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Wedding Planning Checklist for Ottawa Couples

Plan an Ottawa wedding in this order: date, venue and budget 12 to 18 months out; photographer, officiant and, for a summer Saturday, decor by 9 months; the details by 3 months; your Ontario marriage licence inside the 90 days before; and a call to every supplier in the final week. The venue goes first because it decides the rest.

Written by Heba Alfarra, Owner & Lead Designer at Sparkle Events · Last updated

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What a wedding planning checklist covers

A checklist is the order you make decisions in, with a date beside each. Whether you plan it yourselves or hire a wedding planner in Ottawa, the same four groups of jobs have to get done:

  • The decisions that fix everything else: the date, the venue, the guest count and the budget.
  • The suppliers: officiant, photographer, caterer if the venue has none, music, decor and rentals.
  • The paperwork: an Ontario marriage licence, an authorized officiant and two witnesses.
  • The day itself: the timeline, the setup and teardown times, and who runs it.

This page puts dates on those jobs. For the four steps we follow once you book us, see the planning order on our wedding planning and decor page.

Why Ottawa wedding dates book out early

Six in ten Canadian weddings fall in four months. Statistics Canada's last monthly breakdown, for 2008, put 22.2% of the year's marriages in August, 14.4% in July, and 11.4% each in June and September. January had 2.8%.

Every couple in those months wants a Saturday, so the same venues and suppliers are asked for the same few dates. Summer and early autumn Saturdays are the first dates to go in our own calendar, and many couples book their decor with us six months to a year ahead.

Outdoor plans narrow it further. Strathmere, for example, runs outdoor ceremonies from April through November and moves to a fireside indoor ceremony in winter or bad weather. Our guide to a winter wedding in Ottawa covers the quieter months, when far more dates are open.

How to plan a wedding, month by month

Count back from your date. If it is under a year away, do the earlier stages together in the first few weeks.

12 to 18 months before

  • Agree the budget and a first guest count. The count sets the size of room you can use.
  • Choose two or three possible dates, one of them off-peak.
  • Tour and book the venue. Our comparison of Ottawa wedding venues shows what each room includes and what you bring.
  • If you want full planning, book the planner now. Zola says full-service planners usually start 12 to 18 months before the wedding.

9 to 12 months before

  • Book the photographer, the caterer if the venue does not cook, and the music.
  • Choose your officiant. Ontario keeps a public list of registered marriage officiants, and a civil ceremony can be performed by a municipal clerk, a judge or a justice of the peace.
  • For a summer or early autumn Saturday, book the decor. Send us the date, the venue, your guest count and any pictures you have saved.

6 to 9 months before

  • Settle the look. We come back with a design built for your room and an itemized quote you can adjust line by line.
  • Reserve any single rental pieces, such as an arch or a sweet cart, that are not part of a styling package.
  • Hold a hotel room block if guests are travelling in.

3 to 6 months before

  • Ask your caterer for its final-count deadline, and set the RSVP date a week or two before it.
  • Get the venue's rules in writing: candles, confetti, fixing anything to walls, and the setup and teardown times.
  • Want only a partial planner? Zola says they usually join 3 to 6 months out, once the venue is booked.
  • Planning a civil ceremony with the City? You need the licence first, then you book in person at a Client Service Centre.

1 to 3 months before: the marriage licence

The City of Ottawa says a marriage licence is valid for 90 days from the date it is issued, anywhere in Ontario. Apply too early and it expires; leave it to the last week and you are chasing an appointment.

  • Fill in the City's marriage licence application request online. If it is approved, the City emails you the next steps.
  • Bring two pieces of government ID per person, one with a photo. Only one of you has to attend, with both people's ID.
  • Divorced outside Canada? Start a month earlier. Ontario's authorization letter can take up to 4 weeks.

The City will not issue a licence after a ceremony has already taken place, and that includes an informal or symbolic one with the elements of a legal ceremony. A day-of coordinator also joins here: Zola says about 4 to 6 weeks before the wedding.

The final week

  • Confirm the arrival time and contents with every supplier.
  • Give the licence and a pen to whoever runs the signing. You, your spouse, your witnesses and the officiant sign it right after the ceremony.
  • Confirm your two witnesses. For a civil ceremony the City does not provide them, and each must be at least 12.

After the wedding

Your officiant sends the signed licence to ServiceOntario, which registers the marriage. You can order a marriage certificate any time after the ceremony, but Ontario says the application can take up to 8 weeks to process after the marriage is registered.

What a planner or coordinator takes off the list

How much of this list you hand over depends on when the help starts:

  • Full planning takes the whole list from the venue search onwards, and builds the plan with you.
  • Partial planning starts after the big bookings and takes the details, the suppliers and the timeline.
  • Day-of coordination takes your finished plan, confirms it with every supplier in the week before, and runs the day.

With us, either way, decor is installed before guests arrive and taken down at the venue's teardown time, with setup and teardown written into the quote. Our guide to what a wedding coordinator does in Ottawa goes through the last weeks in detail.

Common wedding planning mistakes

Each of these costs couples a date, a deposit or a rushed morning:

  • Booking suppliers before the venue. Until the room is signed, nobody knows the date, the size or the rules.
  • Designing decor before reading the venue's rules. A room that allows no open flame or nothing on the walls changes the design.
  • Getting the licence too early. At 90 days it expires, and a new one means a new application.
  • Assuming someone else brings the witnesses. For a City civil ceremony, the couple does.
  • Running the day yourselves. If nobody else holds the timeline, the couple ends up answering suppliers' questions in their wedding clothes.

Wedding planning checklist: common questions

What do I need for a wedding checklist?

Four things, in this order: the decisions that fix everything else (date, venue, guest count and budget), the suppliers, the legal paperwork (an Ontario marriage licence, an authorized officiant and two witnesses), and a plan for the day itself, with every supplier confirmed in the final week.

What should I include on my final wedding checklist?

The licence in hand and its expiry date checked, two witnesses confirmed, every supplier's arrival time and contact, the venue's setup and teardown times, the ceremony-to-reception flip if the room changes over, and one person, not the couple, who holds the timeline on the day.

What is the checklist for getting married in Ontario?

Both of you must be eligible (18, or 16 and 17 with written parental consent), hold a valid Ontario marriage licence, and be married by an authorized officiant. The City of Ottawa asks for two pieces of government ID per applicant. You, your spouse, your witnesses and the officiant sign the licence right after the ceremony.

How far in advance should you get a marriage licence in Ottawa?

Inside the 90 days before your wedding. The City of Ottawa says a licence is valid for 90 days from the date it is issued and can be used anywhere in Ontario. Apply about two months out, so the appointment lands well inside that window. Start earlier if either of you was divorced outside Canada: that authorization can take up to 4 weeks.

How far ahead should we book wedding decor in Ottawa?

For a summer or early autumn Saturday, many couples book us six months to a year ahead, because those dates go first. Off-peak dates and smaller weddings have far more flexibility. If your date is close, still ask: we will tell you honestly whether we can do it justice.

Every fact, from its own publisher

Each fact was read on November 5, 2026 on the publisher's own page. Rules and processing times change, so check the City and Ontario pages before you apply.

Working through your checklist? Call Sparkle Events at 613-869-1777 or send us your date, venue and guest count, and we will tell you which jobs we can take off it.

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