Hi everyone,

I joined UKbride just after we got engaged at New year, we hadnt really set a date, we had an idea of the year we had in mind, 2014. We've now got a date, July 12th 2014!! It seems like a lifetime away but im sure it will be here before we know it.

We went to see our first wedding reception venue yesterday, we thought it was abit early but my mums getting married next year and booked her venue 3 years in advance and still couldnt get the date she wanted!

We're off to look at another venue tonight, its all soo exciting :)

Its never to early to start planning and sorting out in your head what you want and who you want to use. Sometimes it pays to book early as it means you get the dates and suppliers you want at this years prices as they do hike them up every year. Make sure that when you work out your budget you allow 10% increase for every year ahead. Also one you have a clear idea of what you want you can start to build up your little things like favour boxes etc so you don't have to shell out for everything all in one go. Just make sure you work out what you want and the whole look of things before you set a colour scheme as it can work out more expensive if you start to change your mind about things.

never to early to get an idea of what you want and how much you need to save :) xx

people have said that im doing things too early (mainly mil2b...) BUT my mum and girlfriends who are married have advised me its best to get venues sorted ASAP... so we have booked the church and have narrowed it down to 2 venues for evening reception... going to have that booked by end of this summer....
the longer you have the easier it is to plan and look at lots of options!! xx

definitely better to be early and get the venue and date you want xx

definitely better to be early and get it done so you can just enjoy being a bride! No stress! = ) xxx

Ours is 2nd August 2014; we got engaged early Feb and since then have seen about 12 venues. We've pretty much decided and should be signing the contract soon. For us, there were several pros to venue-hunting early, inc:

I'm doing a PGCE starting in September, and because of funding cuts, I will need to work part-time at the same time; meaning that when I'm on teaching practice (20 weeks in total), I will be working up to 90 hours a week in total, and won't have the time to venue-hunt. After that, I'll be doing my NQT year and will likely be doing 60 or 70 hour weeks for that first year (there are a lot of observations so you're marking, lesson-planning etc has to be spot-on and v detailed, which takes time), so again, venue-hunting doesn't appeal as I'll have very little time and be permanently stressed-out. I don't want to leave it until after my NQT year because then there'll just be 12 months to go which IMO is cutting it fine

In booking now, we've managed to get venues to fix a price at this year's rate, or one slightly up on this year; we could end up saving about £1000 by booking early because of this.

The cons for me are:

The venues might change slightly; we're looking at a very nice 5* hotel with individually designed rooms, and one concern is them changing the decor as then it would lose it's appeal for us.

For me, the pros outweigh the cons; only thing is, expect some raised eyebrows and comments about how 'organised' you are lol

I had a date in 2013 and was planning then at xmas we brought the wedding forward so planning now just means you can spread the cost and if there is a cancellation at the venue you love you might be able to squeeze in early :) x

It's never to early to start planning hun!! It's amazing what you can save by planning early!! :)
enjoy every minute of it hun. xxx

i dont think its too early hun, but be careful of choosing your dress, ive seen too many brides buying their dress yrs in advance and then continuing to look for other dresses, and then hating the one they originally bought :(

The earlier you start to plan the easier it is to get straight and sort your budget, you may even be able to stretch your budget too! Nothing stopping you from getting all the little bits, jewellry, favours, shoes etc not sure on the dress though, may be worth hanging on for that just in case it gets discontinued or something, but venues yeah you go for it!! xx

my wedding is 2015, i started planning a year ago, lol. x

I'm getting married 27.10.12 and have so far got my dress, bridesmaids dresses, venue and tiaras I'm buying ahead as if say htb lost his job or whatever the important things are already done. Plus earlier you book/buy things to can sometimes freeze vat which is a bonus x

that's what I've done last December I booked my dress at 17.5% VAT, I got my garter, will book venue today, got all my stamps and stationery, will get bms dresses either from local dress maker/seamstress or high street during sales.

Hello! Its great doing it early find alot more bargins etc :) well thats what ive found so far! When we went to look at venues some of them wernt even doing a package price for that year thankgod are venue is going to do one for us as there 2014 menus arnt out yet :D xx

It's never too early, we got engaged on Xmas day last year and our wedding is in 2013. We have already booked our ceremony venue and our photographer, like others have said the good suppliers and venues get snapped up really early x

I dont think its too early to start planning!! When you plan early you can often get things much cheaper and you have loads of time to save and pay for it! The way things are at the moment every where seems to be booking up really quickly, plus you have loads of time to get lots of ideas off here too :) Happy planning!!! xx

never ever too early! xx

ive had mine booked 2 years lol and we have just paied our venue off and dont get married till next july and the only think i have left is my dress wooooooooooooop

Hi Samxx,

I have booked my wedding for 19th July 2014.

I dont think its to early, I now how exciting it is. We have booked the church and venue already. :) xxx

Im echoing everyone else, its never too early honest, I want to get our venue booked as i know how quickly places can book up. : )