How long did your wedding take to plan?

mags0607 · November 2009

I haven't been around that long, but I have noticed that people are getting into planning way earlier than I expected. Its not uncommon to see people planning two or more years out. Is this a normal thing? How long were you engaged and how long did it take to plan your wedding?

I got engaged Oct 23, 2009 and my wedding will be Oct 16,2010, one week shy of one year. We booked a venue yesterday and I still haven't asked most of my wedding party (although I will probably this week or next).

I figure that in some regions it makes sense to start planing early because of availability.

sapphirebaby926 · November 2009

We planned the whole thing in 5 months - engaged April 19 and married Sept 26

blackfire5th · November 2009

We were engaged for just under 11 months. We booked the church within the first two weeks, maybe another month for the reception site, and then 4 long days in Nov (8 months before the wedding) to pick out all our vendors.

Other than that, it was mainly some DIY stuff with the invites and that took about a month. Overall, it was a rather relaxing engagement.

(Well, after the Church stopped double booking our dates)

SarahPLiz · November 2009

We were engaged on Sept 13, 2009 and wil be married on Nov 27, 2010. Once we picked that date we started looking at venues and booked one on Sept 30 because we could take advantage of a special still running from the summer, and because its a holiday weekend. We gave ourselves a year or so, based on how much we could save in that time, and it sounded like more than a reasonable budget. We set the actual budget lower to account for contingencies.

I started planning right away. Ive been waiting for this engagement for about 2 years and my eggs are not getting any younger (tick, tock, tick, tock). Also, I am naturally scatterbrained, so the more time I have to get stuff together, the less stressed I will be.

mbcdefg · November 2009

Engagement will last about a year. With 4 months to go, we've booked every vendor and now it's just a matter of making the full payments and doing smaller stuff.

mags0607 · November 2009

I figured about a year was the norm. Like I said, I booked the church and the venue ( Saturdays in October in New Orleans book fast) and I will get onto the other stuff after Christmas. I am going to ask my wedding party soon, though.

LarissaAnn · November 2009

Eight months. We got engaged July 26, 2008, and were married March 28, 2009.

I had my dress ordered 4 days after we got engaged (I'm just quick like that), and we did BM dresses soon after. I asked the BMs pretty much right away. The venue was a month or two into the engagement, and then invitations, flowers, then DJ... it was mostly saving for the wedding, not so much planning it.

And in the midst of everything else, I was working literally 24/7 for a while on an appellate brief at work. Planning would've been a lot easier and less stressful without that.

LAURA.CYR · November 2009

FI and I planned everything from booking the church and reception to deciding on invitations and DJ in ONE month. We got engaged Oct 20 and today, I'm cruising into Thanksgiving without a worry in the world. Wedding in May and everything is done before the holidays! Of course, it helps that we are paying for everything ourselves so we didn't have to ask anyone's "permission" first. Plus, we're in our 30s and pretty certain of what we do/don't like.

mags0607 · November 2009

I just did the big things now. I'm in my mid-twenties, but Fi and I also will be able to make the decisions ourselves, so we know what we will book. My problem is that I work in retail and live 3 hours from where we are getting married. Once the holidays are over, we are both going to take off a couple days and knock out the rest.

I know this does not include everyone, but it seems like a lot of the people who have a year and a half to two years to plan are the ones that are running into conflict.

Huskerfanz · November 2009

We were engaged almost two years but not because it took that long to plan but because we wanted to finish college and get jobs before we got married.

We booked some vendors about 18 months and then I would do a DIY project every once in awhile but because we were both in college and working, we really only wedding planned during school breaks.

lyndausvi · November 2009

Got engaged July ?, 2007, got married Sept 6, 2008. So I had a 15 month engagedment. It was not for planning at all. September is the best month for us to get married because of work. 2 months would have been too close because of prior engagments. So we waited until the next year.

I could have easily had a wedding in a few months if schedules allowed it.

swim1011 · November 2009

We got engaged August 2008, and will be married June 2010. The long wait is bc we're paying for most of the wedding, not bc we really wanted to be engaged 2 years. That being said, most of the major stuff was taken care of in our first year of engagement (venue, DJ, photographer), and all the rest of it has happened in the second. We definitely could've planned it in a year or less.

tiffspff · November 2009

We were engaged for about 11 months. We got engaged in October 2008, and I wanted to get married sometime in September or October 2009, so we found a venue we liked and the best date available was Sept 19. We booked most of the vendors right away. I found my dress in December/January. And bridesmaids dresses around then too. (It was the only time we could get together... during the holidays). The rest was smaller details, planning the ceremony, finding a hotel for guests, etc. I think we had a good time frame though because it never felt stressed. And it wasn't too long that the novelty faded.

baystateapple · November 2009

FI and I booked the same week we got engaged, only because we're getting married in MA in autumn and vendors get snapped up quickly. Everything else, we got remarkably lucky with. Our cake and catering are included in the venue. Our florist, photographer, and DJ are friends of the family. We're still just under a year out, but almost everything is planned...simply because it worked out that way.

You definitely don't need that much time though.

salt78 · November 2009

I don't really feel like I've done anything and there isn't much left that I have to worry about.

duckie1905 · November 2009

We were engaged for a year, and the wedding took us about 10 months to plan. We were lazy and got a late jump on it. We had zero issues with getting first choice vendors, which surprised me, because usually Chicago is a cluster eff and people book vendors two years out.

gottahavashorti · November 2009

The engagement will be 24 months due to changes in education plans that occurred a few weeks after we got engaged. We've been planning here and there but have definitely stretched things out.

