitation.

• Two months before: the invitation goes out with the link.
• The link to each household, in a one-to-one message.
• A QR code on anything printed, so the paper leads back to the same page.
• One reminder, two to three weeks later, only to those who have not replied.

The last month: the count and the trials

Chase the ones who have not replied once, then call the few names whose answer you genuinely need. Ask the caterer for the date of the final number, and set your own a week before theirs.

This is where the hair and makeup trial happens, along with the last fitting, the seating plan, and the rehearsal if you are having one. Give the venue and the photographer a written schedule for the day, with the times you intend to keep and not the times you hope for.

Check that the religious and civil formalities are finished: the documents in hand, the signatures where they belong, nothing waiting on an office that closes for a holiday next week.

Family coming from abroad

The diaspora needs more notice than everyone else, and in a different order. Flights to Beirut in July and August fill up early, so tell your close family the date as soon as you have it, months before the invitation itself.

Ask early who needs a visa or a renewed passport, and who is taking children out of school. Send them the link early as well: it holds the schedule, both venues and the directions, which matters more to someone who has not driven in Lebanon for years.

• Tell them the date as soon as it is fixed.
• Raise visas and passports early.
• Send the link early, with the schedule and the directions.
• Expect a slower answer, and a plan that will change once.

What the season decides

Summer is the season when the family is here, and also the season when everything is taken and the heat is real. An August afternoon is hot enough to change where people stand and what they wear. A later ceremony and some shade are worth more than a better view at the wrong hour.

The religious calendar sets firm limits. Lent and Easter, Ramadan and the days around it, are periods when the ceremony may not be possible, or when your guests are fasting and the evening runs differently. Ask your own church or mosque rather than assuming, because the practice is not the same everywhere.

Winter and early spring have their own advantages: more availability, and a family that does not have three other weddings the same month. In exchange, the weather, and fewer relatives making the trip.

The week before, and the day before

In the last week everything is confirmation, nothing is decision. Call each supplier once, read them the schedule, and ask what they still need from you. Send the guests one last message with the link, because that is where the times and the directions live, and it is the only thing they will look at on the day.

The day before: the rehearsal or the visit to the church, the bags packed, the documents and the rings in one place with one person responsible, the phones charged, and payments arranged so nobody is doing arithmetic at midnight.

Then hand the schedule to someone who is not getting married. On the day itself you should have nothing to read.

• One confirmation call per supplier.
• A last message to the guests, with the link.
• Documents, rings and anything to be handed over: one bag, one person.
• A printed schedule for the relatives who will be asked the questions.