We are planning to get officially engaged around Easter time, and after that we will pick a date, but I can’t help stewing over how long I should allow myself to plan the wedding. We are planning a fairly small simple ceremony and just dinner and cocktails after it(no dance). How long do you think I need to plan this type of thing?
I think a lot of it depends on the area where you are getting married. I live in southern Indiana, and I thought it’d be easy to plan my small wedding. But I soon found out, that even nine months before my wedding date, most reception places, dj’s, churches, ect. were already booked, for a year in advance. We are having a very small 20 guest wedding on the riverfront, and a 125 guest reception the weekend after, and it’s taken a very long time to plan even a simple ceremony. The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be.
How long would you allow to plan a fairly small wedding?
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January 5th, 2010 at 11:40 am
I planned mine in 1 months time exactly. we had 40 people and reception at my parents house.
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January 5th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
you can do something like that in a very short period of time….the only things that may create issues are your dress…depending on what that will be and where you are planning to hold the reception…..so book that first and find your dress..the rest is easy
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January 5th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I would say some where around 6 months- but no less. You still need time to order dresses, tuxes, flowers, cake and food. Congrats and Good luck!!
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January 5th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Planning the wedding takes no time, it’s booking a church and a place to have the reception. If you can do that, you can plan almost the whole thing in a couple of weekends. I picked out everything very quickly, I was done in a month!!! But the church and hall, I need a year out to book.
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January 5th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
I know a girl who planned a small, intimate wedding in three months. However, you will need to be willing to compromise as you may not be able to get everything you want on that short of notice.
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January 5th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
The controlling factors likely will be availability of facilities. Are you getting married in a church, give it a minimum of six months unless you want a 9 AM ceremony on a Wednesday. A wedding hall or reception area at a hotel can take months or even years to secure for a weekend evening. Shoot for a date six months out, if you’re in a rush, but check these two things first to secure your date before you send anything to anyone.
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January 5th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
I planned one in a month.
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January 5th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Sounds like you’ll need 6 months, top…depending on the popularity of the location you choose, things should be fine within that time frame. Congrats!!
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Certified Wedding Specialist (www.eleganzaintima.com)
January 5th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
take your time do it wright
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
hey if it feels right do it whenever u want, but be considerate of all the family members too–i would say 3-6 months is sufficient time–congratulations and good luck
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Start now. And pick the date. Start calling for restaurants/halls/caterers/florists/photographers. Order the invitations and write them out, even if you don’t send them out until 6 weeks in advance. Get your clothes, and relax.
We ditched the traditional wedding because for a small wedding, it would have been near $10,000 here. Keep it simple, get it all lined up quick, and relax.
(Legal pads are your friends.)
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Not long. Get a reservation for a banquet room at a restaurant for dinner (provided you’re going to a restaurant for the dinner) and let that be your guide. Also, if you’re buying a traditional dress, you’ll probably need at least 6 months. My husband and I were only engaged for 2 months, and the war in Iraq started and he had to leave. We wanted to get married before he left. We had ONE DAY!!!!! We had a minister, church, restaurant reservations, a wedding cake and flowers (mom is good friends with local florist and caterer) and about 40 guests. The mayor of the town where our reception was agreed to let them serve us liquor an extra hour after they were supposed to stop serving (it was a Sunday, and where we live, rural Illinois, many towns don’t allow the service or sale of liquor at all on Sunday, some towns are completely dry all the time).
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Since you’re getting engaged around Easter, you could start planning for your wedding now by writing down ideas you have for what you want as far as decoration for the ceremony, caterers and food for the reception, flowers, your color scheme, and all that. You could even begin to go to travel agencies to get an idea as to how much a honeymoon would cost. Perhaps consider opening a savings account and putting money away NOW even though you’re not engaged, this will benefit you in the long run. And if you too decide not to get married, you’ll still have some money stashed away for yourself.
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January 5th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
I think a lot of it depends on the area where you are getting married. I live in southern Indiana, and I thought it’d be easy to plan my small wedding. But I soon found out, that even nine months before my wedding date, most reception places, dj’s, churches, ect. were already booked, for a year in advance. We are having a very small 20 guest wedding on the riverfront, and a 125 guest reception the weekend after, and it’s taken a very long time to plan even a simple ceremony. The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be.
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January 5th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
My husband gave me my engagement ring Sept. 24th and we got married Oct. 21st. We were married in our backyard and also had our reception in our backyard. I bought my gown at a discount bridal shop($125) My husband’s tux was $149, my friend made our cake and put together my bouquet, my matron of honor’s bouquet and all the men’s boutonnieres from silk flowers that I bought at Wal-Mart. I made the salads and baked beans and we grilled half a pig and half a deer and had half a keg of beer. Everyone had a great time and they still say it was the best wedding they have ever attended!
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