I’ve been engaged for five months, which means I’m just one month shy of the halfway point of my engagement. I should be freaking out but honestly? Wedding planning has been more fun than stressful, at least up until this point.
That might not be the sentiment one would expect from someone who is having four wedding functions (and that’s before you include the shower/welcome parties/family get-togethers) but the truth is, wedding planning, like everything else, is all about time management.
I had a friend tell me she wanted a short engagement because for her “being engaged means being in a constant state of stress.” To each his own, but I feel like a long engagement is the key to making the entire process feel easy and enjoyable. I’m having a one-year engagement and it’s truly flying by at faster than I thought possible. I would suggest that any bride choose to be engaged for at least a year – that way, you have time to really savor the whole process.
Image courtesy of Sergio Vassio
The other advantage to a long engagement is that you’ll likely have your pick of dates, locations and vendors. All things wedding-related tend to get claimed very quickly, which brings me to my next point: Once you get engaged, it’s important that you act fast. As much as you’d love to spend a few months focusing on nothing but your brand new bling (true life, I spend the entire day after my engagement taking pictures of my ring against every possible backdrop) you should really work on nailing down a venue and a date ASAP.
Photo courtesy of MichelesCottage
I started venue scouting a week after my engagement. It sounds crazy, but even then I wasn’t able to book my dream date at my venue. Setting the date and booking the venue is imperative and once you’ve done this, everything else starts to fall into place.
So whether or not you’ve chosen to throw a big engagement party or take a quick vacation with your new fiancé, I would suggest focusing on the main event as much as possible. Plan early and rest assured that you dream wedding will come together in due time. After all, it’s never too soon to start building the best day of your life.