How far in advance did you book your venue?

petebergsh · March 2012

FI and I are getting married in 30 months (yes, 30!) and we were loosely looking at venues. We don't really have a problem booking one now (well, soon), but I feel like 30 months is excessively early for this sort of thing, so I'm sure we'll hold off a bit. I'm not even sure if venues would even take a booking this soon.
How far in advance did you book your venue?

direy25 · March 2012

My guess is that most venues wouldn't take a booking that far in advance, but I could be wrong. Like MilkDuds, we booked ours about 13 months out as well, we had about a 1.5 year engagement.

achiduck · March 2012

Agreed with PP, 30 months is a long time out and a lot can happen in that time. Venues can go under, change hands, etc.

FI and I are having a 16 month engagement and we booked at 15 months out. The venue we booked is super popular and even that far out there were only two Saturday's available when we called and the event manager had appointments with other brides in the following weeks who wanted the remaining dates for our month.

If you find a venue you love, I would suggest asking them if it's possible to give you first right of refusal on any dates you'd be interested in. Basically, you might be interest in August 9th and 16th, 2014 so they would call you if another couple wanted to book one of those dates and you'd have to sign the contract/leave a deposit within 48 hours otherwise the date would go to the other couple.

ChristineNB · March 2012

I booked mine 9 months prior to the wedding. If you have your eye on any certain venues you could ask on your local board how quickly they book up that way you know perhaps when to start calling.

acaponi87 · March 2012

I believe we booked 13 months out as well, 14 month engagement. 30 is definitely a lot. I'd probably wait until at LEAST 2 years to seriously start considering places.

Most places won't have pricing until the year before. I

TaraMc728 · March 2012

It depends on the place and the popularity of it. 30 months seems to be fast, but if you are certain if it is what you want and they allow it, go for it. We had to book ours a year and a half in advanced.

BrightFirefly · March 2012

We booked our venue out 10 months...and they were starting to be pretty full as far as availability goes.

We've had a lot working for us because our event is a morning ceremony with an afternoon reception.

cwaggoner07 · March 2012

I booked 11 months out, and got pretty lucky getting a Saturday slot in the summer. If you find a couple of venues you like, you could call and ask how far out they book. You could also ask if they price by booking date or event date.
My venue was priced based on when my event took place, but some places it matters when you actually sign the contract. That would be worth asking, especially if their prices may increase.

MrsKathyC · March 2012

We booked only 4 or 5 months in advance. We were engaged for only 6 1/2 months.

egeurts · March 2012

I have been engaged for over 4 years, but didn't start planning until the 1 year mark. We booked our venue at the 10 month mark. HOWEVER, I do agree that some places fill up fast, so if you have your mind on somewhere super fancy, start looking earlier. (For example, some really famous Cathedrals and libraries book years in advance).

dori851 · March 2012

30 months sounds a bit early to me. I would probably wait a year or so at least! We booked our venue 12-13ish months out (I forget exactly when).

lovemeXoX10 · March 2012

I got engaged Feb 2011 booked my venue of may 2011 and my wedding isnt until June 2013

jemmini6 · March 2012

We booked our venue about 12.5 months out (14 month engagment) and still didn't get our first choice date.

HobokensFury · March 2012

We booked 18 months out in July 2010 for our March 2012 wedding. We were not the first people to book for 2012. As of today they are booking well into 2014.

ujocdeelovely · March 2012

Me and FI got engaged September 5th and booked our hall the following month. We are getting married August 23, 2013. The place we booked takes deposit way in advance since they book up quick.

mtbentley · March 2012

If there are certain places you really like, call and ask them how fast they usually book up and how early they will take reservations. Some venues will book faster than others. Even if 30 months is too soon to make a reservatin it won't hurt to have the info

[Deleted User] · March 2012

We booked our venue last month and our wedding's November 2013. They were already booked solid for 2012 and were taking deposits for 2013.

misssunshine17 · March 2012

I feel like if its very reputable, then maybe a year and a half, but any more than that, if they were to go belly up, you could be seriously screwed!

divinemsbee · March 2012

I booked my reception venue just a few days over 8 months out (booked last day of February for November 3, 2012). I thought it might be a problem, but I made a list of about 6 or 7 places and only 1 was already booked for the date we wanted. We had the church about for a little over a week before we had a reception venue.

t12ubeauty · March 2012

i think 30 months is too early...you could end up changing your mind along the way. i'd probably start looking 18 months in advance, especially for the more popular places as the other have mentioned. i booked mine at 14 months...some of the really popular venues were already booked...and places that i looked at were getting full.

i don't know how far in advance they allow weddings, but my friend works for a large hotel chain, and they have made reservations for 2018! ...although those are for business conferences not weddings.

blgrout · March 2012

We booked our venue 7 months out, but we're only having an 8 month engagement. We got our first choice date, but we also wanted a Sunday in April to start with, so it wasn't an overly popular choice (although, at our venue, the Sunday we wanted happened to be the ONLY Sunday left in April so it worked out nicely).

30 months seems like a long way out, what if if you change your mind after putting down a deposit? Then it would seem like your stuck with what you chose. But that's my opinion. My FI and I waited a couple years before getting engaged and didn't want a long engagement (8 months seems long enough as is to me!), so every couple is different.

julbgordo · March 2012

We booked ours 2 years out ... and we weren't the first to book our venue that soon. If you find one you love and are a person that doesn't typically change their mind often, I don't see any harm in booking early. You can also lock in this year's prices with your venue and other vendors as well.

random4180 · March 2012

About 9 to 10 months out was when we booked ours- we're having a year-long engagement. I think 30-months sounds early but I'm also not a fan of long engagements myself. (It's the reason why we only got engaged last August even though we've been serious about getting married for a while.) I think it depends on your area, among other things, like previous posters have said.

How far in advance did you book your venue?

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