Questions about UK Fiance Visa and document checklist

Hi everyone! I am new here but have been using this forum for a few months to prepare for my UK Fiance Visa. We will be getting engaged next month when I visit England and I plan to apply for the Fiance visa directly after returning to California (20th of September). Our current timeline looks like:
20 Sept- apply online for UK Fiance Visa
Before the end of Sept- Biometrics appointment and mail documents to Scheffield (Priority Application)
November 27th- anticipated flight date
Late January/Feb 2018- Wedding date

My questions regarding the timeline:
How do I schedule a biometrics appointment in California? Should I schedule that now in case they get busy or is that something that can be scheduled after I submit the application?
I'm under the impression that we cant give notice to marry until I arrive there and have a piece of post with my name attached to my Fiance's address. Is this true or can we post intent to marry before I arrive there?
I read the notice that said it may take 70 days for approval to get married once we submit our intent to marry but have also read it may only take 28 days. It seems to me that since I am an american citizen (he is a UK citizen) that it will take 70 days, but I would love if someone can confirm this since we would like to have the wedding sooner than 70 days if possible.

My current document checklist is:
UKVI Application form printed after I submit my application online
VAF4A Appendix 2
Biometrics paperwork
Letter of sponsorship (from my UK fiance)
Current and previous passport
My (american) birth certificate
Financial Documents (6 months of pay stubs from Fiance's work and 6 months of bank statements)
Copy of UK Fiance's passport (all pages)
Proof of intent to marry (my wedding dress receipt, my engagement ring receipt, planned wedding date and possible venues)
Proof of relationship- screenshots of skype logs, flight itineraries for the 9 trips we have taken to see each other+one page of photos from each visit, a few cards we have sent to each other.
Housing- a letter from his parents who he lives with stating what he pays in rent and that I am welcome to live with them for an indefinite amount of time.

Questions:
Do I need to have photocopies of my passports printed on A4 paper in addition to including the real ones?
Do I need to include a certified copy of my birth certificate?
Do I need a certified copy/original copy of HIS birth certificate?
Is that enough proof of intent to marry or will we need to include correspondence with vendors?
Do I need to include receipts for our weddings bands? Since we are applying in September and not getting married until February, we weren't planning on buying wedding bands before the application unless we absolutely have to.
Housing issues: His parents pay for the house, maintain it and are on the council tax, but technically his Nan (who also lives in the house) owns the property. Do I also need a letter from her allowing me to live there? Do I need to include post with my Fiance's name attached to the address as further proof? This is the area I am most worried about since my Fiance is not on the council tax form and does not have a tenancy agreement.
Financial: I will have a somewhat significant amount of savings when I move, but his current salary of 23,000GBP covers the financial requirement. Am I fine to completely omit anything regarding my savings?

Last but not least: am I missing anything in the above documents?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide, feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment!

My questions regarding the timeline:
How do I schedule a biometrics appointment in California? Should I schedule that now in case they get busy or is that something that can be scheduled after I submit the application?

You'll schedule the biometrics as part of the online application so you can't do it now. You should be able to get an appointment within a few days though so no need to worry about that.

My current document checklist is:
UKVI Application form printed after I submit my application online
VAF4A Appendix 2
Biometrics paperwork
Letter of sponsorship (from my UK fiance)
Current and previous passport
My (american) birth certificate
Financial Documents (6 months of pay stubs from Fiance's work and 6 months of bank statements)
Copy of UK Fiance's passport (all pages)
Proof of intent to marry (my wedding dress receipt, my engagement ring receipt, planned wedding date and possible venues)
Proof of relationship- screenshots of skype logs, flight itineraries for the 9 trips we have taken to see each other+one page of photos from each visit, a few cards we have sent to each other.
Housing- a letter from his parents who he lives with stating what he pays in rent and that I am welcome to live with them for an indefinite amount of time.
 

You do not need your birth certificate, you only need a copy of the bio page of your fiance's passport, preferably certified.

You do need the letter from your fiance's employer and ideally the employment contract and P60 although the latter two are recommended rather than mandatory.

