Suspension, Brakes, Tires & Wheels - do i need an alignment?

do i need an alignment after i get my 17's on my civic with 205/40/17

You shouldn't need to. But you can answer that yourself after you put the wheels on.

when's the last time you had an alignment?
might not be a bad idea to have it done now; if things are out of spec you'll just be wearing down your new tires.

you usually don't need to get an alignment after you get new wheels. I say "usually" because after putting my 17's on last month, I noticed the car seems to need an alignment (but I'm lowering it soon, so I'll just wait till then)