When you get engaged, it can be super tempting to want to run out and Do All The Wedding things: Hire the photographer! Figure out who will be in your wedding party! Line up some delicious desserts! But you know what you need to know before you can do all of that stuff? You need to know where you want to get married and what dates they have available.
My husband and I originally planned to get married on the March equinox, which happened to be on a Wednesday in 2007. This idea was quickly shot down by a family member, who told us that it couldn’t happen because she couldn’t get off work that day (several months into the future). We were twenty-two and twenty-one and immediately decided that we weren’t designed to withstand wedding planning, and that is how we found ourselves at the courthouse on a Friday in February, two days after Valentine’s Day, calling our moms and telling them we were eloping in two hours.
Guys, don’t be like us.
I mean, elope if you want to! But if you and yours have determined that you are in fact not elopement people, then here’s my advice to you: pick a wedding venue, then pick a date, and hold firm to it. Unless there’s a death in the family, natural disaster, or some other catastrophe, stake out your calendar territory and celebrate it.
Having said that… apart from picking an original date that we liked because it felt beautiful, I’m not sure how else one picks a wedding date (apart from waking up on a Friday and saying, “Let’s get married!” that is). Tell me, APW, how did you pick your wedding date? What advice would you give to folks currently being peppered with “When is the date?” even though they just put an engagement ring on their hand?
Was it easy to pick your wedding date? Why or why not? What tips would you give to recently engaged couples who are trying to pick their wedding dates right now?
