Opinions Wanted: short or long engagement? = married in Sept 2012 or Sept 2013?

KellyRenee1979

Hello fellow brides!

I just got engaged over Memorial Day weekend.  So excited and happy to be with my fiance and share the rest of our lives together.  We have been together since January 2009 (2.5 years) and live together.  Our family and friends are all very excited for us and the engagement wasn't that much of a shock since they all knew we were on the path to getting married.

Our wedding will be 200 people and we want an outdoor ceremony with a water view.  FI's whole family is coming from OOT (mostly MN) so we want to showcase how beautiful San Diego is.  I'm guessing most of them will forego a vacation to come to our wedding.  We are currenly researching sites and feeling a little overwhelmed.  A lot of places are (understandably) already booked for Sept 2012.

We will be looking at sites in the next few weeks... hopefully to have something chosen by August.

WOULD YOU:

(A) try to get Sept 2012 so that it doesn't feel like you're engaged forever?  We might not get our first choice on locations, dates and other vendors and could possibly get married on a Friday.

OR

(B) plan now for Sept 2013?  Allows us to save more money (since we are paying almost all of it ourselves), enjoy the planning process more, but I'm sure we will get a lot of crap from people about being engaged for 2+ years (28 months).


I change my mind on this every day going back and forth on wanting to get married soon (our grandparents are in their 80s but in good health) or wanting to make our wedding everything I've envisioned in my head.

TIA for your opinions!

COSmitty

As a San Diego hometown girl I have to say there are always tons of places to rent out (even if they are not your initial pick). We're doing an 11 month engagement <eek> and paying for a bit of it ourselves so I do understand. But there are cheaper/reasonable ways to do things. 

Regardless- enjoy!

uneek1323

You have to do what's best for you and you FI and your families. I can't vote on something like this.

luvbug1022

Congrats on the engagement!!  In my opinion, 28 months is not just a long time, it's a LONG time.  We are 10 months into a 13 month engagement and I just want the day to be here already!  There is a lot of stress and enxiety associated with the wedding and I don't think I could do it for another year haha.  I am ready to be married and enjoyed the normal life again with my fiance (soon to be husband)

There are SO many gorgoues places in SD to get married.  I know some may booked already, but I am sure there is something that would still be perfect.  We were able to book an October 2011 wedding in September 2010. 

What sort of place are you looking for?  Maybe we can help give some ideas on venues that you haven't thought of yet. 

wendysandiego

Any way to compromise between the two dates?  My wedding was in the month of April.  I had an 11 month engagement, and while planning my wedding I only encountered a couple vendors (florists I think) that were already booked for the date.  April is not considered "wedding season" in San Diego, so the locations had lower rental rates. And the vendors were not so exhausted from the summer wedding season...:)  So if it was March/April 2013, it gives you a bit more time, but not quite as long as 28 months.   I had mine in La Jolla, and it was a BEAUTIFUL spring day.

KellyRenee1979

Thanks for all of your input ladies... I will keep you posted on what we choose!

We are definitely set on September since we want to make sure it's beautiful sunny weather and that it's great that all of the tourists are gone. 

I change my mind on this every day and will hopefully make up my mind soon.   :-)

HEATHERHASKELL

I consider 16 months a pretty long engagement & keep in mind, most places won't book more than a year in advance

Dive in, start planning, but give yourself permission to change your mind! I know I did!

My fiance and I will have been engaged 18 months and we took the first 4 months just to browse and envision... when the one-year mark came, we were ready to go.
One tip, Coronado allows bookings through the community center 18 months in advance - there is no better place in SD, especially for out of town guests - it truly is our crown jewel in SD.

Good luck!

sheakp

You can totally plan the wedding you want and be married sooner than later Try the Coronado Community Center (they may still have Fridays available in September) or the Marina Village (they only book 12 months in advance) for inexpensive waterfront locations..

KellyRenee1979

Thanks for your opinions everyone.... 28 months is waaay too long for me.  Now that I've started planning I'm already getting impatient.

We are hoping to get the Mission Bay Yacht Club!