How far to plan ahead?

We started planning after 2 yr mark but we have change so many things since then now we're down to 7 months so no more changing. We changed venue n colors n theme lol

I agree with pps.... start saving money now (I created a savings account that is only money for our wedding that we add to little by little) and start saving ideas on Pinterest.

October is a popular month for weddings, so if you are dead set on the date, I would suggest looking at venues around the 2 year mark to guarantee you have the date and a venue you love rather than settling for something you don't really want. Everything else, you can probably hold off on until a year and a half to a year out.

My FH asked me to marry him so casual it didn't seem like an actual proposal so a week later i asked him if he was serious and he was. He told me he never had a vibe with someone this we have, we feel as if we were made for each other.

So we started talking about it. I feel like if your hearts and mind is in the same place of love why not start planning. Even if it starts with a simple saving account.

Ive been saving for a year and a 1/2 now and my year is set for 2020, so when i start planning I'll have more for my deposits.

My fiance and I got engaged in May 2017 & picked out venue that August. When we first booked it and started telling people 2019, everyone had something to say. Now that it is 2018 and time is flying by it is getting better, I say we are in real engagement time now being only a year and half away. I say 2 years to a year in a half I would definitely start look and book your venue. From there do all your bigger things; photographer, dj, caterer if needed, then do the smaller things the last year or so. Trust me it will go really fast. We started our planning at over two years to go and now were at almost 17 months! Its exciting, enjoy the process & take advantage of having time!

My partner and I have been together for 5 years, they first asked me to marry them about 1 year in. Literally everyone in my family has been divorced at least once, so I've been skittish about marriages ever since I can remember(I'm soooo looking forward to hearing stories about how I swore I'd never get married when I was only five years old once I tell my family >_<, so I said no, even though I knew then that this was the person I wanted to spend my entire life with. It wasn't a big deal, because it wasn't an 'official' proposal--it was them taking my temperature toward the idea to find out if they could propose or not. We decided I would tell them when I was ready to get married, and then they would do the official proposal. It's kind of funny, because over the past 4 years they've casually just said "will you marry me?" so many times I can't even count. Like, just driving to the grocery store, they'll throw it out randomly in the car.

Three months ago I started to realize I was 'ready.' I waited until about a week ago to tell them, just to be sure. The only reason I don't have a ring on my finger this second is because we'd already planned a trip to Disney for next April and I want the proposal to happen there. Seriously, he asked when he could propose now that I was ready, lol. As far as I'm concerned, we're engaged.

That's all to say that, in my opinion, if the two of you consider yourself engaged, that's all that matters, not if you have a ring on your finger or not.

As far as planning goes...well, I've already started thinking about some things. I know where I want to get married(Biltmore), I'm about 90% sure we're going to get married in April 2024. April because we live in the south and I don't want it to be insufferably hot(my sister got married in August and it was MISERABLE). 2024 because we both want 'the dream' wedding, and we don't want to make our parents pay for that, so we need to save up for it ourselves. I know a lot of people pick their date and figure out their budget kind of based on that, but we've done it the other way around, so that we can afford exactly the wedding we want. I'm also about 90% sure who my bridal party is going to be, although I haven't asked them yet(even though we consider ourselves engaged, we still want to wait until the official proposal until we tell anyone), but also because goodness, 6 years is a long time away. I'm not worried about losing friendships, although I'm sure everyone here will tell me I should be. Two of them are my sisters, and two of them are my best friends in the universe--one I've even been friends with since I was seven-years-old. But I still won't officially ask them to be my bridesmaids until probably about 2 to 2 and a half years away from the date.

I think there are some things you can absolutely do now. You can think about venues, you can plan your budget, you can start saving, you can pin your heart out on Pinterest until the cows come home. You shouldn't book anything right this second, you probably shouldn't ask your bridal party, and I wouldn't pick out your dress yet, just in case your tastes change.