Most Bangalore families start planning somewhere between six and nine months before the wedding. That is enough time if the order is right, and not enough if the order is wrong. The single thing that decides everything else is the date, and the thing that goes first is the venue.
This is a working order, not a rule. Shorten it if you have less time — just keep the sequence.
Nine to twelve months: the date and the shortlist
Fix the muhurtham first, with both families and your purohit. Everything downstream depends on it, and venues will not hold a tentative date for long.
Once you have the date, settle three numbers before you look at a single venue: roughly how many guests, roughly what you can spend in total, and which part of the city suits most of the family. A list of venues drawn up before those three numbers exist will waste your weekends.
Six to nine months: book the venue
For a popular muhurtham date, the good venues on Kanakapura Road, Sarjapur Road and towards Devanahalli go six to nine months ahead. If your date falls in the November to February season, treat that as the outer limit, not a comfortable buffer.
Visit three or four, not fifteen. Ask the hard questions on the visit rather than over the phone. Then pay the advance and get the booking in writing with the date, the slot timings and the inclusion list on it.
Four to six months: caterer, priest, photographer
If the venue allows outside catering, the caterer is the next booking. If it does not, this is when you do the tasting and lock the menu.
Confirm the purohit for the muhurtham and for any ceremonies in the days before. Book the photographer — the ones families recommend are booked out on good dates earlier than anyone expects.
This is also when the guest list stops being approximate. Collect names and phone numbers in one place, from both sides.
Three months: invitations and outstation guests
Get the invitation designed and printed. Send digital invitations to outstation guests first so they can book travel while fares are sane, and follow with the printed card.
Block hotel rooms now if the venue does not have enough of its own. Ask the venue whether they have a tie-up rate nearby — most do.
Two months: decor, music, and the running order
Finalise the decor brief with your decorator and check it against what the venue permits. Some venues restrict open flame, nails in walls, or anything fixed to the ceiling, and it is much easier to hear this now than on the morning.
Agree the running order for each function with both families: what time the mandap is ready, when the baraat arrives, when dinner is served.
One month: confirmations in writing
Call every vendor and reconfirm the date, timing and amount. Get the final guest count to the caterer. Pay the balances that are due and keep the receipts together.
Confirm with the venue: entry time for decorators, generator backup, parking arrangements, and who their on-site contact will be on the day.
Two weeks: the small things
Buy the things nobody remembers until the week of — thamboolam bags, return gifts, the trays and plates for the rituals, spare safety pins, a small medical kit.
Confirm transport for elderly relatives. Send the venue location pin to every guest in a single WhatsApp message; typing the address into Maps in Bangalore does not reliably land people at the right gate.
The week of the wedding
Hand over one printed sheet to one family member: every vendor name, number, arrival time and balance due. That person is not the bride, the groom, or either set of parents.
Pack a bag for the venue — documents, cash for tips, chargers, a change of clothes. Then stop making decisions. Anything not settled by now is not going to improve from being revisited.
A note on short timelines
Three months is workable for a weekday date or an off-season month. For a Saturday in the November to February season, three months means taking whichever venue is still free rather than the one you wanted. If your date is fixed and close, start with the venue and worry about everything else afterwards.
If you tell us your date and guest count, we will check availability across every venue on our list and call you back. 080 4709 7540.
Set these nine lines to Heading 2
- Nine to twelve months: the date and the shortlist
- Six to nine months: book the venue
- Four to six months: caterer, priest, photographer
- Three months: invitations and outstation guests
- Two months: decor, music, and the running order
- One month: confirmations in writing
- Two weeks: the small things
- The week of the wedding
- A note on short timelines