As soon as the initial shock of the proposal wore off on that rainy night in the middle of January, Danny and I began discussing wedding dates. Spring was too soon, we both decided. Summer too hot. Fall sounded perfect. Now we just needed a date. Choosing a wedding date — a good wedding date — involves more than simply pulling out a calendar and circling a Saturday. Here are some questions to help you zero in on a wedding date that will work for you.

• Is there a particular season in which you’ve always wanted to be married?
• If you already have a honeymoon destination in mind, is there a particular season in which you most want to visit that location?
• Are there any times of year when it would be most difficult for your closest friends and family to attend? (Since we wanted a fall wedding, we tried to schedule around college mid terms, since my brother and both Danny’s and my cousins were in school.)
• Are any of your closest friends or family expecting a baby, which might make it impossible for them to attend the wedding if the wedding were scheduled too close to the due date?
• Are any of your hoped-for wedding plans season-dependent, such as wanting a garden reception or a specific type of flowers?
• When does the venue where you want to get married have availability?
• When do any other vendors you particularly want to work with have availability?
• Are there any dates that are especially significant to you or your family?
• Does the venue where you want to get married charge more for Saturday weddings than for other dates?
• What wedding dates are already taken by close friends or relatives who are getting married soon? (We decided we didn’t want to “cut in line” ahead of friends who had been engaged longer than we had; on a more practical note, for relatives who will be travelling to attend your wedding and another relatives wedding, scheduling them too close together might mean your relatives have to choose which wedding to attend if they can’t take the time or afford the expense of travelling to both.)
• Are there any big events — like a major sporting event in your city or an annual festival — that you want to avoid?

When it comes to setting your wedding date, try not to let the process cause you too much stress, and don’t feel that you have to set a date immediately. We knew the general timeframe when we wanted to get married and we knew we wanted it to be on a Saturday, but after that, we searched around until we found our venue, then finalized our date based on the venue’s availability. That was only a few weeks after we got engaged, but there’s no rule that you have to set a date anywhere near that quickly after you get engaged. Figure out what works for you, and take the date-setting at your own pace.

And happy planning!

~ Laura