plan it in 4 months or 14 months?

[gt30]

Hi ev1, I need a little advice! Have any of you had to plan a wedding in 4 months? And would you recommend doing it that way if you had a choice?

My fiancee and I live together in Central Florida and my fiancee wants an outdoor wedding, in or around the Central Florida area. In case you don''t already know, in Florida, if you want to avoid hurricanes or a 90 degree sweltering day full of sweaty tuxedos you should get married between November and early March. She would rather get married sooner or later and is leaning towards March 6th, 2010 as the date and has even found an location that may have availablity that day if we do decide to go forward with that date. I am not opposed at all to a quick wedding; however, I really don''t understand all of the ins & outs to planning a wedding so I was hoping for some feedback here from some people who have been through the experiences already.

Some other info about us that may help understand our situation:
-We dated for just short of 2 years before getting engaged and we are both 29yrs old.
-My fiancee has a relatively stressful job and does not get anytime off during the week so most of what she needs to do in terms of planning will need to take place on the weekends
-I am lucky and work from home with a pretty flexible schedule so I could do a lot of the planning ''legwork'' during the week if need be.

thanks!

 

[blueroses]

If it were up to me--knowing what I do from my own experience, having been in my fair share of weddings (I''m in my mid-30s) and at not quite the 1/2 way mark through our 10 1/2 month engagement?)

I''d do 4 months.

There''s going to be stress anyway, no matter which way you slice it. Why not just front load it and be done with it? We have friends who got engaged about 6 weeks after we did and they''re getting married in January. We''re totally jealous. We have about 90% of the vendors done, the rest is logistics and worrying about the logistics. We could get it done in time. We''ve been engaged since June--four months. We did all of this stuff in probably 2 months and have twiddled our thumbs the rest of the time--if we had to be done, we would be. Now we just sit and get intermittently worried for the next 6 1/2 months between actually doing the work. I don''t know, there will be people who say 14 and will have VERY valid reasons, and it''s just a difference in personalities and opinions. This is just ours.

Good luck!

 

[FrekeChild]

Four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cammy85]

My engagement was just about 9 months. And I know that at the beginning and the end things were stressful - planning, shopping, all my projects (darn you DIY! haha) I do remember there being a lull for several months where we had most of the big things planned and we just had to sit and wait for it to get closer to the wedding to do some of the more time-sensitive things. If you opt for 4 months, you may have a lot of stress for that timeframe, but it''ll be over so much sooner! If you want to incorporate a lot of projects/crafts, just make sure to give yourself enough time, or be OK if they can''t be completed at the cost of your sanity. With 4 months, the only issue you may run into is vendor availability. Your #1 choice may have been booked a long time ago, but that doesn''t mean someone good isn''t still out there.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[sunnyd]

Elledizzy got married 1.5 weeks ago, she planned her wedding in 4 months. It can be done, but it''s easier if it is a small wedding, IMO.

Are you both able to make fast decisions and stick to them? Are you able to accept that little things may fall by the wayside? You may not get your top pick vendors so close to the date, is that okay? She''ll have to get a sample gown, any bridesmaids she may have may have to get their dresses from Nordstrom or similar. Just things to think about.

Good luck!!!

 

[emeraldlover1]

4 months and hire a day of coordinator.

 

[gt30]

wow, thanks for all the input. tbh i''m surprised that everyone so far is saying 4 months. I thought it would be closer to 50/50.

 

[emeraldlover1]

After having planned a wedding and worked a full time job, I still did not need a year. Most of the ideas and decisions that I made were in the last 4 months. Its totally do-able. It would be easier if you had a planner that could help you with vendors so that you don''t have to do all the research. That is a lot of what I spent time on in the beginning.

 

[Inanna]

If I could do it over again, I would have planned my wedding in 4 months.

I got engaged last November and knew I wanted a wedding in the Florida Keys. Instead of rushing to plan a March wedding, we decided to give it a full year and are getting married this November. Well, 80% of the planning was done by late January, and the wait since has been LONG. If you're both good planners (or you can hire a coordinator) and you can find an available venue you love very quickly, I would definitely go for 4 months!

 

[february2003bride]

4 months!! I planned my wedding in less than 4 months. We were engaged end of 10/02, were planning a wedding for 12/03, moved it up to 8/03 and then in mid-November decided that we HATED wedding planning and pushed it to 2/2003! I''m so glad I did and would do it over again. The decisions that had to be made I couldn''t second guess so I had to go with my first instinct. It was fairly stress free!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I would definitely say 4 months if you guys are flexible. We booked our venue and I got my dress at the 7-month mark, but I didn''t do a single thing until 3 months beforehand and never once felt rushed. And we both worked full-time. Our wedding was in the fall so this all took place in the summer and I REFUSED to use my summer weekends for the wedding, so we just blocked off small chunks in the evenings and on weekend mornings. I had a completely normal summer and I would argue we didn''t even need all three months.

You can definitely have a great wedding in a short time without feeling stressed. There isn''t a lack of wedding-related vendors out there, that''s for sure.

 

[caribqueen]

I say 4 months. I''ve been engaged for 6 months with a little more than 7 months to go and I haven''t done anything in the past 2 months because of that lull the other posters mentioned. You would just end up skipping the lull or break in the middle and going straight through. I say get it over with.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

4 months!

I am getting married in March, got engaged last February and have planned very little, i am planning on doing it all at once, i just work better that way.

 

[sonnyjane]

Jumping on the four bandwagon! That''s about what it did take me to "plan" mine, but it took less than that, I planned the whole thing in about one month, just four months out. I think the longer you have to plan, the longer you have to stress, change your mind, and go over budget!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Date: 10/21/2009 9:36:02 PM
Author: sonnyjane
Jumping on the four bandwagon! That''s about what it did take me to ''plan'' mine, but it took less than that, I planned the whole thing in about one month, just four months out. I think the longer you have to plan, the longer you have to stress, change your mind, and go over budget!

so true sonnyjane so true!!

