I don't think it's too early at all! I think now is the perfect time to start planning. I would definitely start looking at venues and vendors first, since those seem to book up quickest. It's also a good time to start browsing through dresses and getting an idea of what styles you like and trying on dresses. Save The Dates are normally sent out 6-8 months ahead of time, and invitations should be sent out 6-8 weeks ahead of time, so you don't need to send those yet. Happy wedding planning!
It's definitely not too early to start planning! I was told to try and order my dress for our 10/22 wedding 10-12 months in advance just in case (but I just found it so that's early lol.) I would wait to send out STDs until Jan-Feb and you won't want to send invites until 6-8 weeks before your wedding date.
Never too early to start planning!! We started planning and booking for our Jan. 2022 wedding around Oct. Nov of 2020! Def. figure out a budget and rough guest list then move on to your vendors. I'd suggest finding a venue first that works with a date you have in mind, then branching out from there!
You can def. hold off on wedding invitations! Those don't need to be sent out until 6-8 weeks before your wedding, but if you have guests out of state or the country, you can send those a little earlier than 6-8 weeks.
You can also probably wait a little while to get your dress as well! It doesn't hurt to look online and start getting an idea of what you're looking for, but I'd wait a couple more months to start trying on some and then purchasing!
Happy wedding planning! Enjoy!
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October 2022
AJ ·
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Echoing what Lisa said, save the dates 6-8 months before your wedding and invites 6-8 weeks ahead of time with RSVPS due 2-3 weeks before your wedding so you have a final guest count for your venue. You can definitely start to dress shop soon, at least going to look! good rule of thumb is buy your dress about 9 months before your wedding
In regards to looking for dresses my advice is to at least start looking online in order to get an idea as to what style, fit, material you want for your dress. I also suggest to start shopping about a year out from your wedding date. Giving plenty of time to try on dresses and also giving time for it arrive if it needs to be ordered.
I would not start sending invitations. Definitely start looking to see if there is a certain one or template that you like because I know that websites will "clear house" of certain ones after a while.
Most definitely start looking into venues if you plan on trying to book one, as those get taken really quickly. As well as start looking and reaching out to potential vendors in order to try and secure them for your date as well.
Have you done your budget and started looking for a venue? Those are good things to start now. You can also start talking with your FS about music, food, that kind of thing.
If you know your colors it's best to look for all the things that you may want because I have some of my colors in low supply. And decor elements that you may want. Like my bridesmaids color dresses were very limited. But planning it can be fun 😂😂😂and headache. Do you know where you want to get married and your style of dresses for you and your wedding party and theme. But once you get into it will go fast
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October 2021
Michelle ·
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Not at all! In fact, a lot of vendors are filling up super quick. For example, my makeup artist is already booked up completely for 2022, and getting close to being fully booked for 2023.
Hold off on invites, but if you have a lot of out of town guests, like we do, send the STDs early so people can plan. Good luck!
Do you have your venue booked? You need to get on that right now because of all the postponements taking place this year and next. Then get your save the dates out at 9-12 months to your final guest list. Don’t send invites until 8 weeks before the wedding.
For sure it's not too early. I'm doing the same thing and our date is October 2022. For me, I can't order my dress until I get to the figure I want, but if you already have ideas, places you want to see, all the extra fun stuff, it's never too early. Good luck and have fun with it ^_^
It’s definitely not too early! mine is 06/05/22, i went right into planning as soon as i got engaged! the first thing i recommend doing is getting the venue since that’s the foundation of your wedding, then you could look for dresses! i found my dress a week after finding the venue, with still a year to go, it’s not too early at all! made me feel super relieved to get things done early
I would, at a minimum, book your venue and your must have vendors now. Per the previous posts, many vendors are booking up early due to wedding postponements from last year. I tried two photographers before finding mine - they were all booked over a year out.
Invitations no, but dress along with figuring out everything else yes. I definitely think it’s okay to start looking at venues, figuring out the theme/look you are going for. Write it all down and share your ideas with your fiancé. As far as the dress, give yourself about 10-12 months before the wedding..you never know how long it will take for a dress to come in plus alteration time. Happy planning!
Keep in mind that I only have a four month engagement, so I’m coming at this from that perspective.
It’s definitely not “too early”— that’s only about a year away. But I don’t think you *need* to start planning now. Once you start planning it can become all-consuming, so I’d make this decision based upon whether you want to be constantly thinking about this until next September, or if you’d rather take some time to think about other things before you start planning. With the exception of hair and makeup, I’ve had zero problems finding all the vendors I liked. And the hair and makeup turned out to be an issue more because my wedding is out of state, not so much because of the timeline. For reference, my wedding is in the Chicago area. We chose a Friday because that’s what the venue we liked the most had for the minimums we could afford, but there was a lot of Saturday availability still left. YMMV depending on where you live and how specific your vision is. If you’re going to start planning, think looking at venues now is a good idea, because ultimately you don’t have a date until you have a venue. And if you have something really specific in mind you will find that a year May not be enough lead time to get what you want on the date you want. As for dresses, I’d wait personally. I see so many posts on here about dress regret by people who bought their dresses long before their weddings. I’d wait until you’re 6-8 months out for that.
I would set up a budget, secure a venue and a date. DO NOT send save the dates, they are basically an invitation (not needed, really) and DO NOT ASK ANYONE TO BE IN THE WEDDING PARTY until about six months out. These boards are littered with people who asked someone then that person is not around a year later and oopsies!
Good luck!
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July 2022
Tyff ·
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Mine is July 2022- I already have a venue, photographer, planner, and DJ. Trying to book a caterer by September 2021. I got engaged in Nov 2020 and got my venue in Jan 2021 tho I am an extreme PLANNER tho.....
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July 2022
Tyff ·
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Great idea to wait to ask friends- I let it slip to MIL who I may ask and now I feel obligated to ask that person even though I am not sure now that I get closer... awkward....
You can start looking for a dress anytime. Save the Dates usually go out about 6 months before your wedding and invites 6-8 weeks before so its way too soon to do those things just yet. I would absolutely book all your major vendors soon, because their calendars fill up. Venue, caterer, photographer, and musician/DJ can all get booked now, and possibly florist, officiant, hair and makeup, and other vendors you might be using.