When is the appropriate time to begin planning ?

Knottie26944781

Soo I just got engaged as of Feb 14th to the love of my life ; My big question is when is it okay to start planning ? & should i do Newly Engaged Photos ? 

Knottie84307448

Congrats on the engagement! Your ring is beautiful!

We started planning right away because we decided to have a very short engagement. We are getting married just over 5 months after getting engaged so we had to GO GO GO! 

Plan at your own pace, that is the best advice that I can offer! It is different for everyone Have fun!

zitiqueen

Don't ask anybody to be in your bridal party until nine months before the big day.

AddieCake

There is no magic date for when to begin planning. If you want to do photos, do photos. Congrats!

CMGragain

Relax.  You didn't tell us when your wedding date will be.  If it is at least a year away, you have plenty of time.

Knottie26944781

Thank You, Im still deciding on a wedding date , I'm thinking August of 2016 . 

JennyColada

Locking down a venue is probably the first thing to do, and I'd probably do that sooner rather than later.

But you have over a year, and in wedding terms that's a long time!

ohmrs2014

Congrats on your engagement!  

I agree with PP, locking down the venue would probably be the only thing I would worry about.

Where I am, we booked our major vendors beginning at 22 months out because they tend to book up quick over here in NJ.

hoppytogether

Congrats!  Lovely mani, too.  

Figuring a budget and date are two things I'd personally do first.  After that, you know how long you have to put everything together.  Generally, the venue is what takes longest to find, afford, and sign a contract for.

I plan events for a small business; we book the venue 9-12 months in advance.  

For my own wedding, the engagement and actually marriage are only about 4-5 months apart.  (August wedding, not even technically formally engaged yet--waiting for the ring to get here.)  But we've been discussing what kind of wedding we want, etc, for years.

It sounds like you have ample time to work out details if you're shooting for August 2016!  Enjoy being engaged for a little bit then get into planning a year or so out.

(A photoshoot would be adorable, btw!)

Knottie26944781

Thanks , the mani was part of the day surprise ! & I've been thinking about the engagement photos , just need to ind a reasonable pace to do them . 

teddygirl9

Congrats! lovely ring

Bubbs4ever

Congrats! Another awww on that mani too!

princessleia22

Congrats!  Start planning whenever you want. Typically you want to book the major items (venue, caterer, etc.) about a year in advance, but it's not always necessary. 

We got engaged in December and didn't even really start seriously talking about plans until around May or June. It was nice having time to enjoy being engaged and narrowing down theoretical plans before jumping into the stress of actively planning. We booked major stuff in July. We got married the following June. My sister got engaged and within 3 days she had EVERYTHING booked and bought her dress the following week. She had an 8 month engagement. She also had been the type that had imagined her dream wedding since childhood and already had a Pinterest page filled with wedding ideas.  She knew what she wanted and immediately jumped on making it happen. So, it depends on how much time you have before ideal wedding date and how excited and anxious you are to jump into planning.

So, if you are thinking August 2016, you have plenty of time.  If you have a venue or certain vendors you already know you want, book those early to ensure you get them.  But, otherwise, if you don't have particular vendors you NEED to have or if you are flexible on the date, then you can wait to book those things until summer.

julieanne912

For photos, I would wait until you've booked a photographer.  A lot of photographers include an engagement session for free with the wedding package.