It’s ALL About Timing… Becci Clubb Sets Her Wedding Date!
Deciding on a wedding date will come into play at the beginning of planning, especially when you’re ready to book your venue. Your friends want your wedding to be next month because they’re excited, while your family think a year is long enough for you to save, and your colleagues have all been there and done that! With so many opinions passed around when you announce that you are engaged, are you left wondering how long should you really give yourself to plan?
Around two years. We decided that 24 months would be the perfect amount of time between getting engaged and saying ‘I do’. Obviously one of the main reasons for this is because it will give us time to save money and to simply let us enjoy planning. So many brides say that they wish they had stressed less and allowed themselves time to enjoy making decisions together. It is supposed to be fun and a celebration after all! We agreed that 2 years was perfect for us – 2019 it is!
Our venue
We waited around a month after Ben proposed to start planning the wedding. This gave us the time to enjoy the newly engaged feeling and celebrate with our friends and family. After another three months of deliberating about where to wed we finally chose a venue, Tunnel Beaches in Ilfracombe!
Just before this stage, I did feel like we were taking a long time to choose a venue, but we didn’t want to rush into a decision that we might regret. After all, the venue is one of the biggest expenses of the wedding day. Working in the wedding industry means that, unlike other brides, I can’t choose a venue (or anything for that matter) and then stop looking at other options. I often feel nervous about making a decision and then see another option I could potentially like more.
During the last month, a few other people I know got engaged and booked their venues almost instantly, which made me conscious that we were slow to make a decision. On reflection though, there really are no rules or a set time period to decide, so it really didn’t matter.
Consider other elements
We chose Tunnels Beaches as our venue. It ticked so many of our boxes and the setting is simply stunning. We didn’t initially have our hearts set on a specific date or month that we wanted to get married in either, which was lucky because the venue already had quite a few bookings.
If you do have a date in mind for your wedding day, it is best to allow lots of planning time so that your venue is available. Likewise, if you really want a specific band or photographer, they also need to be free on your chosen date. In that scenario, trying to plan the day in six months might not work for you if you aren’t happy to be flexible in some way.
What’s next?
With a date set, we can start to plan everything else! The time of year will dictate some of your decisions too, like what you both choose to wear and the varieties of flowers that will be in season. The venue will also affect your decisions – in a big way, too, you wouldn’t want to wear a huge ballgown to a beach ceremony, after all. Decorating your venue will be totally dependent on the space.
The right venue for you
When booking your venue, I recommend that you go back for a second viewing with your sensible head on! At the first viewing you will be super excited, especially if you think the venue is the one. On your second viewing you have the chance to see the venue at a different time of the day, possibly in different weather too.
When you go away from your first viewing you will inevitably think of questions you didn’t ask. A second viewing means you can ask them in person, rather than on the phone, which can give you a better picture if it’s about where the sun sets or how many tables you will need for your wedding breakfast.
You might also think of last minute questions or queries that are unique to that venue. Will they cut your cake for you and is there a charge? Can you give alcohol as your wedding favours? Can you have sparklers on the roof terrace? These might be pivotal to your final decision.
Take the amount of time that feels right
Wherever you decide to wed, plan at your own pace and make decisions based on what you want. If a venue appears to be perfect, but one of the elements you really wanted isn’t available, make sure you weigh up the pros and cons. Maybe the venue is so perfect that you don’t mind hiring a mini bus to take yourselves and guests to a hotel nearby?
If you feel under pressure to book because the venue have said someone else will book your date, ask if you could reserve the date for a week. Equally if you know right away, don’t feel like you can’t book because you’ve only been engaged for three weeks. Take advantage of the fact that your mind is made up. You’ll be grateful for any easy decisions you can make later on in the planning! It’s your day, so plan it your way…
