You’re engaged, and there’s a ring on your finger to prove it. You’re happy, so in love, and so excited to plan your wedding! But when do you actually need to start planning your wedding? How long should your engagement be? Do you want a small wedding? Do you want a big wedding? What about a micro-wedding? Does the size of your wedding change your timeline?
First of all, take a deep breath.
Enjoy at least the first few days of engagement bliss! You’ll want to savour this moment and focus on being newly engaged.
And then you can get into your wedding planning.
For a large wedding, we typically see venues being booked 12-18 months out. Not only do you need a wedding venue big enough to accommodate a large guest count, you also need wedding vendors booked early on for the same reasons. Larger weddings require longer timelines because all orders are larger; you’re getting more décor, more food, more alcohol, etc. While you can get a large wedding planned in as little as 6 months, the most stress-free option for you is to give yourself over a year to plan.
For small and intimate weddings, which we consider under 120 guests, we typically see wedding venues booked 6-9 months out. You require less space for your reception, so it becomes a little easier to find an available wedding venue. The earlier you start, the better, but either way, you’ll get the wedding of your dreams, even on a tighter timeline.
With micro-weddings on the rise, timelines get a little trickier. What was once a wedding of 400 people has now become a wedding of 10. Whether this is due to personal preference or due to current government restrictions, we’re seeing a trend towards micro-weddings with timelines that are unique to every couple. Some couples who’ve been engaged for over a year have switched into planning a micro-wedding only a few weeks out. Some newly engaged couples aren’t even thinking of hosting a large wedding, and are already planning for a micro-wedding for after the New Year. Engagements for micro-weddings have spanned from a few weeks to a few years.
If this year has taught us anything, it’s that you need to be flexible. Whether you imagined a 2 month engagement, or a 2 year engagement, you need to be prepared for things to look different closer to your wedding date. Many couples have needed to reschedule their weddings a year out, and other couples have had to accept a significantly lower guest count than they initially planned for.
No matter what you do with your wedding, how long your engagement is, or what you want the big day to look like, remember that you are marrying the love of your life, and that’s more important than any wedding detail.
Contact us if you have any questions about planning your wedding! We’re here to help!