You need the land registry document for the house to prove ownership. As the parents don't own the house, you will also need a letter of permission from the grandmother as well as the one from them.

You should include some email correspondence with your prospective wedding venue.

Passport photos of yourself.

Questions:
Do I need to have photocopies of my passports printed on A4 paper in addition to including the real ones?
Do I need to include a certified copy of my birth certificate?
Do I need a certified copy/original copy of HIS birth certificate?
Is that enough proof of intent to marry or will we need to include correspondence with vendors?
Do I need to include receipts for our weddings bands? Since we are applying in September and not getting married until February, we weren't planning on buying wedding bands before the application unless we absolutely have to.
Housing issues: His parents pay for the house, maintain it and are on the council tax, but technically his Nan (who also lives in the house) owns the property. Do I also need a letter from her allowing me to live there? Do I need to include post with my Fiance's name attached to the address as further proof? This is the area I am most worried about since my Fiance is not on the council tax form and does not have a tenancy agreement.
Financial: I will have a somewhat significant amount of savings when I move, but his current salary of 23,000GBP covers the financial requirement. Am I fine to completely omit anything regarding my savings?

Include photocopies of anything you want returned to you. They don't have to be A4.

Birth certificates are not required, yours or his.

Include correspondence with the venue.

You don't need to include receipts for the wedding rings.

You need permission from the homeowner and proof of ownership and as the parents live there too permission from them also. How many bedrooms and living rooms in the house?

Mail for your husband is not required.

If he meets the requirement using his salary then no need to mention the savings. But if you have held 62.5kgbp for more than 6 months in an instantly accessible account then you can use that instead. It's easier as there is less paperwork.

Last but not least: am I missing anything in the above documents? 

A few things, see above.

Welcome to the forum .

How do I schedule a biometrics appointment in California? Should I schedule that now in case they get busy or is that something that can be scheduled after I submit the application?

You can't do it until you submit the online application because the process of booking biometrics for a UK visa application is different to those booking biometrics for US immigration applications.

When you submit the online application, you will be prompted to do the following:
- pay for the visa
- book the biometrics appointment

You can book the appointment at any one of the 129 USCIS Application Support Centers across the US, but it should show you the ones nearest you. You just select the most convenient date and time for you at the centre of your choice. Most people get an appointment within 2-5 days of submitting the online application.

Once you have attended the biometrics, you have just 5 days to mail your documents to Sheffield for processing.

I'm under the impression that we cant give notice to marry until I arrive there and have a piece of post with my name attached to my Fiance's address. Is this true or can we post intent to marry before I arrive there?
I read the notice that said it may take 70 days for approval to get married once we submit our intent to marry but have also read it may only take 28 days. It seems to me that since I am an american citizen (he is a UK citizen) that it will take 70 days, but I would love if someone can confirm this since we would like to have the wedding sooner than 70 days if possible.

Assuming you are marrying in England or Wales, the process is as follows:
- you must be resident in the county where you will marry for at least 7 days before you can give notice to marry
- as you have a visa, you will have to give notice at a designated registry office (this may not be in the same town as where you will marry)
- once you have given notice you must wait at least 28 days before you can marry... this applies to EVERYONE, even UK citizens
- if you have a visa, your case may be referred to UKVI for further checks to make sure your relationship is genuine... this can take up to 70 days
- HOWEVER, as you will have a fiance visa, UKVI will have already determined your relationship is genuine and so will have given you permission to marry by way of your visa, so you shouldn't have to wait more than the normal 28 days

In regards to your documents, you don't need:
- your birth certificate
- your sponsor's birth certificate
- a full copy of the sponsor's passport.... you only need a (preferably certified) copy of the photo page with his details on it

I've organised your document list so everything is in sections according to the requirements:

Applicant
- Printed online application form
- Printed and completed VAF4A Appendix 2
- Biometrics confirmation sheet (which will be stamped by USCIS)
- Current US passport
- Previous US passport
- 1 or 2 passport photos (can be UK or US size)
- Optional contents letter
- Optional proposed flight itinerary
- Receipt for priority processing (if paying for priority)
- Return shipping label

