Make Your Life Easier And Have A Long Engagement

Happy Wedding Wednesday! This week I wanted to talk about why long engagements can benefit you!

This morning I went on facebook to check out my Long Island Bride group to find this:

This makes me so mad because now that I am only 6 months away from my own wedding, I am remembering the way I was treated a year and a half ago while I was starting to book my vendors! Weddings have changed A LOT since our parents have gotten married, they are bigger than they have ever been before. My advice to you, is don’t take anyones wedding advice if they never used The Knot to plan their wedding, that means that their knowledge on weddings is very outdated.

My engagement will be a full term of 2 years and 10 months. Kevin and I got engaged in July 2017 and I did not book my venue until January 2018. I did not book my venue earlier, not because I did not want to book it, but because my venue did not book anything earlier than 2 years in advance. This is very important to do because dates book up fast and if you know you want a special venue you need to get there first! As soon as you have your venue booked go ahead and start booking your other vendors ASAP! If you have time, it is very important to take advantage of that! If you have longer than 2 years, like I did, use that limbo time where you cant book anything for research. Find out what you like and what you don’t like and read articles on The Knot and Martha Stewart Weddings to really understand the wedding industry and how you can maximize your wedding.

Having a longer engagement really puts you at such an advantage but unfortunately older people who got married 25+ years ago don’t understand it. Older family members (not my parents) for instance would always make fun of me for booking vendors 2 years in advance and say things like ‘Isn’t it too early?’ or ‘Wow, already? Your wedding isn’t for 2 more years. You have time.’ The longer you wait or the shorter your engagement is really puts you at a disadvantage, like the girl in my Long Island Bride group tried to book a vendor over a year in advance and she found out that her first choice was already booked up for her day. I’ve seen this happen a whole lot on my bride group with the longer you wait to book vendors.

Also, look for Facebook Bride group  in your area! They really help a bunch and its a really great support system. You can ask any wedding questions you have there and new brides, past brides, or brides in the thick of planning can all answer your questions. The new bride wants to learn from your wedding question, the bride in the thick of planning probably just tackled your problem herself and can give you her advice on how she’s handling it, and the past bride can tell you what she did and the outcome of it on the wedding day. It really is a great source and I encourage every bride to join a local bride group!

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