Setting a date?

PeachesKFG

Just got engaged on Saturday and I am THRILLED about it! I am really looking forward to chatting with other brides-to-be on this message board. I could use all the advice I can get!

So it seems like the first order of business is to set a date. My fiance and I are thinking that June/July 2012 would be ideal for us. We want to get married in the summertime, but if we plan for the summer of 2011, we will only have 6-7 months to plan...and I need more time than that! Is it normal to have a long engagement? (18 months in my case) I've told some people about our plan to wait until 2012, and I've gotten some strange reactions...people seem to think that it's too far away! Any thoughts?

skyler1108

By the time my wedding rows around FI and I will have been engaged for exactly 2 years and two days. There is nothing wrong with have a 18 month engagement. Granted most people think that 1 year is the norm but that is not always the case. Engagements longer than a year are becoming more and more common. Who cares what others think. Pick the date that you and your FI love even if it is 18 months away (which isn't that long by the way lol).

garcias1

I think 18 months is fine.  I feel like I read somewhere that 15 months is the average, so you are on a good timeline.  As PP said, plenty of people are engaged for 2 years.  When we were looking for venues, some places showed us where they were booked 2 years in advance.  Our engagement will be a little over 13 months, but FI and I decided before we were ever engaged that we wanted an engagement of 1 1/2 years or less.

Gemini8511

When should you start talking about setting a date? We've been together for 6yrs and he proposed on October 11,2010 ..so we've been engaged for just over 2 months...Should I be concerned that we haven't talked about a date yet? I def want spring (like april or may) because the New England weather is amazing at that time. but i'm concerned because everyone has started nagging us on when the date is..what to do?

skyler1108

Gemini- If you want to get married in the spring I would guess that the soonest you would get married is the spring of 2012. You still have plenty of time to pick a date if that is when you will be holding the wedding. Just talk to your FI and tell him you want to get married in the spring so you were thinking of the spring of 2012 if that is what you decide. Once you know the season and year you two can start to narrow your date from there.

[Deleted User]

Congrats!

There is no typical engagement length. Do what works for you and your FI. We were engaged for about 15 months. Got engaged in April, and were married this past June.

HobokensFury

We're having a 22 month engagement and at first we got some strange looks.  But it was financially better for us.  As long as you're happy don't mind them.

misskrysbaby

Our engagement will be 16 months total, so there really isn't a certain time length. It's just based on the couple, really.

ariver2011

 We are having an 11 month engagment. I agree do what is best for you both, and trust me you will probably get a lot of funny looks in the course of planning the wedding. I sure have.
  Congrats and good luck!

vicki0508

I think it's beneficial to have a general time frame in mind, but don't set an official date until you pick a venue.  You wouldn't want to have to give up on a dream venue because you decided on some arbitrary date already.

future-mrs

It seems like engagments are becoming longer and longer which can be a blessing in disguise.  Gives the couple more time to plan and pay financially.  We'll have a 1 year and 9 month engagement when we get married and I'm glad we've done that.

PeachesKFG

Thank you all for your responses! I'm so happy that I found a forum like this - I love brainstorming with other brides-to-be! My FI and I have decided to start looking for a venue in January (after the craziness of the holidays)...and our target date will be in late June/early July of 2012. I'm actually looking forward to having all of this time to plan. More time to save up $$ too! Happy planning to you all

lnvane00

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_just-engaged-proposals_setting-date-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:683Discussion:3610347e-342d-42b4-a396-adf818dd8bbcPost:ceb8b6b7-ea67-4a46-8333-f2a360d268e2">Setting a date?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just got engaged on Saturday and I am THRILLED about it! I am really looking forward to chatting with other brides-to-be on this message board. I could use all the advice I can get! So it seems like the first order of business is to set a date. My fiance and I are thinking that June/July 2012 would be ideal for us. We want to get married in the summertime, but if we plan for the summer of 2011, we will only have 6-7 months to plan...and I need more time than that! Is it normal to have a long engagement? (18 months in my case) I've told some people about our plan to wait until 2012, and I've gotten some strange reactions...people seem to think that it's too far away! Any thoughts?
Posted by kfesta[/QUOTE]

Congratulations!! I got engaged on Sunday!! Its so exciting. And I'm thinking of having our wedding about the same time as you. Probably April or May of 2012. I want a long engagement and to be able to not stress so much about getting a wedding planned so soon. So good luck!!

CvilleClaire

I'm doing the same...we got engaged the day after Thanksgiving and are planning for late May or early June in 2012.  I'm a little older and have a job that requires extensive travel, so anything shorter was out of the question.  I need this time!

jemmini6

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_just-engaged-proposals_setting-date-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:683Discussion:3610347e-342d-42b4-a396-adf818dd8bbcPost:ceb8b6b7-ea67-4a46-8333-f2a360d268e2">Setting a date?</a>:
[QUOTE]Just got engaged on Saturday and I am THRILLED about it! I am really looking forward to chatting with other brides-to-be on this message board. I could use all the advice I can get! So it seems like the first order of business is to set a date. My fiance and I are thinking that June/July 2012 would be ideal for us. We want to get married in the summertime, but if we plan for the summer of 2011, <strong>we will only have 6-7 months to plan...and I need more time than that! </strong>Is it normal to have a long engagement? (18 months in my case) I've told some people about our plan to wait until 2012, and I've gotten some strange reactions...people seem to think that it's too far away! Any thoughts?
Posted by kfesta[/QUOTE]

First off, congrats!  Secondly, you don't really NEED that long to plan a wedding.  I've been to several beautiful weddings that were planned in 6 months or less.  That being said,  FI and I are having a 14 month engagement, not because we 'needed' more time, but because we wanted it.  I'm not big into wedding planning so I didn't want to consume every waking moment with wedding stuff to try to plan it relatively quickly.  I'm loving that we are having a long engagment.  We don't feel rushed doing anything and I get to just enjoy being engaged.  I don't think 18 months is too long at all.  I've already been engaged almost 4 months and it's flown by...18 months will come before you know it.