How Much Time Do You Need to Plan Your Wedding?

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about how much time is needed to plan a wedding.  I know this may seem like such a simple thing, but some couples I meet with wonder if the time frame they have is realistic.  

I feel like in most cases you can plan a wedding with whatever time limit you have.  There are a few things that attribute to making the wedding planning process take longer.  When you are planning a wedding, I think there are three big things that need the most time.

#1. The venue.  Great venues get swooped up a year to a year and a half in advance.  If you have the option, waiting for your dream venue might be worth it.  If you only have five months to plan a wedding, it's time to be less picky and more creative about your venue.  

#2 The dress! we all know that the dress is something very import on your wedding day.  When it comes to the dress it takes time.  You need time to find the perfect dress, then around seven to eight months for it to be ordered and altered.  If you want/need to have your wedding sooner than that, there are still options.  You could buy a sample dress at a bridal shop and have it altered, but again you can't be too picky.  Buying a white dress that isn't a wedding dress is also an option.  

#3 The guest list.  Deciding who to invite to your wedding is a very daunting task, but that's not why you need time.  If you have a lot of family and friends coming in from out-of-town for your wedding, you probably need to give them more than six months to make their arrangements. 

On the opposite of this, having too much time to plan your wedding can be just as hard as when you don't have a lot of time. When you have two plus years to plan your wedding, you might think it's great but in reality a lot of the ideas you thought you wanted in the beginning of your planning process, might not be the same when the wedding is three months away.  You might find this great idea, but it's now too late and it can get expensive if you have to make changes to your original flower arrangements, cake, etc.  You may also go crazy over the little details because you have so much time after all the big things are taken care of.  

I hope this helped!

XO, Val