The second a couple chooses me as their wedding coordinator, we get straight to planning. Whether they have 3 years to plan or 3 months, we always start immediately. And for what reason?
1. Wedding vendors book up and if you want your first pick, book sooner rather than later!
2. You might as well plan everything and then have the remainder of your engagement to relax, right? Right.
Jodee Debes Photography
So no matter what length of engagement you choose, plan right away and get it all done as quickly as possible.
When I meet with my couples for the first time, every single one of them says, "We want to get married in the summer but we know that's just out of the question, as it's only 6 months away!"
And my response?
A shorter engagement is much easier to plan a wedding than a long engagement.
Surprised? Probably. But I am going to tell you why.
In a world full of millions of ideas and inspiration, wedding blogs galore and more colors than you can even name, it is tough to plan. And when you know that you have a year to plan, you think to yourself, "I can decide on colors later...I have plenty of time!" or "I can just think about it for a while before choosing which photographer, it's a year away!"
Well no matter what, your engagement is going to go FAST. It will be here sooner than you know it.
In no time, that year is going to turn into 3 months, and your favorite photographers will have already booked weddings for that day. Your favorite wedding venue will have been booked by another couple and you now are down to the wire on choosing a color palette, because without it, you can't choose flowers or linens or bridesmaid dresses.
Your wedding is here and what you once believe was plenty of time, is now no time at all.
So just that, is why a shorter engagement is far easier than a long engagement. With a short engagement, you don't have time to "think it over" and you don't have time to "do a little more research" because you are already almost there...you're months away from your wedding day!
While I urge all of my couples to book their vendors and make decisions as soon as they find someone or something they love, and stop the research right there, a short engagement makes this decision for you, and requires that you make decisions quickly. You don't have time to visit 8 bakeries so only visiting two narrows it down nicely right off the bat.
Jodee Debes Photography
So I have two words of advice for you:
1. If you already have a long engagement set, assign yourself a "fake wedding date" where you have to have everything booked and planned by...and set it for 3-6 months out.
2. If you are deciding between this year and next year and want to make sure you are the least stressed, choose this year.
Because that short engagement will actually cause a whole lot less stress than you think. In this case, less is more!
