Choosing a wedding date can be like putting together a big jigsaw puzzle. There are many details to piece together when narrowing down the best time of year, day of week and time of day to host your wedding. Use the following questions as basic guidelines to help select your ideal wedding day.
1. What season would best represent your wedding?
Do you want fresh tulips and spring smells at your wedding? Or warm summer breezes heating your outdoor wedding festivities? Or vibrant colours and bountiful fall harvests filling your wedding reception? Or the fireside warmth of an indoor winter wedding making your guests all-aglow?
2. Does your job eliminate or encourage hosting your wedding during a certain time of year?
For example, teachers can plan to have their weddings during their summer holidays. Accountants want to avoid having a wedding during tax season. And retailers probably want to avoid hosting a wedding during the busy Christmas shopping season.
3. Which day-of-the-week do you want your wedding on?
If your wedding is going to be a big party with many guests then plan for a Friday or Saturday night. However, if you are having a smaller affair and are willing to consider a weekday then you may save money on your venue and services. Often, religious observances, like the Jewish or Christian Sabbaths mean that either Saturday or Sunday weddings are not an option.
4. Would you like to mark a special occasion with your wedding date?
Many couples get married on Valentine’s Day (February 14th), or The Sweetest Day (the third Saturday of October). Others like to get married on the anniversary of the day they met.
5. How long do you want your engagement to be?
A year is the standard amount of time to plan a wedding. But many couples think that an entire year planning a wedding is unnecessary and torturous. Other couples prefer to have many years for planning their wedding (often to save money or to finish school and establish a career).
6. Have you and your fiancé prioritized your wedding desires?
Both you and your fiancé should rank what is most important for your wedding. If you have conflicting desires about the wedding date, then one of you could trade off on the date for another priority, such as hiring a favourite wedding band over a DJ.
7. Have you avoided certain annual dates?
Do not be foolish and have your wedding on a Saturday evening during hockey playoffs, or during a major religious holiday. And avoid big vacation long-weekends, like Labour Day weekend. You want your wedding guests to be happily present, not resentful or secretly listening to the big game. Other dates to avoid are: New Year’s Eve, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Superbowl weekend, the weekend before tax deadline, and “bad luck” days, such as The Ides of March.
8. Have you consulted the itineraries of key participants?
Not that you can keep all your closest family and friends happy, but say your brother is writing university exams in April and your fiancé’s parents are away in Florida for the month of February, well those would be bad times to plan your wedding date. Do not worry about scheduling around too many people, just those who should be at your wedding.
9. Have you booked your ideal wedding location and vendors?
Wedding venues can book years in advance. Many vendors are so popular that they book a year or two in advance. If you have specific dreams on where and how you would like your wedding, make sure you check on the availability of these services before you set your wedding date. Not having the very best location or vendor will not mean disaster, but their availability is something to consider.
