When to Get Married and Why


Selecting your wedding date depends on many variables. You need to have enough time to prepare every detail of your big day, and you also want to think about the guests you’re inviting.

If you’re getting married over a holiday, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, you want to allow yourself a full year to prepare. “Everyone has plans that they will need to rearrange, and traveling is more expensive,” says Danielle Bobish, of Curtain Up Events in New York. “Send out Save the Date Cards immediately, and call hotels and airlines about discounts.” Holiday weekends, like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, are not as difficult for guests, but a year is still recommended.

How much time you need for yourself depends a great deal on your style of wedding. Vendors book early, so if you want a five-star hotel and that perfect caterer, give yourself a year to plan. If you both have a heavy workload it’s also smart to start 12 months ahead of time. First-time couples tend to make more mistakes, and don’t know the best vendors, another incentive to lengthen planning time.

On the other hand, one trap that couples fall into is planning too early. “People panic and start two years out,” says Bobish. “Vendors don’t want to be booked that early; they aren’t going to know what their prices will be by the time of your wedding.”

Bobish says that even the most lavish weddings can be planned 6 months in advance, depending on your wedding components. “All weddings involve the same elements,” she says. “If your guests aren’t traveling a great distance and if you’re getting married in a lesser-known site, or your home, you can easily do it in six months.”

Although weddings are your day, you need to take guests’ needs into consideration. These people are spending a lot of time and money on your wedding. To help, let them know about the date ASAP. Save the Date cards aren’t always a necessity, but there are other ways to get your wedding-date word out. Like the registry, you can inform close friends and relatives of the date, and let them pass the word around. Another option is to have an engagement party once you’ve figure out the date.

“Everyone at your engagement party will ask when the wedding is,” says Bobish. “Let them know, and you’ll be way ahead of the game.”

Follow these tips and time will be on your side!

-David Toussaint

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