How Long Does It Take to Plan a Wedding? A Simple Guide

Most engagements may start in the same manner: bended knee, a ring, the emphatic “Yes!”, but that’s often where the similarities end.

Each engagement is a unique amalgamation of personalities, desires, and time!

Setting a realistic time frame for the wedding planning process is essential. Whether you enjoy your engagement or not is often down to your expectations.

So, how long does it take to plan a wedding? Keep reading to find out.

How Long Does It Take to Plan a Wedding?

The simple answer is one year. But this is dependent on many factors: your budget, where you live, and how much time you can dedicate to planning weekly.

For the sake of simplicity, this article will use a wedding timeline of a year, from January to December.

January and February

Settling on a budget should be your foundation. Agree on the size and vision according to what you can afford. Choose whether to hire a wedding planner or not.

From there, create your guest list. This will help you to gauge the relationship between your budget and how many guests you want to present.

Select your venue and vendors. These tend to have long waiting lists, so have this covered as soon as your budget is in order.

Often, these aspects of your wedding can be provided by a single service. For instance, yacht weddings cover the venue and catering in one go!

March to May

Select a wedding party and hire an officiant. Aim to decide on the type of dresses/suits and color scheme of the wedding party. Time is needed for fittings and adjustments.

Use your wedding party for delegation of tasks, if you don’t have a wedding planner. Keep a checklist of who has been assigned to what.

Create invitations and engagement pictures and send them out.

June to August

Buy the wedding bands. Focus on the details of the wedding cake, flowers. Organize a tasting with caterers and set up a hair and makeup trial.

Plan your honeymoon. Believe it or not, this is one of the most challenging parts of the wedding timeline. Couples often get overly concerned about this aspect.

As hard as it may be, try not to overthink this stage. Remember that the honeymoon is more about the company than location!

September to November

Now comes the time for the first dress fitting. This is also the rehearsal period. Use this time to make as much of the wedding a reality: floral mock-ups, the rehearsal dinner, write your vows.

Organize the music, tweak smaller details like gifts for the wedding party and seating charts. If you have a gift registry, the earlier part of this period would be the time to set it up.

Order your wedding license, because it just got real!

December

This is the time for the final dress fitting. Make sure all vendors and services are paid. Physically go to the venue with a checklist and make sure that nothing has been forgotten.

Try to rest and eat healthy for the last two weeks. Delegate as much as you can during this time if any issues need finalizing.

The last week should be purely for pampering purposes. Make the most of that week for spa, mani-pedi, hair, and skin treatments. Oh! and break in your wedding shoes!

Enjoy It!

When asking “how long does it take to plan a wedding?”, you really need to ask yourself “how much time am I willing to dedicate to it?” Many couples have gotten to their honeymoons wishing that they had less to do in the planning stages.

However long your planning process takes, try to organize it in a way that you enjoy it. After all, the plan is to only do it once!

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