Q&A: When should I start planning the wedding? {rsstitle}
Question by Sarah: When should I start planning the wedding?
I am getting married in two or two and a half years. When would be a good time to officially set the date, send out save the date magnets, send out invitations, get a wedding dress, pick flowers, and anything else that needs to be done. We are doing it at an all inclusive place so catering is included. Thanks for the opinions. I just don’t want to start too soon or wait too long. And is 10,000 a good budget?
Best answer:
Answer by B2BJune2010
Good size budget for a small wedding. You can set a date right away if you like. Don’t send out the save the dates until about 1 year before. Same with dress shopping you can start 1 year before. Flowers 4-5 months before, Invitations 2-3 months before etc..
Good luck planning, have fun 
What do you think? Answer below!
I started panning right away. My fiance proposed to me and we planned to get married about a year and a half after. I have been searching the net, calling companies and finding the best deals. We also have about $ 10,000 budget and i have been able to work in everything we want into that budget so far. I just buy a few things here and there so when it gets closer to the wedding we have less stress and can focus on other things like decorating the hall and finishing our dress/tux fittings. Oh ya and i think you could send out your invites about 4 months before your wedding. You don’t want to do it to early because people might forget. Best of luck with the wedding planning.
Honestly If I were you get married sooner, waiting so long sucks!! I have gone a year and a half and honestly have planned all this stuff wife my fiance within 2 months. Get the renue you want going then decide the rest. Honestly you can do it in 6 months easily
Where do you live? I live in the midwest and $ 10,000 is a very do able budget for a nice wedding.
I think there is no harm in setting the date right now
That way you can start telling people.
For a $ 10,000 wedding… I suggest starting to plan a year out. When I say plan I mean actually going to venues and caterers etc. But up until then… buy magazines and books on wedding planning! Borders has some awesome books that show you how to make the best of your budget
Save the dates would go out 6 months before.
Invitations go out 6-8 weeks before
I would plan on getting your dress a year before… make sure and get it in one size up JUST in case 😉
Good luck!
first of all , congrats . it’s never to early to pick your date , so by all means tell people your date now if you have , a good time to start planning is 18 months before your proposed date .
venue is the most important thing . try to get your dress done before the 6 month mark , that gives you time for the dress to be made & any alterations that may need to be done . save the dates can be sent out about 6 months before , invitations by 3-4 months .
because you have plenty of time you can take it easy , start booking things & if you like you can slowly pay them off , that way you don’t have to pay big chunks of money to multiple people right before the wedding , too much stress put on you when you don’t need it .
10,000 is actually a really good amount . that’s what my budget is set as & we are shopping around for good deals , just cause your not paying as much doesn’t mean it will be any less beautiful as a 20,000 wedding .
good luck with everything .
First, sit down with your fiance and decide on what part(s) of the wedding and reception are most important to you. Then figure out your budget. There’s some great budget calculators online (the knot.com and brides.com) which do help. Start looking at wedding/reception venues NOW! Depending on where you live, some venues can be booked more than a year out.
Start getting ideas of dresses, invitations, flowers, etc. that you like now. A simple three ring binder with some folders in it works well to keep your ideas together. It’s also a great place to keep all your bids together for caterers, venues, etc. When you do recieve the bids, they should tell you how long they’ll honor that particular bid. Prices do change so until you’re under contract, don’t be too surprise if things go up (or in our case they went down).
Save the dates – no more than 1 year prior to the wedding.
Invitations – no more than 6 months prior to wedding if destination wedding; 3 to 4 months prior to wedding for local venues.
Wedding dress – No less than 6 months out depending on where you’re ordering. We ordered mine 5 months out and here I am 17 days to wedding and it’s still not here!
One thing to keep in mind with the economy being what it is… make sure the places you book are going strong. I’ve known several brides to be where they lost their deposits for gowns and venues because the places went out of business and they can’t recoop their losses.
Good luck to you and congratulations!
First of all, congrats! Well, it is never too early to start hammering out the basic details of the wedding, namely, the date and the size. As soon as you have set a date, start talking with your fiance about the type of wedding he envisions. It may turn out that he only wants a very small, casual, intimate wedding whereas you’re thinking of a big 300-guest formal event in a hotel ballroom, or vice versa. You need to start thinking of the size and style of your wedding as soon as possible, so you can compromise if necessary and come up with a plan you are both happy about.
Even though it seems so far away right now, it is a good idea to start making a rough-draft guest list, as the number of guests largely determine everything else about a wedding, including size of the venue you’ll need, budget (since it obviously costs more to feed 200 guests than it does to feed 50), and style (a small guest list works better for the more informal, garden-party tyle weddings or destination weddings, while the big ballroom events and huge cathedrals look sort of silly with only a few guests there.)
