Planning an Indian wedding can be very exhilarating not to forget stressful, what with the many elaborate events that it comprises. As a bride-to-be, you in all probability must have never planned a wedding before, so the entire process must definitely be very daunting.

Keep those worries away, because we've prepared a detailed wedding planning checklist of things to get done to make sure that all goes well on your wedding day. This article (part of a 4-part series) will help you with all the activities needed to be completed at least a year before your wedding takes place.

1 year away

So he's popped the question and you're all aglow! Now begins the preliminary planning stage for the big day. A lot of progress can be made once the wedding date is set. It's also time to get connected with your wedding planner of choice. Once done, your partner and you will be spending a lot of time with your wedding planner and it goes without saying that the sooner you do it the better!

Set the tone of the wedding: Now is the time to decide whether you'll want to have a formal, casual, destination of themed wedding. You both might also want to mutually decide on the religious ceremonies involved such as a church wedding, Pheras, and other pre-wedding functions & rituals like the mehndi or a cocktail party.

1.         The next step will see you drawing up a tentative wedding guest list with your partner. Perhaps at this stage, having parents from both sides sit down with you'll, will help to finalize the wedding guest list.

2.         It's time to set the budget for your wedding. You can leave the nitty-gritty of it all to your wedding planner. After all, the bride and groom are not really expected to plan their own wedding, rather they get help!

3.         Now you must decide on your bridal party. You'll be the best judge of who's to be your Matron of Honor and brides maids. Have your partner select his groomsmen too.

4.         Your wedding is still a year away. So make the best of this time by looking up photographers and videographers. In India, wedding photography of the artistic and natural kind has become quite the trend over posed and planned photography. If you have a photographer in mind that is based out of India, it's time to contact them and finalize your queries.

5.         Your partner and you need to keep your wedding theme in mind when deciding the invitation style. However, you don't' really need to get them printed at least four months before the actual day. Since the wedding date has been decided upon, you may also want to send ‘Save the Date' cards to your friends who are out of India.

6.         Start discussing the type of music you'd like to be played at your wedding. There are a good number of wonderful live bands  in India itself who specialize in jazz and upbeat music.

7.         You want to look like a princess at your wedding, don't you? So it's time to figure out make-up artists for yourself and your bridal party.

Now that both you and your partner have most of the information, the planning can actually begin. If you have a wedding planner, then your work is almost done! Stay tuned for the second part of this 4-part wedding checklist series, because you're only getting closer to the big day!