Short engagement

Congrats! I'd focus on venue and number of guests first. Your venue will determine whether you need things like a caterer, bartending, decor, florist etc. If you can find a venue that includes many of those services it would help out in your tight planning time. Other than that, I found that photographers were the most booked up when I reached out and I was looking 9 months ahead. So I'd definitely add that to the top of the list.

I would do venue and photographer first! Definitely start dress shopping immediately too. Time will fly by!

View Quoted Comment Thank you for the tips!! It makes sense that guest list would help determine the venue, and the venue availability would help determine the date.

View Quoted Comment Oh yes! Dress shopping I've heard takes some time 😬.

Congrats! I would take a moment to think and talk to your fiancé to decide on the top 2 or 3 things that are the most important to each of you. Regardless of how much time you have to plan everything, it’s immensely helpful to know where to invest the most time and money when you start! If good food is more important than the setting for you personally, then find your caterer before worrying about a venue! Let the most important vendors for you dictate the date you choose, even if that’s not the venue. This approach is especially important for anyone getting married in the next year, as vendors are wildly busy with the rush of people who postponed last year. I say this as a bride who just got married on a Wednesday to be able to keep the vendors we had already picked last year!

View Quoted Comment Great point! I have been considering choosing a random week night. 🤔

Everyone -start with the place to get married, someone to marry you, and someone to take photos if you want them. If having a reception book that next. But without the place to be married and a person to marry you there is no wedding - always, always, start there. And with 6 months - do that now. After you have the place and officiant (and photographer). Then you can see how the venue might lend itself to choosing a theme or vibe and the deal breakers for you ("I won't feel married if...". Start there. Congratulations!!! I wanted a 6 month engagement!!!

My engagement was four months. The very first thing we did was book a venue—I figured without a venue, we didn’t have a date. That was booked about three weeks after we got engaged. I specifically chose a venue that had an in-house caterer (hotel) and a beautiful setting that needed minimal decor, since we were short on time and I wanted as few vendors to manage as possible. From there, we booked our photographer about a week later and I bought my dress (needed to pay a $250 rush fee). Florist and ceremony/cocktail hour musician were about a week after that, as was ordering our invites (we went with Minted).

View Quoted Comment Thanks for the tips!

View Quoted Comment I’d also advise, if possible, to get married somewhere where there’s a lot of options for vendors. Some smaller towns may only have a couple of photographers, so they book up fast. We got married in a city, where even with short notice, there were tons of venues, etc, to choose from.