Where exactly are you located, as that would affect your degrees of chill, etc., etc.?

I can't help planning the timing, except for a few suggestions - I assume you are buying bulbs, so get those that are listed as mid- to late-blooming - avoid the early-blooming ones. If you absolutely MUST have some variety listed as early, then I would keep them in the fridge for a month or so, so they, hopefully, bloom with the others. Some daffs "force" better than others, so I would try to stick with those varieties, which are usually listed as such. Whoever you talk to at the catalogue company should be able to help.

As far as potting goes, I assume you want to replant these at your or your daughter's house, or give a pot to wedding guests who want one. In that case, do put a bulb fertilizer in the potting soil, so the bulb has food for the next year - the pots can be planted in the ground any time after blooming, but I would divide and separate the bulbs, not just plant them in the ground as they were in the pot, as they will become crowded very quickly. I wouldn't worry about the gravel in the bottom, unless you plan on putting them on top of pure clay - the pots will drain well enough wherever they are, and there will be more room for roots to grow without the gravel. Plant the bulbs in the pots so that the noses are just below the surface. You can dress the pots up with moss - Spanish or sheet, depending on how hard you want to work at it, as fitting the sheet moss around where the leaves will grow can be tricky - both are available in bags at Michaels or at a florist supply house - if using either, be prepared to check and adjust as the leaves grow, since they can force the moss aside or up as growth starts and goes on. If you don't do it at planting time, do this before the leaves or buds grow more than 5-6 inches, as otherwise it's too hard to place without breaking leaves or removing a bud.

I would protect the top of the grouping with something as well - chicken wire? - as the grouping, leaves, etc. sound like an ideal habitat for mice or voles to spend the winter. Just be sure to start checking in Jan. and lift the wire up from leaves - it can be difficult to gently lift it off multiple sets of leaves - not to mention buds - without tearing some.

And last, and what you have probably already thought of, but do keep checking on the moisture levels in the pots - you don't want to drown them, but totally dry would be bad also. As I am sure you know.....

When I've grown daff's in pots to sell at the farmers market (which started in late March) I had the best luck with the tiny Tete-tete ones rather than the normal sized guys. I packed them in tightly to make sure I had a big floral show, used cheap potting mix, no gravel on the bottom, no winter protection except from voles and squirrels which will dig up the bulbs even though they don't always eat them. I didn't water them or otherwise care for them until spring when they started to sprout. Mid March is a bit early for some daffs so you have to be careful what cultivars you buy but you can trick any of them into blooming on schedule if you have a basement or garage where you can rig up some shop lights on a timer. First just pot them up after the weather stays cool (Thanksgiving weekend is my choice bulb planting timeframe). Let them get their required cold treatment over the winter and then in mid January poke around in the soil to see if they have sprouted. If you see sprouts but nothing is above the ground I would move them under lights and give them 12 hour days and 12 hour nights. It will be hard to time them perfectly but once you have buds it is easy to encourage them to open up with warm air (bring them inside the house at night) or slow down (reduce the amount of daylight hours). Keeping them above freezing but cool will make the flowers last longer. I've even shoved the pots of flowers into the refrigerator to slow them down.

If you don't want to invest a ton of time into it - you could just buy those multi-cultivar bags and pot up a bunch of pots and just work with the ones that appear to be on your schedule. Bulbs can be cheap and daffs are very easy.

At that time of year Daphne odora and Daphne gengkwa as well as Edgeworthia chrysantha or papyrifera could also be in bloom and they can be wonderfully fragrant. You could just buy some in the weeks before the wedding to use as accents along with the smaller violas in the wedding colors. The good thing about cool season bloomers is that the flowers last a long long time (as long as it stays cool).

Thanks!