How To Set Your Wedding Date
Every couple will have a different set of priorities and criteria when it comes to setting that all important date. Your main concern may be the availability of your venue, the likelihood of good weather, or the chances of your nearest and dearest being able to attend. Here are just a few of the factors that may affect your choice of wedding date:
Your wedding budget
Your budget can be crucial in setting your wedding date. Do you need a year or two to save up for the wedding if you’re paying for it yourselves? Borrowing money to finance a wedding can be a mistake as you’ll start married life struggling to pay off your debt. Your budget can affect your wedding date in other ways too. It is far more expensive to get married on a Saturday in the peak wedding months of June and July than to plan a Friday or midweek wedding in February or October.
Your Views on Engagement
Some couples are happy just to become engaged and to enjoy the extra level of commitment that it brings, putting the wedding off for several years until they are in a better position financially. Other couples are determined to be married as quickly as possible after their engagement, setting a time limit of one year or even less. The length of engagement you are happy with can have a big impact on setting your wedding date.
Your Ideal Wedding Season
Every season has its own magic, from the crisp iciness of winter to the long light evenings of summer, and the fresh vigor of spring to the muted splendor of fall. Think carefully about your favorite season and the backdrop you’d like to your wedding. Do you want your wedding photos to feature blue skies and sunshine, or mysterious mists and golden leaves?
Your Dream Wedding Venue
If you have your heart set on a particular wedding venue, then you will be guided by their availability when setting your wedding date. Don’t forget, if you are holding your ceremony and reception at different venues you need to check the availability of both before you book anything. Make sure you don’t sacrifice absolutely everything for your dream venue. If you have your heart set on a Christmas wedding and they only have dates available in March, it may be worth considering another venue, or delaying for a year.
Your Wedding Party
While you and your groom are the lead characters in your wedding, there are probably other people you’d really like to be there too. These might be your parents, your grandparents, your siblings, or your best friends. Think about reasons that they may be unable to attend. If an elderly relative is in poor health should you have the wedding sooner rather than later? If a friend is going travelling do you want to wait until they get back? If a member of your wedding party is pregnant you might want to avoid planning the wedding around their due date. If someone can’t be at your wedding, perhaps a parent who has passed away, you might want to get married on their birthday as a sign of commemoration.
Special Events and Holidays
Setting your wedding date around a holiday such as Christmas has pros and cons. If you are getting married in your home town many people may already be making the journey home for Christmas and your wedding would just add an extra special touch. However you may find guests from out of town don’t attend as they need to be with their own families. The cost of a wedding can also be much higher around holidays. Using a personal occasion such as the anniversary of your engagement as a wedding date might be a better idea.
