Am I Too Early?

You are not too early searching for venues as 2023 is pretty booked up already. I do think DIY or not, $5,000 budget will be tough (doable if guest list is under 30 people). Some other things to do to keep budget within reason: choose any day other than Saturday, do brunch/lunch reception rather than dinner, look into parks/rec departments for venues, use fiftyflowers.com/Costco rather than a florist, use grocery store/Costco for cake...

We did a 50 person wedding for $8k. It is completely possible to do but only if you do a lot of DIY and/or have talented and generous friends and family. You are not looking too early at venues but that is partly because it might take you 6 months to find the one that fits your specifications.

Is it too soon to be stressing? Yes. Is it too soon to be planning? Absolutely not. Tbh, i’m surprised you are finding it difficult to find venues that will book 2024. Most of the venues around my area are already filling up for 2024 (due to all the covid wedding reschedules). However, a lot of venues have changed their prices post-Covid, so the ones in your area may be waiting until the beginning of next year to announce their new rates for 2024. Right now it would be smart to search venues in your area and schedule walk-thrus. I know you said you wanted to wait until the green seasons, but I fear if you do that you may not get the date you are hoping for (especially if it’s during the popular wedding months). I’d take a look at your financials and set a realistic budget now. Decide what you can and would be willing to spend on your venue (and all the rest of your vendors). Most people spend 1-2 years planning their weddings, so you are right on track with your timing.

Foegot to add - I found the folks over at r/weddingsunder10k on Reddit to be a good resource for budget wedding ideas and advice (in addition the the WW forums). There are a lot of ways to save and cut costs and still have a beautiful wedding.

Definitely not too soon to look for venues for 2024. Venues are different than other vendors because they (usually) can only accommodate one wedding per day/ time, whereas bakers can make multiple cakes in a day, florists can make multiple arrangements in a day, etc.

We are getting married NEXT December 2023 and have already starting the planning process. We booked a venue last month and have already started for a photographer and actually are in the process of booking one. We just hit a snag financially as our fur baby needs surgery so we haven't officially booked him yet, but will. One venue we looked at was booked every weekend until Oct 2023!! I don't think it's too early to plan! It also helps with finances and trying to find sales on items as you have longer to budget. Best of luck to you!