Choosing a Date

PrincessBride325

Hi All.  I am new to these boards and have been engaged for a little over a month.  My fiance and I have been overwhelmed with choosing a wedding date ever since.I've always wanted a summer wedding but in 2010 we already have 6 weddings to attend between June and October.  Two are out of state and three are for members of our wedding party.So that leaves us with November-December or the beginning of 2011 (I've kissed my dreams of a summer wedding goodbye).  April 2nd is our anniversary so that date is sticking out the most (it falls on a Saturday in 2011) but I really don't want to wait that long.Any advice?  Should I really be so focused on the weather?  Has anyone had a winter wedding?TIA!

Starfish724

I am having a summer 2010 wedding, but honestly wanted a winter wedding. Our date changed to summer when we found the perfect venue. We picked our date almost a year ago, and back then it seemed like it would take FOREVER for our wedding to get here. Now I have just a little over 8 months to go and I have no idea where the time has gone. If April 2nd is the date that you want, go for it. Time really does fly by and eventhough it seems like it's going to be a long time before your wedding, it will go by rather quickly. I'm sure other brides can agree with that.Have you thought about where you want to have your wedding?

nsh1018

Many venues will give discounted rates in April (vendors too) so the upside of waiting would be that you could also save some money.

hbyrne31

One of my BM's is having a winter wedding this January. It has created some stress trying to make sure there is everything in place just in case it snows, but on the upside she has been able to get a significant number of discount for vendors. I'm getting married in August and when we compare the cost of some of our vendors it's insane! I don't believe she got much of a discount for the hall, but I know she has from vendors. Winter wonderland themed weddings can be so pretty and at least you know they will be different from the other 6 that you are attending. Just take a minute to think about your guest list and how far people are traveling for your wedding and the impact a snow storm would be.

Mysticstarz33

I got engaged in March of 2009 and we planned an August 2010 wedding. At first it did seem like forever but the time has really flown by and now I have less than 9 months to go and tons to still get done. I say April sounds like the perfect amount of time to really get everything you want, expecially since it sounds like you are going to have such a busy summer with all those weddings of friends

mrussell1983

My fiance and I got engaged in July and have just now settled on a time frame of August 2011. We are not thrilled that we have to wait so long, but it will go by fast. My brother and his fiance (my best friend and MOH) are having their wedding in October of 2010. As I am her maid of honor my fiance and I did not want to overwhelm ourselves and my parents by attempting to have both weddings in the same year only months apart. We actually thought of having a winter wedding and loved the idea. Unfortunately almost all of our family is out of state and were complaining at the very thought of having to travel to our wedding in the winter (especially in NH!). If everyone is close by, or simply happy to be there no matter what (wouldn't that be something!), I think a winter wedding would be wonderfully romantic. Good luck with your planning, figuring out when and where seems to be the hardest part!

PrincessBride325

Thanks for the advice, everyone!  We have found some great discounts for winter thru April weddings so that is definitely a positive.As for venues, our favorite thus far has been the Mountain View Grand in Whitefield, NH.

dls.1215

I think a winter wedding would be nice, I would just worry about the "what-if" of a snowstorm. We are doing an April wedding as well, and time has FLOWN! (We booked our venue in Dec 08, and now we have about 5 months to go!) We also had an easier time finding vendors and getting lower minimums etc.

mrsV719

We were engaged in Feb. 2006... and we got married July 2008 (2.5 years!!!). We wanted a summer wedding (there was no budging about that one!)... but we didn't want to have it in 6 months after the engagement... and summer of 2007 my sister was getting married in New Mexico. I felt that we shouldn't get married the same summer (poor dad!). So we opted to wait. Yes, it was a long time. But we got some discounts for booking early (i.e. 2006 prices locked in for 2008). We also got the wedding season that we wanted. Sometimes it's better to wait... you only get married once... so make sure it is just how you want it. Don't compromise your dreams because it will be a few more months to wait. I know DH and I would have HATED a winter wedding... but many people love them and they are beautiful. Also, at least for me because DH and I were together so long and lived together for a long time, being engaged and being married wasn't really different. So it didn't matter how long we waited... although the engagement felt long... I was glad we stuck with the summer and didn't give that up.

EDK2010

I am getting married on March 27th, 2010. I have received discounts from almost all of my vendors  for having our wedding outside of "wedding season" including 15% off of my venue. I would definitely consider this when setting a date!

rachael898

Hi. I am getting married 3-6-10 and it definitely saved us a lot of money on the date and nobody has anything around ours. As long as the weather holds out it will be great. The down side is that it's so close to the Holidays. I have every weekend booked from now until January 1st and then I only have 2 months until the wedding! If I could pick again I would have picked possibly the first weekend in April. Most places have discounts Nov-April and having that one extra month would have helped. Overall, I think there are ups and downs with all dates. You have to pick a date/time of year that you want and go with it!

shauni27

why don't you do a really short engagement and do april 2nd 2010?  it is a friday (lots of venues give discounts) and you would still have 5 months to plan it.  might not be a year, but you can get most done in 5 moths if you try!  good luck!

cg-pm52111

Let's see...FI and I got engaged right at the end of Feb. 09 with the intention of a 2011 summer wedding.  In August we decided, for various reasons, to move it to July 2010, giving us about a 1.5 yr engagement.  And like all the girls said, the time truly flies.  I can't believe there are only 8 mos. left!  That said, I think the April 2011 wedding sound nice, esp. since it has significance to you.  It'll be here before you know it!

litskispecialty

I agree that you can get good discounts in April, make sure you do check the weather in potential honeymoon spots and if you are planning on using an outdoor venue make sure they have an indoor options (although I'll pray for sun for you because I have the same sitatuion).  Otherwise I think April is a good time of year.  There's not a lot of other weddings so you should have a good turnout and people will enjoy themselves more because they won't be "wedding'd out".  Plus for years to come your anniversary will be at a different ime of year too!  Good luck