Minnesota Wedding Planning

Tips for Newly Engaged

If you just got engaged, congratulations! You’re probably wondering when you should start planning your wedding and making commitments. What usually surprises people is how early they really should start. Right now it seems a long way off, but there are some important things you should know to avoid disappointment. If you are getting married in the busy months (May-October), 13 months is the minimum lead time for reserving the most popular reception and ceremony sites. Some vendors will already be busy as well. Some churches require you to have been a member for a year before they will let you get married there.

If it is already less than 13 months away, do not despair. What you can do is Be Flexible! In fact, this is a good idea for your wedding in general. Pick the month for your wedding, but ask the sites what dates they have open before you settle on an absolutely firm date for your wedding. Yes, it might be nice to get married on a special date (like the anniversary of the day you met), but you may have to make some hard choices. Either be open to another date, or have your reception at some other place. If you need to have a certain weekend because of people’s schedules, consider Friday night, late Saturday morning followed by a lunch, or Sunday afternoon or early evening. Not only does this give you more availability, many vendors offer huge discounts on Friday and Sunday weddings, as well as Saturday weddings in November-April . There are many nice places to have your wedding and reception. Try not to get your heart set on just one site and one date.

If you choose a solo vendor you have to reserve them early too, or they may be busy. If you check the date with them and they have it open, don’t wait too long with your deposit. Minnesota Weddings has 2004 weddings scheduled, and has gotten a few inquiries for 2005.