Choosing Your Date: Advice from a Wedding Coordinator Part 1
There are many pieces that come together to make the puzzle of your perfect wedding. One of the first and most important pieces is the wedding date. This is the piece that everything else is created around, which understandably makes it quite stressful to find the perfect date. Here at Blue Linden Weddings, we’ve helped countless couples determine the right date for their dream wedding. Every experienced wedding coordinator on our team knows the tactics to determine your perfect wedding date, and we’ve gathered them all here for you to use.
Image from T&J’s wedding by Cory Nelson Photography. Floral arrangement by Honeycomb&Co.
What to Consider
There’s a lot to say on this topic, so we’ve split this article into two! Here’s what you’ll find in each post:
Part 1
Planning Time
Season and color schemes
Part 2
Guests
Venue and Vendors
How much time do you have to plan?
The first thing you’ll need to figure out is how much planning time you need. We typically recommend around a year of planning time after your engagement. Although we’ve helped couples plan their wedding in less.
Try not to give yourself too much or too little time. Too much time can leave you with nothing left to do but wait impatiently for your big day to arrive. And too little time means that other parts of your life might get ignored, because planning a wedding takes time.
The timing also heavily depends on whether or not you want to hire a wedding coordinator. Hiring a wedding planner can take the weight of managing the planning process off your shoulders, and luckily there are options for many budgets! Check out our blog post about Choosing Your Wedding Planner Packages.
What time of year is right for you?
Time of year is one of the biggest decisions you need to make to decide on your wedding day. Think of the color scheme you want in your wedding photos, including bouquets, backdrops, and time of day. What kind of photos do you want? Do you want to say your I Do’s under a tree in your backyard, before an altar, or with your toes in the sand? Do you want your wedding ceremony and reception to be outdoors or indoors? Based on the seasons, the answers to these questions can change, so brainstorm which season fits the wedding you imagine in your mind’s eye.
Is your wedding going to be indoors or outdoors?
Outdoors
If you want an outdoor wedding, make sure to consider the weather in your area. Let's say you want to avoid the rain but also want an outdoor celebration with flowers in spring bloom. In this case, you would want to check the expected and historical weather trends in your area for the spring months and pick the month with the least rainfall.
It’s important to remember that the weather can be unpredictable. We recommend working with your wedding coordinator, planner, or family and friends to have an alternate plan in place, whether it’s umbrellas or a location swap.
Indoors
If you decide you want the majority of your wedding indoors, it’s still important to research which season you prefer to schedule around holidays and events. Consider traveling to and from your ceremony and reception. Do you want to wear a fluffy coat over your dress or feel the sun on your bare arms?
After you pick your month, do some research on local events in your area. You don’t want to be fighting for parking with the local car show or sporting events.
Planning with Covid
As many regions are easing or lifting their restrictions on in-person gatherings, the busy schedule of postponed weddings is beginning. Check out this Brides.com article for more information about the future of wedding plans as groups are gathering once again.
A few pieces of covid planning advice:
Avoid peak times of the year
Consider weekdays
Avoid holidays
A “peak time of year” is generally considered to be summertime, when everyone is vying for a venue, and vendors are fully booked. With covid the competition will be even higher, so you may have to get more creative with your dates than just forgoing the popular Saturday wedding time slot.
Holidays are also a challenging time because many people will likely be traveling to see their loved ones this year. Depending on your family, a holiday wedding might be the perfect time to celebrate with the whole bunch, but you may have to plan far in advance to snag a venue space.
Choosing a Date Part 2
There is so much information for you to consider when choosing a date that we split this post into a series. Check back soon for Part 2! We’ll share more about the process of choosing a wedding date, including the tricky task of coordinating your venue, vendors and guests.
And if you’re looking for in-depth advice and planning help personalized to your own wedding needs, look no further! We offer a variety of wedding planning packages, and we would love to help you bring your dream wedding to life!