And, of course, it is never too early to start planning your wedding budget. Open a joint savings account together to serve as your wedding fund- decide on how much you can each contribute to the fund per month. Talk with any parents or other family members who may offer to pay for all or part of the wedding, so you can get a good idea of how much they’re willing to spend. Also, stick to your budget! If you have determined that you have $ 10,000 to spend on the wedding, do not go over that $ 10,000 when planning. In fact, always try to pad the budget a little bit, so you have a little extra in case something comes up or in case you forgot to include something like vendor tips in your original budgeting. $ 10,000 can buy you a beautiful wedding, as long as you keep the guest list relatively small and spend conservatively on things like your dress and the cake.
Here is a timeline for the things you asked about:
Set the date- ASAP!!
Send Save-the-Date magnets- 9-12 months before the wedding
Shop for wedding dress: About a year before the wedding
Send out invitations: 6-8 weeks before the wedding
Select bridal party members: 6-9 months before the wedding
Hire DJ, photographer, officiant, etc.: 9-12 months before the wedding (sooner if it is a really popular photographer or DJ that books up quickly)
Select flowers for bouquets, centerpieces, etc.- About 3-4 months before the wedding
Choose a cake- At least 2 months before the wedding (sooner if it is an exclusive bakery with lots of weddings)
You’ll notice that there’s really not much for you to do until you hit the 1-year mark. Take this next year and a half and just enjoy being engaged and flashing your ring in people’s faces. It is a wonderful time in your life. Savor it! I have enjoyed being engaged so much, and even though I am so excited to get married and be “the Mrs.” part of me is really going to miss being the bride-to-be, so enjoy every moment of it!
Write your ideas down now and start thinking about where you want it. It wouldn’t hurt to maybe look at venues. Start planning and reserving venues at least one year in advance. Dress can be picked up when ever. Make sure though you have enough time to take it back if alterations are needed. Invites should be sent out at least 7-6 weeks before the wedding. Flowers need to be ordered at least two to three months in advance. Talk to the groom and see what he wants to wear. If it’s during the summer Tuxes maybe too hot. Linen suits are very comfortable and look very nice. Cake should be one of the first things you get out of the way. There are many different varieties that you can do. Make sure that you can get a bakery that bake the cake, plus put it together. (That is a major must!) Make sure you pick out your bridal party and get measurements so when the time comes and you need to get their dress you have them.
There are so many things that need to be thought of. Go to a book store and look around. I found a wedding list book that gave you all the basics that you need. It saved my life!
You must be overwhelmed with all these responses—LOL! Actually everybody gave great input. Usually one year before the actually wedding date is a good time to start planning. Whats really cool about planning it sooner is that you can really take your time to figure out what you really want to do. Definitely get some magazines and wedding books for some ideas. Think about choosing a theme if you want—there are sooooo many out there now. What ever you do stick with your budget. If you haven’t chosen colors yet, click the link below to get some ideas…this website has sooooo many color combos that you may have a hard time choosing.
Once again congrats to you!
Click the color palettes on the left.
have you chosen a venue? i live in the uk and booked my venue over two years in advance as they book up pretty quick. once you find your venue and have worked out your budget, sit down and work out how much you need to save each month. then contact the venue get it booked and leave your deposit.
start getting ideas for your wedding and what you would like to have. decide who you want in your bridal party. i chose my dress two years in advance. i had an abundance of magazines, my advice dont waste your money on these, search on line for ideas they are too dear.
send out save the date a year in advance and the invitations around 3 months before the wedding.
10,000 is a good budget if you are having a small wedding, make sure you have a checklist of everything needed for your wedding, so that your not budgeting yourself and leaving things out.
all the best for your wedding
feel free to message me if you have any other questions.
My engagement is going to be 3 years by the time I get married, honestly, I started planning right away. We have a little less than 2 years to go now and we’ve got a lot done already, including everything except the limo and cake booked. It’s going to take a lot of stress off towards the end if you begin your planning now. The only caution I have is before you book, make sure you love it, because you could change your mind. I would send out save the dates about 9 months before the wedding and then your invites about 1 1/2-2 months before. As far as your wedding dress, you can always start looking just make sure that if you find the one you’re careful not to change size too much or it may not fit come wedding day! You can always start looking and not make too many decisions for about 6-9 months. I have a “wedding box” where each aspect of the wedding has its own folder. I put all of my ideas including pictures from online and in magazines in these folders, it’s also great for organizing contracts and price lists from venders and such! Another great way to get ideas is to go to bridal shows, they’re a fun way to spend some time with your fiance and to get to know his wedding tastes as well as your own! And you may get lucky and win some great things!! As far as your budget, we’re planning on 200 guests and are spending about $ 12,000. Hope I helped! : )