According to Wedding Wire's 2019 Wedding Report, "Forty percent of couples start to plan their wedding less than 1 month after getting engaged."
Wedding planning takes some serious work and forethought, and you may have wondered at some point, "How long does it take to plan a wedding?"
Everyone's situation is different, but this quick summary will help you find a plan that works for you!
How Long Does It Take to Plan a Wedding?
Ginger Broughton, owner of Ginger B's and a wedding planner of 35 years, says that six to eight months is the right amount of time to spend on planning a wedding. Anyone who wants to learn more about event planning could learn a lot from her.
Many couples spend much longer than that on wedding planning, but Ginger's expertise says that longer time periods lead to over-planning and spending too much money.
Key Decisions to Make
Deciding exactly when to plan a wedding has to take into account several important features.
For one thing, you may have a certain amount of time that you'd prefer to be engaged. If so, you'll have to either plan your engagement time around when you'd like to have your wedding, or else plan your wedding time around when you'd like to have your engagement (or already had your engagement).
The season will strongly affect your wedding plans. It's much harder to have an outdoor wedding in the snow or rainy season.
On the other hand, you'll also have to plan around your desired honeymoon location and time. If your honeymoon destination is in another part of the world, then there's a good chance that the weather and season there will be different from the weather and season you'll have for your wedding.
For example, if you plan a June wedding in North America, you can expect warmth and have a reasonable hope for sunshine. But if you're going to honeymoon in Brazil, which is deep in the Southern Hemisphere, then a June honeymoon will actually be unusually chilly in Brazil.
Tips for Wedding Planning
You want your wedding day to be just right, but a little foresight can do so much more to make your special day perfect than just spending more and more money. If at all possible, it's better not to go into debt for a wedding.
Try to focus your financial resources on the reception, and spend less on the ceremony itself, especially if it's a Christian wedding.
Christian weddings tend to be fairly brief, so you and your guests may only be able to enjoy decorations in the ceremony room for half an hour, while a beautifully adorned reception room can be enjoyed for hours and hours.
It's important to ask for help while planning your wedding, but you need to remain in the driver's seat. Other people are there to help out of the goodness of their hearts and they are not entitled to force you to make decisions that you don't agree with.
It's your day, so be firm about planning things the way that will work best for you!
Plan the Perfect Event
If you've ever wondered, "How long does it take to plan a wedding?", we hope you've found this piece helpful. To learn more about event planning and marketing, check out our other pages!
