How quickly did you see venues and make a decision?

This really just depends. I would breathe as you have 2 years still in the making. I got engaged in September last year and started contacting venues in October. Truthfully I only went to see 2 venues, I had a third lined up but we stopped at the second. We needed to book fast. The type of venue and time of year and short time frame caused this.

If venues are giving you push back that others are interested in your date just keep it in mind if there's one you really like. But if you are open on dates you will have an easier time. I only went with FH simply because I didn't want to involve anyone else. If it saves you time, you could go by yourself and take notes! Has there been one you really loved so far, or not so much? Or are you holding out to see something better?

I went looking right away. The venue I wanted for 10-10-20 was already booked. We found out it got booked way back in mid 2018. So I guess it depends on the date you choose, and the popularity of the venue. I never hurts to get the venue locked down right away. And I suggest to keep the number of people viewing venues with you to a small number - everyone has their own opinions and ultimately it's your choice.

We got engaged January of 2018 and started looking that April. We saw the venue we ended up choosing and 1 other venue before arriving at a decision at the end of April 2018!

If FH is unavailable I would still ask your family to come along (I know my mom and aunts LOVE being involved so they don't view it as an inconvenience) and if they say no, then go alone and take pictures and write down some good information about the venues you see by yourself!

We got engaged on 11/3/19 and picked our venue on 12/3/19. I knew the venue that I wanted, so that is why we jumped on it quickly! We did go and visit about 3 other venues (just to be sure), but after that I knew I wasn't going to be changing my mind so we secured our date since they were filling up quickly.

I got engaged on February 1st. He had already book a venue by February 9th. Lol he loved the first place we saw. Our wedding is this September

We are 18 months out, and even though everyone told us 12 months is plenty of time, we found most venues we wanted are already booked for the fall of 2020. Thankfully we had already reached out to a wedding planner and she has came up with a bunch more venues for us to check out that may not have the dates we wanted but are somewhere in the same month.

We, actually, toured a venue a month before we got engaged because we loved it online and thought that was where we'd want to get married. We toured our venue on 3/15/19 but didn't get engaged until Easter. We booked our venue the day after we got engaged because we knew that was the place!

I strongly encourage you to take a second person with you to any venues you tour. Having a second set of eyes to pay attention to details you might not notice is important, imo. Chances are your mom and aunt enjoy being involved, anyway!

We booked our venue 8 days after we got engaged. It ended up being the first place we toured. We toured two others, but liked the first one so much better that we canceled the rest of the tours we had scheduled for the following weekend and went with our gut.

Got engaged October 25, 2018 and started looking at venues early November. We booked the first venue we toured on December 1, 2018.

Congratulation's on our your engagement and Grad School!!

We got engaged on December 4, 2018 and picked our wedding date out a few weeks later. Once we had the date solid in our minds we started researching venue's. FH went to a couple visits but not all of them as he wasn't all the interested in a couple of the places. We booked our venue as early as the venue in February 2019 (18 months) due to the venue's popularity and our wedding date also being a popular wedding month. Take your wedding planning on your own time frame, it will all come together eventually.

We got engaged in April of last year and toured 2 in June. We had a couple others schedule but I ended up going with venue 1

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Yea I know that I have 2 years out until I want to get married, just makes me nervous knowing people are already booking up for 2021 which I think that is my issue. My fiance tells me to relax all the time about it lol which is true haha I have really loved 2 so far that I saw out of 3. I have want to see 4 more that I have on my list which will be within the next month. I have 2 more scheduled on the 25th which I'm excited about so, I guess I will have to see.

Thanks for the advise!

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Thank you! Excited about both milestones!

I have the time frame and month I want to get married in, which is 2 years out and I guess it's just nerve racking to see that people are booking up for 2021 already. But I have 2 venue tours schedule for the 25th, and then I want to visit 3 more on my list so I have to see how all of those go.

Thanks!

Engaged end of February, started contacting venues in March. I think we contacted 15 venues. Toured 3. Finally found the one mid April.
I took my fiance to all 3. It was important to me that he be on board with the location. And he had a lot more opinions than I expected. I'm now thankful for this, but at first it was highly frustrating.

I took my mom to the first and third as well.

If you know exactly what you want to know, you should be ok.

We toured our venue with an engaged couple that weren't too happy they weren't getting a private tour... until I pulled out a list of super specific questions they hadn't thought about. And they decided maybe I wasnt the thorn in their side they originally thought I was. So it doesnt hurt to have someone else there asking questions that you might not have thought of. Though you might have that down if you've toured enough places.

Also, I don't think your mom will get annoyed with helping you wedding plan.

We had a few venues in mind and schedule viewings for both on the same day. Our first venue was the one we both had talked about wanting to marry at and the second one was just something we stumbled upon. After viewing the first venue we had a few hours before the second. While driving to the venue it turned out to be in a bad neighborhood, but a gated golf course community none the less. After viewing and feeling pretty disappointed in the second venue, we called the first venue and went back to sign the contract. Since our date (10/10/2020) is VERY popular, we felt making the decision at that time was best. We are happy with our decision!

I've seen 6 and still haven't committed. I'm getting married July 2020 and am not really worried about it. If they book they book, I'll find somewhere else or push the date (it helps that I don't want a Saturday wedding).

My sister came with me on tours and she had a blast. I doubt your family feels inconvenienced! Take your time, you have two years and March is not considered "prime" wedding season so I doubt your date will book up that quickly!!

We are getting married on Memorial Day weekend 2020 so I knew we needed to book asap since it is a holiday weekend. We found and booked our venue 3 weeks after we got engaged. We knew we wanted to get married at a winery in the mountains, so we just had to find "the one". I would want my FH with me because I think it's important to have his input- sometimes photos just don't do a place justice. Our venue was one we found after looking at several and thinking, "this is pretty, this could work"..but when we got to our place we both instantly knew. It has been one of my favorite moments of the planning process.

Lemme start by saying, ours was different. FH has our venue picked before we even got engaged. He used to work for a catering company when he was 16 and fell in with it and told his best friend, if I ever get married, I’m getting married here.
We got engaged in October, saw the venue by November (I had never seen it and just wanted to know where I was getting married lol) and put the deposit on it by December.

That being said, you have to do what’s best for you. If you still have venues you want to see, go see them! If you go by yourself, take LOTS of pictures and come with a list of questions you may otherwise forget. Once you have everything from all the venues, sit down with your fiancé and discuss each one and see what speaks to you.

Good luck on your venue hunt ❤️

We got engaged October 31, 2019 and we booked our venue May 1st. We had viewed several places but when we visited our venue it was an instant love (it’s a historic mansion with everything I wanted-beautiful scenery, tables/chairs, close to town so nobody has to drive far and it’s haunted🖤)

We got engaged Oct 2018 and I was looking at venues Nov 2018. I looked at 3 venues during the week with my mom and then another 3 venues 2 weekends after with both my mom and dad. FH said he trusted me and that this day is for me, and that he loves my style so anything that I chose he knew would be amazing. That aside, when I found THE venue that myself and my folks loved, I called FH, who happened to be out and about near the venue with his best man, and they both came over right away and gave a thumbs up to the venue. We put the deposit down right then and there for our Feb 2020 wedding. It was super funny, while my mom and I were putting the deposit down, my dad, FH and his best man, where walking around the space talking about how they think everything should be setup, and what would look great where, it was super cute.

My advise is to book as soon as you love a venue. If you really need your FH approval on the location, then try and squeeze him looking at it asap. I will tell you from my experience, people will tell you that you have time, but in 2018 I was already running into venues with weddings booked for the middle and end of 2020.