The whole “first comes love, then comes marriage” statement is missing quite a few steps if you’re wanting to host a wedding to celebrate that marriage! Choosing your venue and selecting vendors doesn’t happen all in a day! (The average couple hires 15 wedding vendors!) While there is no exact timing to planning a wedding, we have guidelines here based on the average engagement length of 15 months to help get you to decide when to book wedding vendors!
When to Book Wedding Photographer & Videographer
What’s a once-in-a-lifetime event without being able to look back on it and share it for future generations?! While some couples forgo a traditional wedding cake or wear something blue, we don’t suggest skipping out on hiring stellar cinematographers for your big day. You definitely don’t want to leave this to-do unchecked for too long. Most other couples are reserving photographers and videographers early on as well. For that reason, you want to make sure you book your photographer and videographer at least a year in advance.
When to Book Wedding DJ
Since every reception needs one, don’t sleep on reserving this key ingredient to getting the party started! Book your wedding DJ at least nine to ten months out from your wedding day. Same as photographers and videographers, DJs are also one of the most highly sought-after wedding services. They bring your party to life! DJs don’t just play music, but will also be the host of your night to take the stress away from you.
When to Buy Your Wedding Dress
The dress. This is one of the topmost important parts of the wedding day that you’ll absolutely need. No matter what type of dress style you’re going for, you’ll want to buy a wedding dress ahead of time. If you have the privilege of being engaged more than a year from your wedding date, start researching what kind of style you’d like. Then go ahead and book appointments for the first fittings. Once you’ve decided, you want to actually buy the dress at least a year ahead of your wedding.
With lots of variables of what could keep your dress from arriving on time, including the pandemic, this will give you plenty of time. Once the dress arrives, you’ll also have to make time for alterations (possibly multiple rounds) if need be. To avoid the stress of rush orders, ahead of time is the name of the game!
When to Reserve a Hotel Block
When touring and booking your wedding vendor, it’s good to first ask the venue manager for their suggestion on nearby hotel options (if your venue isn’t already a hotel). You’ll want to then reserve your hotel block right after reserving your wedding venue or at least a year before the big day.
This twelve-month guideline is especially true if your venue is in a popular location or part of town that draws in tourists. If you have more flexibility and availability with nearby lodging, you’ll still want the hotel block booked at least seven months ahead of time to be able to share the information with your save the dates and wedding website.
When To Buy Men’s Attire
Looking for suits or tuxes takes a little less time than a wedding dress. Lucky for grooms, they will be safe in getting their suit four to six months out from the wedding date. This gives them time to have the suits ordered and tailored. Even if both the groom and groomsmen plan on renting the suits or tuxedos, we’d still suggest checking this off at least four months before.
When to Plan Seating Arrangement
If you have decided on having a seating arrangement for your wedding, deciding on when to actually draft up the arrangement can be exciting. This will be something you want to do about two months out from your wedding. As you begin to get your RSVPs and finalize your guest list, you’ll also finalize your seating arrangement about three or four weeks out. This makes sure to give your booked vendors (especially your caterers) a good idea of how many people will be there and need to be fed!
Complete Weddings + Events Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Complete Weddings + Events offers multiple services to make it easy to reserve your wedding date for the vendors you still need! Contact Complete for availability on needs for your wedding day!