 

[purselover]

4 months!!! Our engagement will be 6 months and honestly we didn''t do much until 2 months in, we just booked our music this week 2 months out and so far there have been no problems.

 

[dani2142]

4 months for sure!!! Especially because you work from home! Good luck!

 

[cleokizzy]

gt: it''s so sweet of you to be asking these questions about your wedding. it''s nice to see that from the start, the guy is already in the wedding planning mode along with the bride

i would recommend 4 months because it CAN be done. i had all the major vendors booked 2 months after i got engaged and the wedding is not until 10 months from now! as long as you know exactly what you want, it''ll be a breeze.

 

[Clairitek]

4 months. I planned my wedding in 3 months and 1 week (but I had a small 35 person wedding). Before setting the date the only thing we had picked out was my gown. That could be the harder part for your fiancee but it is totally possible to find a gorgeous dress in short notice.

 

[musey]

If the timing works for you otherwise, and that venue is available - FOUR MONTHS!!

We had a 20-month engagement. If it had been at all possible to pull it off in 8 months instead of 20 (we wanted a specific month) under our circumstances, I would rather have done that. It''s booking vendors that requires the most lead time, especially if you''re picky. Many of the photographers we were interested in were already booked one year out, our venue was booked up except for ONE day at 17 months out (we had originally picked a different day, but we grabbed their one availability), my dress took 4 months to come in, etc. If we didn''t need the lead time for vendors, we could EASILY have planned it in under 4 months.

But, we are/were picky. If we''d wanted to do it a year earlier, we could have made it happen.. It just would''ve meant slimmer pickins among vendors.

 

[ms.halo]

What everyone else has said -- 4 months!

We planned in 14 and I wish, wish, WISH we had not left so much time. It''s been six years and I still have regrets about that. Shorter time frame means less time for indecisiveness and for me it would have meant much less family drama.

 

[elrohwen]

I planned my wedding in about 15 months and I thought it was perfect. Then again, I liked the very laid back pace and the fact that I could take month long breaks during planning. I certainly didn't need all of the time, but I would've felt way too rushed in having less than a year to plan.

Then again, there are definitely ladies out there who have done it in 4 months! I would look at how organized you and your FI are. How stressed out are you by work, other committments, etc. If you're not that stressed out by outside factors and are pretty organized people, I think you should be able to do it in 4 months.
ETA: I definitely ditto musey that vendor availability might be limited. But since it sounds like you can already get your ideal venue, you might not have a problem! I definitely needed at least a year because most vendors were booked up quickly.

 

[trillionaire]

4 months!

I can''t believe we are waiting 11 more months!

 

[Amanda.Rx]

I''m planning mine in 14 months. I think it''s perfect. I got that initial "excited" period where a got a LOT done, and since then I''ve been doing 1-2 things per month. It hasn''t been stressful at all. The wedding is in April, and I still have a good bit to do, but I''m taking my time.

It''s also given me a lot longer to look forward to it and really think about what I want!

I can''t imagine cramming it into 4 months, but if you can do it, and that''s what you want, go for it!

 

[motownmama]

Our engagement was 4 months and that was perfect for me. You can''t procratinate and have to be decisive. I remember Kleinfeld''s saying they needed 6 months or something to me, but I just told them the date was locked and loaded and I''d come in w/i a few short weeks of getting engaged - they did it, of course!

 

[LittleLovely]

4 months! My good friends just got engaged in September and they''re having the wedding this New Year''s Eve. They''ve already got the venue, dress, and a lot of the other stuff done. Plus they both work full time. It''s totally doable. Unless you need/want to save up for it first.

 

[Londongirl1]

A BF planned her wedding in Florida in 6 months and it was THE best wedding I've ever been to! She got married outside on the beach with the reception at a lovely hotel. It wasn't a glitzy affair with a big dress, big cake, blah, blah, blah.... and that's what made it so nice.

The hotel helped out with a lot of the organising and my BF kept things simple

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

I''m planning in a short engagement as well - basically about 3 months. We''ve been engaged for quite a while, but it took us a long time to find and book a venue, due to lots of circumstances. It''s going to be a tiny wedding - family only - and will be in January, in our mountains. We both wanted outdoor, but we love the winter, so winter it is. We''d rather be cold than hot and sweaty. Plus, it''s going to be very cozy and imtimate.

I can now understand why people that work full time and are having 200+ people at a wedding would want 9-12 months to plan. I couldn''t before, but I do now. When you have no time during the week, all you have are weekends, and it''s amazing how quickly those get used up, especially with obligations other than towards the wedding.

BUT if you have some time to help with legwork, and if you guys use your time wisely, I think you could do 4 months by all means. That''s definitely what I''d do. You just need to use all the spare time you have to do planning between yourselves, and be prepared to not spend a lot of time making decisions and in the fuss over little details. If you can make decisions quicker, it''ll really speed up the process. Plus, most places and vendors are MUCH easier to book in months like March, as opposed to the popular spring/summer/fall months.

Enjoy!!!

 

[Allison D.]

4 months.

I had a friend engaged for 22 months, and honestly, it was way too long.

 

[tlh]

Date: 10/22/2009 12:45:24 AM
Author: hawaiianorangetree

Date: 10/21/2009 9:36:02 PM
Author: sonnyjane
Jumping on the four bandwagon! That''s about what it did take me to ''plan'' mine, but it took less than that, I planned the whole thing in about one month, just four months out. I think the longer you have to plan, the longer you have to stress, change your mind, and go over budget!

so true sonnyjane so true!!

AMEN!