Am i planning too Early? Wedding date is 07/17/2021

I don’t think generally there’s any such thing as too early to book vendors, but if it’s too soon for your FH to be comfortable with it, then it’s too soon. He needs to be 100% onboard before you start signing contracts and putting down deposits.

We got engaged 12/13/16 and are not getting married until 4/25/20. I started planning right away (well honestly before LOL), however, I didn't book anything. We did a lot of researching, and pinteresting. I am really glad we had the long engagement to look, research, and change our minds. The things I thought I wanted, versus what I want now are SO different. We started actively planning (talking with vendors) July of 2018.
I would avoid spending any money that can't be returned until closer to the 16 months/1 year mark. Some venues don't even allow you to book that early. My first venue wouldn't allow you to book until January of 2019 for April 2020. They ended up not working out for us, and we booked our venue in I think May. There was only 1 other wedding booked for that month at the time.Now, no one is the same, and every area is different. If I were you I would start with research, and maybe talking with some venues and vendors and see how far out they suggest booking.
Ultimately its your day, and its going to be wonderful no matter when you plan it.

Its never to early to book the venue.
Also a good idea to book photographer. They book up and sometimes they have limited days they do weddings.. id say book your vendors. But dont start buying any decor or make any other plans just yet. Since your wedding is 2021 you might like a certain look now but a year later you might want something else.
So go ahead and book your vendors! Better safe to get the vendors you want, then wait and they are already booked on your day

View Quoted Comment I completely agree. Good vendors do go fast and it really irks me when people shame you for planning more than a year out. I’m almost exactly a year out now and so many vendors are taken. Fortunately we got the venue and photographer early, but we’re having a really hard time finding a caterer. So you should be planning early if you can. But Caytlyn is completely right. Your FS needs to be comfortable and if he’s not, you should wait. I would try presenting your argument again and asking why he doesn’t want to start planning, but if he’s still not comfortable, you should give him some time.

I was worried that I was planning too far in advance at a year and a half but tbh it was hard for us to find a venue. Certain venues and even photographers can book up 1.5-2 years in advance. Not to stress you out. Just a reality check that some brides are on top of their s**t! Haha

View Quoted Comment I have been doing a lot of research on my own mainly because my fiancé is focusing on paying for his daughters wedding which is in May and he wants to do renovations to the house he owns. If he had it his way, we wouldn’t talk about it till 6 months before the wedding and then book everything. His worry is, how do I know these places will still be in business, a legit worry but that’s why I did my research and tried to get the best.

View Quoted Comment Yeah I agree on the decor, my mom said the same thing. I for sure do not want to do anything else but book the three top vendors. The Venue, the Dj, and the Videographer/Photographer; and then I’m done until about July when we can do our engagement photos and then get the florist and revisit what I want to do for decor. But most likely it will stay as Italian “Ancient Rome” themed, I just love that time period and Italy was the first place me and my fiancé visited together outside of the US.

My advice is to wait until he's comfortable. I started planning too early and got no help. I dont think its ever too early to book your venue, so I would at least do that and maybe just spend a few months researching vendors

View Quoted Comment I agree I will try to wait, the only bad thing about our Venue is that they have preferred vendor list and if you do not pick their preferred Dj then we have to pay an extra $300. And there is only 4 to pick from 😩 Luckily the venue will do our food so I don’t have to worry about looking for that.

No you aren't. Some venues and vendors are booked years in advance. The more you can get done early means the less you have to do as the wedding gets closer. It also gives you more time to save money and make payments. guys just don't understand what goes into planning a wedding.

I would say especially for the vendors book early! We got engaged in August, and I had several potential photographers in mind for our wedding, and every single one is booked already! (Wedding is 10/31/2020) at least if you can secure the big vendors you need, everything else like fine details you can wait and take your time planning!

View Quoted Comment That’s what I tried to explain to him, but he keeps making excuses like I want to see them face to face and how do I know they will still be in business the. What if they go under. Will I get my deposit back. Both vendors I want to book besides the wedding reception have been in business over 30 years and have high ratings on The Knot and on WeddingWire and Google.

We got engaged 4/2018 and planned to have the wedding 5/2020, so similar timeline to yours. I had booked all of the vendors you included plus a florist and gotten a dress by 12/2018. At first, he was in the same boat as your fiancé and said many of the same things. It got a little annoying (okay, a lot annoying) because he knows nothing about planning a wedding, let alone during a busy time of year at an incredibly popular place lol. I would just explain that it's best to get the "big" stuff out of the way as early as possible since they book up really early. I'm sure he will come around! Mine definitely did and has resolved to just let me do all of the things, and he'll chime in when he is interested in something in particular that I'm planning.

We started booking about 1.5 years out or so. We didn't feel it was too early at all and we got all of our first choice vendors. You don't have to pick your decorations yet, but getting a venue, photographer and caterer is a nice start and doesn't necessarily lock you into anything super specific.

Search wedding planning checklists and you’ll find most start 18 months in advance. Good venues can absolutely book 1-2 years in advance! We had an off-season wedding—on a Monday night—and the 1st Date we wanted got booked a year in advance by a corporate retreat that booked that entire week. We quickly booked the Monday before.

View Quoted Comment Understandable concerns, my friend was planning a 2021 wedding and she was worried about that too. I would say as long as you can see that they’ve been in business for quite some time and continue to be in good business you shouldn’t worry too much about business just suddenly closing shop! You can still meet with them face to face now also, that doesn’t change whether you do it now or six months from now. And you’re only about a year and 9 months from your wedding date, that’s plenty reasonable to start booking!

It's not too early. My finace and I want to secure the venue, DJ, Church, and photographer now that way it is done. Those are the main thing you need to secure since they are time sensitive. If you are looking at known banquet halls in your area then they won't go out of business.

I don't think you're booking those things too early! My FH didn't understand how fast things get booked, which I'm wondering if it's the same case for your FH!

I definitely think research and planning is good. Researching what you want takes forever. I think if he’s uncomfortable with how soon you’re planning things, take a step back. My fiancé and I had that same problem, I’m gogogogo and he wants to take it slower. Find a way to compromise. My compromise was venue, DOC, and photographer. If he’s okay with that, then go for it. If he’s not, make sure you go at a pace he’s comfortable with too.

View Quoted Comment That’s what I tried to tell him that he didn’t understand. Even though his daughter is getting married in May, he doesn’t know all the things she is doing and he isn’t involved in the process of the wedding or planning. He is just paying for things and being places when she asks. When he was married to his first wife they were not very financially well off and had a small cheap wedding Im guess. But this time he is able to do things bigger if he wants and good vendors book fast.