How Early Is Too Early To Start Wedding Planning? 12 months? or 6 months? 3 months?
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There really isn’t a “too early” when it comes to wedding planning. We would even say there is also not a “too late” time to plan your wedding.
Most checklists and timelines start at a 12-month period. This gives a good spread out of things to do and book so you won’t feel overwhelmed.
However, this timeframe varies depending on the couple’s preferences and situation. This also includes the complexity of the wedding you’d like to have.
Setting up a wedding website that can help you put all your wedding planning tasks and projects in one place will be a great idea.
Typically, a year in advance is a “safe” timeframe especially if you have specific vendors and venues you’d like to secure.
If you have a specific date in mind or planning to get married during high-time (popular) wedding season, you might need to start even earlier.
Summer months, which is usually the busiest and most popular time, tend to be booked up even up to 1.5-2 years in advance.
The sooner (right after getting engaged) you and your partner start discussing the foundation of your wedding planning, the better. This includes deciding on the budget, date, and venue.
Call your potential venues and ask about the booking timeframe. Some of them might not even take bookings that are more than a year out, while some venues are already booked for up to 24 months.
Made-to-order wedding dresses can take up to 6 months to make and another 1-2 months if alterations are needed. Off-the-rack dresses take lesser time to come and get altered.
Getting ahead in your wedding planning helps you manage bookings and responsibilities better. Which in turn will avoid you stress in the long run.
Even if you’re not ready to start booking vendors or making concrete plans, brainstorming together can help you establish a vision for your special day and make the planning process smoother later on.
Remember when we mentioned earlier that there is also no such thing as “too late” to plan your wedding? Our planning team has planned weddings in 2 weeks and it came out beautifully.
PRO TIP: Applying for a marriage license is totally different from planning the wedding. Of course, you’ll need to consider the time it takes for your license to arrive. As well as other requirements from the institution you choose to get married at. Work on this first and once you have all your paperwork ready or at least started, then you can proceed with the rest of the wedding planning.
Of course, shorter planning time means that there might not be a lot of custom and personalized work available. But, if you work with the right vendors, anything can happen.
Getting an early headstart in your wedding planning journey is also a good way to gauge how much you are willing to take on especially if you are also working full-time.
And depending on what you and your partner come up with, this is a good time to decide if you’d want to work with a wedding planner or coordinator to help you out with the rest of the journey.
In summary, the answer really depends on your situation and personality. Some might find it dragging and stressful so start “too” early as details may “evolve” (nope, we’re not talking about crime dramas here! iykyk!) – and you might want to change some things along the way.
If you feel more flexible with things, you might not need to get started asap – you can probably take your time.
Sit down with your partner and talk about the best “timeframe” that will be manageable for both of you- ensuring that you can both enjoy this wedding planning journey.
