Is 6 months enough time to plan?

Dj's shouldn't be that hard especially if you find a company that has many and you can meet with them/ read resumes ect. I just booked my officiant just because I was on such a roll with booking vendors. Florist I has no issues with either. I had the same thing with caterer and venue. Is you cake included with your venue? If so thats another thing you do not have to do. The only thing you would have to worry about is budget (if you have one) and sticking to it. For me I have 100 people and mine will cost upwards of 30k based on my location. If money is no object for that amount of guests then you are already on the right track!

Also if you are doing a hotel block get started on that. I did ours early and I have complimentary shuttle transportation for all our guests if they chose to stay.

It can definitely be done - you just need to be flexible and open-minded with your vendors/choices as some may already be booked up (we booked a lot of ours over 1 year out).

It's possible. We're planning in 7+ months and it hasn't been terribly stressful....after I accepted that I actually had to have a wedding. We also haven't had any trouble booking vendors. However, we're not expecting more than 60 guests. I can see planning a larger wedding being more stressful.

Definitely doable! We are doing ours in 7 months also and it has been loads of fun! We are planning for 150 guests, and we have only had a few issues with vendors that are already booked. Try and get as much done as you can, but it sounds like you are already on a good start!!

Yes budget is a big one :/ but this venue is one of the more affordable ones we looked at which is why we are choosing it, so we will have a little extra cash to spend on things we find more important (photo, dj).

Thanks for all the feedback, I was sort of worried with the timeline, but I think we can do it if need be. They also have availability in Sept, but a smaller room. Just wanted to make sure if we get the bigger room in August I won't be in full-on panic mode for 6 months lol.

Also, I would have done a 6-month engagement if I could have. Longest 362 days of my life, I just want to be married to FH already.

I did mine in less than 6 months.... I felt like I had too much time and could have done it even sooner!

It absolutely is!

But the real question is will you have enough time to pay?

It is. We got engaged in October and getting married in April. If you can make decisions quickly and focus, you can definitely do it.

You will be fine

It's doable but you need to book the rest of your vendors asap.

You will have time to plan the wedding, but because you implied budget is going to be an issue, I don't think it's a good idea to get married in 6 months. You either need to cut that guest list or delay the wedding so you can save up enough money to host them.

Here's my 12-step "how to plan a wedding" program. If you can get through step 7 with your 300 person guest list and only 6 months to save for the wedding, go for it.

1. Figure out how much money you have to spend on a wedding. You don't have to do a budget at this point, but you should have an idea of what the maximum you can spend is.

2. Make a preliminary guest list. Again, this doesn't have to be perfect.

3. Start looking at venues that will fit the number of guests in the list you created in step 2 that will work with your max budget from step 1. How do you know if it will work with your budget? If the venue includes catering and rentals, it should not exceed 50% of your max budget. If it's just the venue, no more than 20% but I would want to be closer to 15%.

4. If you can't find a venue that meets the requirements of step 3, cut your guest list so you can look at smaller venues.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you find a venue that will work.

6. If you cannot find a venue that works with your budget and guest list, start looking at eloping.

7. After you find a venue, make a detailed budget for that option. Use wedding wire's budget tool for the skeleton, any actual costs associated with the venue, and http://weddings.costhelper.com/ to help you with the other categories. If you can't make the budget work, cut the guest list, cut unnecessary other items, or return to step 4.

8. Get a list of dates the venue has available and call all your VIPs to make sure your parents, future in laws, close friends, etc. can make it.

9. Book your venue! Now you have a wedding date.

10. Start booking secondary vendors for your wedding date.

11. Details, details, details!

12. Get married!

For planning, yes it's enough time. For booking vendors, it depends. You may have trouble getting the vendors you want because they could be booked much further out than that. You may have to go with vendors you don't care for as much or vendors who are more expensive (bargain vendors can book up fast). For example, I had a photographer chosen we just hadn't signed a contract yet and then she bailed on us. By that point we were 10 months out. Doesn't seem like a time crunch but our wedding was a prime date and nearly everyone we contacted was booked or way out of our price range. We ended up spending more than we wanted to simply because it was that or not have a photographer.

I just planned a party for 100 people--including finding the venue--in three weeks. No, it wasn't a wedding. But the complications weren't that different. You can definitely do it in the time you have.

I think you can. You might want to expect that you may not get the top choice in vendors, just because it's a popular time of year to get married.

With enough money, yes. I'd start contacting caterers to make sure there's availability for that date because that will be another big "well, I need this" thing that could throw a wrench in things.

It's possible, but you will need to plan things out and stay on the ball. We planned with less than 8 months - for 200 guests, started a little slow in the beginning trying to find a venue, and it kind of snowballed from there. Plus, it took a while to meet vendors. We tried to meet with 2 - 3 vendors each, and we couldn't always meet right away. Some appointments were made several weeks in advance, because of either our schedules, or because they were just booked!

We're less than 80 days away now, and we still have lots to do! The only things we're DIY'ing are our invitations; otherwise, it'd be very overwhelming.

Good luck booking those vendors in a month. That's a lot to accomplish! We're also using a month-of planner, thank goodness! Can't wait for them to take over the reins. If it's in your budget, maybe look into getting a month/day-of planner? If so, book them early! They should make it a heck of a lot less stressful for you so you can enjoy your big day. FH and I don't want to be bogged down with details the day of, nor do we want to be the initial contact if things go wrong, etc.

We did it (very successfully) in exactly 6 months.

I am in Chicago too. Booked my venue this past Saturday and am getting married august 26. You can do it!!!