We started visiting venues here and there a little under the 2 year mark with no rush. Booked one under 1.5 years to get the one with FI's dream ceremony site at a date that worked with several school schedules. Photographer and caterer were booked and dress ordered about a year out. Those were the big things that took time, the rest of the stuff is relatively minor. We could have been done for a long time by now with 6 months left if we felt like doing actual planning.

Anon I. Mouse · November 2009

We were engaged October 10, 2009 and will be married January 2, 2010. We originally thought about mid-December, but opted for the January date instead when we actually looked at a calendar as it just worked better for us.

Neither of us wanted a long engagement, or a big pretty princess day. We would of gone to a JOP the next week however decided it might be fun to pamper ourselves for a weekend too! However, we certainly did not see the point of taking much longer than that to plan a wedding. I cannot personally even fathom taking a year (which I know is common, and all the wedding planning books advise...but it just does not fit for me).

We are paying for it all ourselves as well so we were not worried about input from others or inviting everyone and their dog too.

We wanted something casual and intimate, and we chose to do a destination wedding at a resort up here in Canada on the West Coast, as it was a resort we have both been to and have found to be extremely tranquil. We opted for a long weekend as we are both pretty crazy with work and everyone has to travel there. We had no problem getting the venue or the rooms blocked. I talked to an event planner at the resort there and had her pick and arrange flowers and spa appointments for us both, etc. We never chose "colours" or anything so I gave her free reign. We are having dinner in the resort dining room after the ceremony, so no worries about menus, seating plans, and all that!

It has been super easygoing for us both. We just kind of came up with ideas and put them into action. Lots of DIY and absolutely non-traditional things (i.e. no wedding party, no aisle, we are having a friend do a bellydance for us at the ceremony and other guests have offered to sing, play instruments, etc, we are having our guests seated in a circle of chairs (there are only 18 of them), etc).

FI has done a lot of the organizing/planning as well so it has not felt like a "chore" at all.

And things just fell into place. It has been a lot of fun for us both.

stina93446 · November 2009

We got engaged in July 08 and married in September 09. Don't hate, but I don't understand the whole "I'm in a 2+ year engagement". You only drive yourself insane with more time. I know that some people say that they're saving up for their wedding, but either don't get engaged until closer to the date, or lower your expectations.

I could never do more than 16 months of planning. That's just me.

aerinpegadrak · November 2009

Our engagement will be just shy of two years, but it was mainly so that I could finish school first. We did a fair amount of pre-planning, then at about one year out, went to book the venue. Oops, couldn't afford it! Whole plan went out the window, and had to start basically from scratch.

It doesn't really take that long, unless you're doing a crapton of DIY.

megk8oz · November 2009

We got engaged March 7, 2008. We are paying for everything ourselves and have always been aware of that.

For a while, I started getting ideas on and off, but then would end up frustrated and sad whenever we had to keep "putting it off".

Finally, I just said "F*ck it, I'm not 'planning' a damn thing until we have a deposit on a date". And I stuck by that. We booked mid-July 2009 for our New Year's Day 2010 wedding. Now that I've only had 5 months, I don't understand how anybody can actually drag it out [the actual planning process] for over a year without going insane.

ellenb09 · November 2009

I got engaged on March 21,2009 and am getting married December 30,2009. It will right at 9 months, somethings have been stressful, but this time frame has kept me focused.

saisongbird · November 2009

We got engaged on April 17th, 2009 and our wedding is July 24th, 2010. I'm a teacher and summer is easiest with my schedule and trying to plan a honeymoon. We were considering getting married in April 2010 but my MOH is getting married in March and will be on her honeymoon in April, so that knocked April out of the running.

Like some of the other girls, I don't LOVE the fact that my engagement will be just over 15 months by the time I get married, but around here, it's just not possible to plan a summer wedding in 3 months - venues (and bands) book more than a year in advance.

jenn.daniel · November 2009

It'll be 2 years for us. We're waiting until FI finished med school. He doesn't get much time off. Also, I teach, so summer is our only real option. Next summer FI will be preparing for step 2 of boards, so even if he got time off, he'd be studying all the time.

emilyinchile · November 2009

7.5 months for us. At first I thought it sounded short (although it's plenty of time in Chile), but now I can't imagine what I would have done with myself for a year or more! We've been working on things somewhat steadily, but without any pressure...did venue and caterer right away, already had the photographer, then didn't do much for a month or so, and now it's just step by step. For me it's easier schedule-wise to have a timeline and work on one or two things at a time pretty consistently for the next few months than to do everything right now and stress but then be done.

I think some people with super long engagements (not all!) just stress at the same high level for the entire 2 years or whatever it is, instead of realizing they have plenty of time and spending some of that time not thinking about wedding stuff at all. That would drive me insane.

tiffgriffin7 · November 2009

We will be engaged for almost exactly a year...engaged Memorial Day weekend 2009, married Memorial Day weekend 2010. But I planned most of the wedding over my summer break (I am in graduate school) so we could get married now if we wanted. It really doesn't take that long to plan unless you are picky or indecisive.

I don't really get the long engagement thing either but to each his own...what worries me is my friend who has been engaged almost two years and is not even planning her wedding (they were supposed to be married this summer but called it off last year).

foreva2828 · November 2009

We got engaged in October 19, 2008, but getting married March 20, 2010. So...I guess that's 17 months. It was mostly because I wanted to get married in the spring, and we waited a bit to tell my folks that we were engaged. First day of spring, here I come!!! I didn't really get into planning the wedding until this past July. Mostly just enjoying life and working on school...

banana468 · November 2009

Friends of mine who have had long engagements usually did so for the financial aspect or because that's when the location was available.

We were engaged for just about a year. It worked well that we were able to do things slowly and out our own pace.

How long did your wedding take to plan?

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