Planning Timeline

Your Destination Wedding
Planning Timeline

Every task, every deadline, organized month-by-month. Choose your track below — all-inclusive venues handle the heavy lifting for you, so your timeline is beautifully simplified.

Your venue handles coordination, design, catering, florals, and setup — so you can focus on the big picture.

12 Months Before—

Dream & Decide

  • 1
    Set your wedding budget and guest count range
  • 2
    Decide on your wedding date (avoid September — hurricane season peak)
  • 3
    Begin your guest list and gauge travel interest
10 Months Before—

Book & Begin

  • 1
    Book your venue — top PR venues book 12–18 months out
  • 2
    Send save-the-dates (destination guests need extra lead time)
  • 3
    Begin dress shopping (allow time for fittings and alterations)
8 Months Before—

Design & Detail

  • 1
    Finalize your wedding design vision with your venue's planner
  • 2
    Order invitations and wedding stationery
  • 3
    Research and book guest hotel room blocks
  • 4
    Plan welcome bags for arriving guests
6 Months Before—

Formalize & Finalize

  • 1
    Send formal invitations (give destination guests 8 weeks minimum)
  • 2
    Finalize menu and bar selections with your venue
  • 3
    Purchase wedding rings
  • 4
    Plan day-after activities for guests (beach day, Old San Juan tour, rainforest hike)
4 Months Before—

Details & Documents

  • 1
    Handle your legal marriage at home (courthouse visit) — we strongly recommend a symbolic ceremony in PR
  • 2
    Finalize ceremony readings and vow details
  • 3
    Create your wedding day timeline with your venue's planner
  • 4
    Order wedding favors (consider local PR items: coffee, rum, hot sauce)
  • 5
    Final dress fitting and accessories
  • 6
    Book spa appointments for wedding week
2 Months Before—

Confirm Everything

  • 1
    Confirm final guest count
  • 2
    Create seating chart and finalize escort cards
  • 3
    Confirm travel arrangements (flights, ground transportation)
  • 4
    Send wedding weekend itinerary to all guests
2 Weeks Before—

Final Countdown

  • 1
    Break in your wedding shoes
  • 2
    Pack everything on your destination wedding packing list
  • 3
    Confirm your legal marriage certificate is filed at home (if doing symbolic ceremony in PR)
  • 4
    Download offline maps of Puerto Rico (cell service can be spotty in rural areas)
Night Before—

Almost There

  • 1
    Final walkthrough with venue and rehearsal
Wedding Week—

You Made It

  • 1
    Arrive in Puerto Rico at least 2–3 days before the wedding
  • 2
    Attend your rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
  • 3
    Enjoy a relaxing spa morning on your wedding day
  • 4
    Trust your team, exhale, and let the magic unfold
  • 5
    Celebrate your love in one of the most beautiful places on Earth
  • 6
    Send your venue team their tip!

Why the All-Inclusive Track Is Shorter

Notice how much simpler the all-inclusive timeline is? That is the entire point. When your venue handles coordination, catering, florals, décor, setup, and day-of management, dozens of tasks simply disappear from your list. You are not hiring and managing 8–12 individual vendors — you are working with one team who handles everything. This is why we are passionate advocates of the all-inclusive model for destination weddings.

Ready for the Next Step?

Choose Your VenueLegal Guide