Sponsor
- Letter of sponsorship (from my UK fiance)
- Copy of UK Fiance's passport photo page only (preferably certified...this can be done at a UK post office for about £8)

Finances - Category A
Mandatory
- 6 months of original pay slips showing at least £1,550 before tax on each one, the last one dated no more than 28 days before your online application date
- 6 months of bank statements showing the deposit of every single payslip the last one dated no more than 28 days before your online application date
- A letter from the employer, dated no more than 28 days before your online application date, stating ALL of the following:
(i) the person's employment and gross annual salary;
(ii) the length of their employment;
(iii) the period over which they have been or were paid the level of salary relied upon in the application; and
(iv) the type of employment (permanent, fixed-term contract or agency).

Optional but recommended as they may ask for them
- original job contract
- latest original P60

Accommodation
- His grandmother's Land Registry document showing she owns the property (can be downloaded from the Land Registry website for about £3)
- A letter from his grandmother giving you permission to live there and stating the home will not be overcrowded (total number of bedrooms and living rooms, plus total number of people in the property)
- A letter from his parents saying they have no objection to you living there too

Proof of intent to marry
- email correspondence with the church or registry office enquiring about possible available dates
- Optional: provisional ceremony booking (not necessary but some people have it)

Proof of relationship
- 1 or 2 photos MAXIMUM of you together (just to prove you've met at least once)
- boarding passes from trips to see each other (if you no longer have boarding passes, the e-ticket can be used)
- a few cards you have sent to each other.
- 1-2 pages of screenshots of Skype call logs, over the entire length of your relationship
If applicable:
- 1-2 pages of screenshots of your email inbox and/or message logs showing emails sent to each other (subject lines and dates only), over the entire length of your relationship

Do I need to have photocopies of my passports printed on A4 paper in addition to including the real ones?

You should send photocopies, but the paper size doesn't matter. You'll want to send photocopies of all original documents you wish to be returned to you

Do I need to include a certified copy of my birth certificate?
Do I need a certified copy/original copy of HIS birth certificate?

You don't need ANY birth certificates at all, originals or copies. Your passports are prove of ID and nationality.

Is that enough proof of intent to marry or will we need to include correspondence with vendors? Do I need to include receipts for our weddings bands?

Personally, I wouldn't include any of the evidence you listed. What you really need is actual correspondence with the church/registry office enquiring about potential dates, possibly making a provisional booking if they will let you, to show you are planning to marry on a date that falls within the 6 months of the visa.

Housing issues: His parents pay for the house, maintain it and are on the council tax, but technically his Nan (who also lives in the house) owns the property. Do I also need a letter from her allowing me to live there? Do I need to include post with my Fiance's name attached to the address as further proof? This is the area I am most worried about since my Fiance is not on the council tax form and does not have a tenancy agreement.

You do need a letter from his Nan stating she owns it and giving you permission to live there, along with stating it won't be overcrowded. You should also include a letter from his parents saying they are happy for you to move in too.

You don't need any mail or anything as they don't prove homeownership and don't give permission from the owner for you (the applicant) to reside there.

Financial: I will have a somewhat significant amount of savings when I move, but his current salary of 23,000GBP covers the financial requirement. Am I fine to completely omit anything regarding my savings?

Unless your savings amount to at least £62,500 (about $81,250) and you have held them in your account in full for a minimum of 6 months (in which case you could apply based on savings and not income), there is no need to mention them at all.

Sorry for the delay in response, I got caught up in other things and needed a break from Visa planning! Thank you so much for all the information and laying out what I need to include! Your responses made me so much calmer and less confused about the whole process. The house is 7 bedrooms and 5 other rooms not including the two kitchens and bathrooms so it will be plenty big! My savings isn't significant enough to apply based solely on that criteria, so we will be using my fiance's job (he will hit 6 months in September, so we will apply when he gets his 6th paycheck).