When to start booking vendors...

I booked our venue, photographer, caterer over a year in advance.

Use the WeddingWire Planning Tools tab for this. The checklist is super helpful and tells you a pretty good timeline. I'd say that the only things that were off for me were the band and hair/makeup. I called bands when the checklist recommended, and so many were already booked. Same with hair/makeup. I'd say follow the timeline WW gives you but maybe do things one month in advance. You'll definitely want your venue booked and date selected before contacting any other vendors.

As soon as possible if you have your heart set on certain things. I booked my venue two years in advance.

It's never too early. Venue is most important. We started booking our May 2016 wedding in February of this year and a lot of our vendors already had dates around ours.

Welcome and congratulations on your engagement! It's never too early to start booking your vendors. As long as you have your budget and guest count figured out, start searching for your venue and use the vendor look-up tool here on the website!

When we found someone we loved we booked ASAP. We booked our venue, photographer, videographer and band about a month after we were engaged which was 18 months out.

Use the planning tools on this website. They help a lot.

I booked my photographer and venue a year and 4 months prior to the wedding. I say the sooner the better that way you don't stress too much when your time gets closer. Your wedding being in Dec 2016 I'd start looking this summer/early fall

Venue(s) first and then officiant.

You can book all the major ones ASAP. We booked 10 months out but I also only got engaged 11 months out. I wasn't one of the brides who thought about her wedding prior to engagement. Otherwise, I would have booked two years in advance if necessary :-)

I would say, be somewhat flexible with themes/colors/bridal party. Your tastes and friendships may change, especially if you're in college. I would wait at least a year for all of those including stationery.

Shop Black Friday deals this fall to save some money on the pricier items. My photographer ran a deals (25% off!!!) a week after we first met with her.

I'm a (late) October 2016 bride and I'm booking my venue in a couple of weeks! My venue is already booked through mid-August so sometimes it pays to start checking things out early! The two photographers I'm talking to are also open to being booked this early, but it depends on when you're getting married. A lot of venues and vendors are already booking all the way through 2016 so start looking now.

ASAP. If you wait, and you miss out on something, you will regret it!

First make a tentative guest list and figure out a budget. Once you have those, you can look at venues. When you find something you like, book it as soon as you can. Once you have a venue, you can look into photographer, DJ, caterer, and all the rest.

Venue first, then anyone who you specifically HAVE to have (I am booking 2017 already) then everyone else.

Congratulations on your engagement! Before you do anything, figure out what you and FH can afford. Do your guest list soon as well! FH and my engagement will be a total of 22 months by the time the wedding rolls around, and we booked our reception venue and church about a week in because we really had our heart set on a certain date. By booking the reception so early, we got locked into that year's prices, rather than paying the 2015 prices. Within the under a year mark, I booked the photographer, then DJ, then the limo, then hairstylist/MUA. etc. I bought my dress a year and a half in advance because I was way too excited, but it took 9 months to come in. I literally just booked the MUA/hairstylist for my October wedding today. FH and I are going to look at tuxes on Sunday. Bridesmaids dresses we did about 2 weeks ago.

As a full-time college student graduating on Saturday, I highly recommend you do things early and on breaks from school. It has made the whole process essentially stress free for me. Good luck with your planning.

Venue first (you'll need an approximate guest list/head count so you know how big/small the venue can be) and ASAP. This way you can get the place you want and have a date to go off of. This also lets you know what you need to bring. FH and I are getting married in a barn so we have to provide everything. A lot of vendors that we contacted were booking 8 months to a over a year in advance.

I had to book a venue 20 months out to get it. The venue search was INSANE - so many were booked 2-3 years in advance because you have to think you are also competing with other weddings, reunions, anniversaries, birthday parties, showers, company parties, etc.

Edit: I booked our photographer next (18 months out) because I was very particular about this. Everything else was booked last September or 13 months out.

I did my venue 14 months out and my Officiant and caterer 1 year out.

Depending on where you're getting married, you're likely getting married in an off season, so that means most venues will not book as quickly and will be cheaper (yay!) however, if you're set on something, book as early as you can. I missed out on my top choice venue because it was booked by the time we looked at it (13 months before our wedding and 4 days post engagement).

Congrats! I agree with others..set up an idea of budget and how many people you are thinking. Then you can start looking into venues/catering..those are like the 2 biggies then the rest starts to fall into place.Also check out the checklist on here or the knot has one it breaks down in time frames what to work on. You may find some of the things you don't necessarily need- for me example I'm not booking a videographer/taking a honeymoon..so yea there's things you may not have to worry about. It can be stressful but this forum you can learn a lot from as well!

Start with a rough guest list, know approx how big (or small) you want your wedding to be. Start calling around to venues and the other major vendors (photographer, florist, caterer, dj) to figure out the cost of the things. You'll want to set your budget as early as you can, but it's hard to set a budget when you have no idea what things cost. So start calling around for pricing, but I wouldn't commit to anything until you're sure what you can afford/want to spend. Luckily a year and a half is lots of time to plan a wedding, don't feel rushed! I would say try to have at least your venue locked down by the end of the summer, and be working on your other high priority vendors.