Before all of your wedding planning can actually take off, you need to decide when your wedding should be. It’s not a very easy decision. How to pick a wedding date that’s perfect for you entails so many factors and considerations, but no matter what date you choose, stand by it and don’t budge.
Factors to Consider on How to Pick a Wedding Date
After you’ve said yes to your fiance, and after all the engagement euphoria has died down, it’s time to sit down, roll out your calendar, and see your wedding date options. Another thing you need to figure out is how soon — or how far into the future — your wedding should be. How many months do you need to prepare so you may put together your dream wedding?
On average, couples usually take about fifteen months, or a little over a year to plan their wedding after the engagement. If you announce your Save The Date to friends and family a year in advance, they would have more time to also plan for your wedding and fix their travel and work arrangements. And real talk — everyone has more time to lose weight!
Having a year-long engagement also keeps you from going on a rush through your wedding plans and be all harassed and raccoon-eyed. You have enough time to fine-tune wedding details and secure reservations ahead of time. It takes about 9 to 11 months to find and finalize your wedding dress, considering all the pickings, the fittings, and the possible alterations that might come along. Venues for the ceremony and the reception are also usually booked a year in advance. With a longer lead time from engagement to the wedding day, you get to have more time to sleep, too.
But, it also depends on your individual personality as a couple. If you work well under pressure and find the year-long engagement quite a drag, you can go for a shorter lead time. Six months to prepare everything is already quite a tight timeline, but if you can do it, then go for it.
When you have decided on how long your engagement will be before the wedding, the next practical tip — actually, the foremost tip — you can follow is to check the calendar of your wedding venue options. What dates are free of bookings? Note them down. These will be a good enough basis on how to pick a wedding date.
Some Tips to Consider
The next factors to consider on how to pick a wedding date are pretty flexible. Here are a few you can base your wedding date on.
- The season. The season that you choose for your wedding could add a nice touch to the whole experience. Seasons have colors associated with them, so you can opt for the time of the year, which has the hues you love. But more than the aesthetics, a certain season could also set a mood. What suits your couple’s personality best? If your story of romance is that of fresh blooms and fruitfulness and growth in the soul, a spring wedding could be for you. Fun, adventure-loving, warm couples could have a sunny summer wedding work best. The writer types and poets might love a fall wedding with its rich and meditative earth and rust tones. Winter weddings may be for you if you like the spectacle and snowflake opulence of the holidays.
Just be prepared for the mood swings that each season might unleash on your wedding day. Plan accordingly so that your clothing is weather-appropriate, and you have all the other undesirable anticipated and managed. But whatever date or season you choose, don’t let any weather make you whither. - Significant dates in your life. Another tip on how to pick a wedding date is to consider significant moments in your life as a couple. You can pick your anniversary as a romantic couple as your wedding date, or perhaps, the day you first met. Anything sentimental and special for you as a couple would make for a good wedding date.
A date that’s easy to remember. If remembering is quite a challenge for you as a couple, you can decrease the chances of forgetting anniversaries but choosing dates that have patterns. For example, 10/10, or 8/8, or 9/10. Whatever works for you. - Cheaper dates. Weddings also have an off-peak season, which you can choose if you plan to save much on wedding costs. Popular wedding months like June, September, and October, as well as those close to the holidays like December and January, and Valentine’s month of February, command a higher price in wedding venues, catering, dresses, and all the other elements of a wedding. March, April, and November are cheaper in terms of wedding rates.
Weekdays are also cheaper than Saturday weddings, so you can consider that, too. It might also help you that since it is a workday, you can control the total headcount in your guest list.
Conclusion
We know you’re very much excited about planning your wedding. But, before anything else, setting the date to your most awaited moment is crucial. It might seem very simple just to pick a date, but wouldn’t it be memorable to choose a date that has significance to you both as a couple? Here’s to hoping that learning how to pick a wedding date gets you the best date with the best deals and the best circumstances ever. Know more about wedding essentials.