Planning too early?

Our entire engagement was 19 months long. Before the 1 year mark, we had our guest list, photographer, budget, venue, DOC, HAMU, and florist all booked. I had gone to two dress salons, picked bridesmaids dressed, proposed to my bridesmaids, started looking at honeymoon plans. I didn't make any final decisions on food, flowers, decor, etc. and just narrowed down Pinterest pictures that I liked and kept things in mind. I had way more time to get quotes from vendors, do research, and focus on other things (my now husband graduating from his masters, both of us working full time, buying & renovating a house, other vacations, etc.). I didn't get burned out or spend all my time wedding planning.

Our engagement will be almost exactly 21 months. We started planning right away and had most of our major vendors booked within 6 months. I have absolutely no regrets. If you live in a popular area, it's hard to get your first choice vendors any longer than a year out. The only thing that I feel can be done "too early" is dress shopping. With new styles coming out each season, it's easy to have dress regret if you buy your dress over a year out.

I was worried it would happen to me, but by focusing on new tasks & keeping myself busy, I think I avoided that pretty well. Sometimes seeing your same stuff all the time makes it feel old and boring, and by staying busy I've been able to keep all of my previous work from feeling stale. I'm 29 days out and everything will be perfect for me I'm sure, and we started at over 400 days

I am at that point right now. I am happy with all the vendors we have hired and now we can start working on paying off the vendors. I have all my vendors minus a videographer right now. I also have my dress, because I think when you know which dress you want that's it. Plus I wanted to get stuff and meetings done before the winter hits the Midwest which sounds weird but I hate going to places and driving around to go to meetings in the winter lol

I had all my vendors booked a year in advance. I wouldn't say that my taste changed but I was able to focus on exactly what I was looking for. For example my first meeting with my florist I just gave her my colors and said more greenery the better. As we had a couple more meetings closer to the wedding I was able to focus on what flowers I liked and styles of bouquets. I was even able to take some things off the invoice because I no longer wanted them, saving some money.

As for venue I booked before the new year which is when a lot of venues and caterers up their prices. If you can lock down 2019 prices before they go up you will be saving money there as well.

It is never too early!!!!!!!! Seriously

Start planning girl lol

You’re not too early. I started at 595 days and now have 80. I have no issues or regrets with my original choices.

View Quoted Comment Haha I actually have it almost all done! I was just asking if anyone’s tastes had changed if they planned everything early.

View Quoted Comment Sounds very similar to me! I started with 17 months and I’m at 14 months to go and it’s almost all planned! It’s a good feeling. I just hope I like everything just as much in a year!

View Quoted Comment Our engagement will be 17 months long. Within 3 months I have basically everything booked and done! I got my dress within 3 weeks haha (I wasn’t expecting to find it) I’ve seen a million beautiful dresses since but I love mine so much I don’t think I’ll give into dress regret feelings. I definitely agree with booking things early, especially since my date is super popular! I’m thrilled that I snagged all of my vendors. I just hope I like everything just as much over a year from now.

View Quoted Comment That’s a good call! I try to not look at everything too often! We started at 517 days and I’m already down 117! It is going pretty quick!

View Quoted Comment That’s good to know, thank you!

View Quoted Comment Yes girl I feel that!!! I’m originally from Chicago lol. I’m in the same boat. I have my dress too! It chose me!

We booked our venue, photographer and florist well over a year in advance and I’m so glad. The time truly flies, we are just under 300 days now and it’s getting real. Sending out our Save the Dates in a few weeks and bridesmaid dress shopping will follow.

I think you deserve a wedding-planning break! It's great how you're being proactive in planning, but sometimes taking breaks is for the best

Oh my gosh I am in this same predicament! I have pretty much everything planned out and the major things booked, am still 18 months out! I am finishing my last year of nursing school rn though so trying to be proactive before life gets too crazy!

There is nothing wrong with booking vendors a year out! But you are right, tastes and trends do change, so I wouldn't make any firm decisions on details until a little closer.

I’m too afraid to book all my vendors because I keep changing my mind on what I like. My fh is not picky and agrees with whatever I choose. I just need to commit and run with it I guess. Lol. I at least have my venue and catering taken care of.

Our engagement will be 21 months long by the time we get married next Saturday. We booked the major items very early on. The venue, dresses, catering and officiant were the first. However we are both recent grads and knew that our budget would be more flexible as time went on so we held off on some of the less expensive vendors such as photographer and florist (these are usually not as much money in our area). We booked them near the 8 month mark.

The only things that needed changing: we made a few menu updates; and I lost weight unfortunately so my dress required major alterations. These changes all ended up easy enough and ok, so don't stress too much about change if it does happen.

I would recommend just relaxing for a while and staying away from wedding boards. The more you look at other ideas, the more you second guess yourself. For instance, they say once you find your wedding dress to stop looking at other dresses. This same advice can apply to you for the planning process in order to prevent any second-guessing.

Good luck!