Wedding Forum - How long to wait....

Hi all,
We are newly engaged and as the typical fiance I want to get on and plan everything but feel like it's too soon. When should I start looking at things and arrange viewings?

well my venue as posted today they have taken some bookings for 2016, I don't think it can hurt look at things now and look round and making a list of possible venues. why not go to some wedding fairs at some you like for an informal look around and get some information. I would put together some mood boards and get a general idea on styles and colours that you like x

to :) And it is never too early to start looking; I'm desperate to get a date booked but money is my enemy...

Mines July 2015 and I've done loooooads.. Dress shopping in two weeks !! Eeekk !!
Just need to give notice, sort flowers, rings, honeymoon and pay everything off ! :-) xxx

its never too early to look around and get ideas of what you want many venues are booked up 18-24 months inadvance esp summer weddings as they are so popular, xx

Congrats :) I agree with my fellow b2b's its never too early

Depending on when abouts in the year and day of the week it's probably best to start looking for venues now. Some popular venues already have bookings for weekend and summer weddings for 2015, one I heard have bookings for 2016, so to avoid disappointment it's best you look now. We're getting married on a Monday so you can get away with not looking for a venue so soon. Then that's the same for caterers and entertainment.

A lot of brides start looking for their dress about now. As long as you know you won't alter your weight until the wedding day it's OK to look now, but there's no rush. It's better to take time looking for 'the dress' then to rush and get a dress you're not 100% keen on. I didn't chose mine until January/February and didn't see my dress until June. If you want your dress made to fit (or ordered in a size and altered to fit) then I suggest looking about a year before. I personally find two years a little eager, because my worry would be what if you found a different dress you liked?

I suppose other things you could think about is who will the best man, usher, page boy, bridesmaids, MOH and flower girls going to be, what colour theme to have and any other themes (butterflies, diamonds, Doctor Who). I started making a scrapbook a year before using donated wedding magazines so I had ideas on invitations, BM dresses, my accessories, suits etc. It made planning them much easier.

Paula - You may find booking the honeymoon sooner can sometimes be cheaper. Plus you have a longer time to pay it off. Although depending on where you want to go on your honeymoon it maybe wise to book later rather than earlier, especially if the country in question is a bit unstable (ie Egypt).

As clive said If they are any good they will be taking bookings now for 2 years away. I went to a wedding fair in feb 2012 and 2 different photographers laugh at me when they asked my date ( aug 2014) One even said 'good luck with that' I went pass another stall and he spoke to me, When i said 2014 he was so happy he showed me his diary and it was full for 2012 and nearly for 2013, He also had a special offer on for 2014 brides so i got a £1000 package for £500. and a free engagement shoot. He had done over 500 weddings. I have also been to dress shops what had orders for 5 years aways.

I just love how rennie1989 lists wedding themes with doctor who amongst them as standard! :D

We are getting married in may 2015 and have booked everything but the car which we'll be doing this week lol. We booked our venue 2 weeks after we got engaged in may this year :-)

I love having plenty of time to arrange everything and spread the money but seem to be getting over zealous with it all lol. I have found that I am really picky with the table decorations though and can't make up my mind :-(

I am going to wait until the last year to try on dresses but am constantly looking online at them!! :-)

It's all very exciting hehe

As everyone else says, it is never too early to start planning. We are getting married in September 2016 and already have our venue booked. Our events manager at the venue has held 2013 prices for us too which is a bonus!!! I love having so much time to plan and perfect everything and it means we can save up more money and pay things off little and often.

Get going and good luck with the planning xx

Congrats on your engagement, We are sept 2015, we have the registrar provisionally booked, the venue booked, dress deposit paid, buying rings next month invitations done, I booked the registrar back in June and back then she said they were already getting lots of bookings for 2015. It's fab once you get the ball rolling and ukbride is ace and everyone is friendly and helpful.

There's nothing wrong with looking round, most places are booked up 18 months in advance,you can also look at styles you like but I wouldn't bother ordering buying until 12 months before unless its the dress you absolutely love and know you won't change your mind on alot of people send save the dates I don't mine 12 months before and sent out invites this month posted ones too far away, you can also think of colours you like what month was you thinking x

I'm getting married in August 2015 and I've literally done nothing but look online at wedding stuff. I've already got the venue booked - and feel so much better for getting that out of the way. There's no reason you shouldn't start looking now! x

Congratulations!

Me and my partner got engaged Oct 2012 and I had my wedding venue booked by Feb 2013. We are getting married Feb 2014 (6 months tomorrow) I have almost everything planned.

I think it comes down to where you want to get married (some venues have waiting lists so may be worth looking into that first) once you have that sorted everything else will start to fall into place as you can start planning everything else.

Good luck!!

xx

I'd say now! We started booking the big things about two years in advance straight after we got engaged...and we were let down with the car we wanted as it was already booked on our day...I was absolutely flabbergasted that someone had pipped me to it even 2yrs before! Never too early for some things x

Congratulations!

We're getting married August 2015 and have so far booked church, venue, photographer, cars and venue decorator. I'm booked in to try on wedding dresses at the end of November as are the bridesmaids and we are scheduled in for cake-tasting too. Lots of places seem to book up fast - especially during 'peak' months and if they have a good reputation. I asked about a local make-up artist the same day we booked the church and she was already full on that date - as was a cake maker. We were also fortunate with the venue as they were booked the weekend before and after our date and their smaller suite was booked for our date too.

Being organised has meant that we can secure 2013 prices for our 2015 wedding which is a bonus to the budget too =) And is giving us enough time to pay bits and bobs off and dabbling in DIY aspects of the day without too much panic x