Am I too early?

I say start planning away! If vendors are available for booking then there isn't any harm in it if it means getting a day that is special to the two of you.

If they aren't booking this far in advance you can always ask them when they will be too.

For sure go to the wedding shows that pop-up as you can end up winning stuff and with me getting engaged Dec. 2017 and the wedding being in October 2019 we won a few things that came in handy

I can relate to this question so much!
My Fiance and I got engaged March 2018 and with some family members getting married in 2019 we decided we would wait and chose May 2020 as our date! I've actually gotten a lot of my planning done already as I have epilepsy and stress is my worst trigger so the more I can do early really helps me out! Some vendors got this and were fantastic! Some vendors told me I was being over zealous and couldn't quote me for 2020 yet (understandable). We booked our venue and photograher in april of 2018, they both already had atleast one booking for 2020. We booked out florist in august 2018. I found my dress in October 2018. I've unofficially chosen my mua, hair, and wedding cake maker since January. It does suck when people say your getting ahead of yourself but the research time alone has helped me gain a ton of insight and the biggest perk is I have yet to have to choose a back up vendor cuz my first choice was already booked!

So many people told me i was planning too early and i needed to relax but i will say 2018 went by in a flash and 2019 is going pretty quick too so i think i will be mighty thankful in 2020 when most everything is nice and organized already.

As someone who had 8 and a half months to plan a wedding, let me say... you can never start too early the only thing that could (probably will) happen is that you'll change your mind on a few things. Best to get the bigger things out of the way like venues and catering.

View quoted message Thank you!!

View quoted message Thank you, I definitely didn't plan to book till next year and just was asking questions so I know. I have a few I like on a list and come summer next year I will book

View quoted message Thank you for your advice, I made me feel a bit better about it all

I always keep that in mind, that's why I haven't made anything set. It will be a 3 1/2yr engagement because we are A: so young b:money while I'm in school and c: the time of year I want it. I have changed my mind a few times and kind of finally settled on a few things but I'm not going to finalize anything quite yet.

Don’t worry! I got engaged May 2018 and getting married in May 2019 and was told that i was starting too early too! People will always judge what you do.
The only piece of advice i can share with you would be to not listen to those telling you its early.. but keep in mind that trends do change and your mind might as well. I know that i changed my mind on my theme and colors 6 months in.. ended up changing venues, ordering new invites and more. But other than that, you know yourself best, so if you would rather take a few years to plan it slowly and carefully that’s all up to you! Congrats on your engagement

I got engaged October 2017 and getting married October 2019. I definitely started doing my research right away by going to bridal shows, looking at vendors online, etc. However, I didn't start booking until early 2018, in case the books weren't open yet, but most wedding venues I found had books open two years in advance.

A good piece of advice that Valerie mentioned was contact venues/vendors and ask if they are planning major renovations or closures around your date, as well as ask about availability/pricing.

It is never too early to start planning! It may be a little early to be booking vendors as Valerie said some may not have their booking calendars organized for that time yet. But for sure go through all the vendors you will need and make a chart/list of what they include, price wise (even though this may change) just to get an idea of what is out there.
Start a planning binder and keep everything organized and you should be good!

My best friend planned her wedding in 6 months and it was a huge success.

We planned ours in a little over a year, with breaksnin between. You have PLENTY of time to plan your wedding, and can comfortably start at the end of this year or early 2020.

For added assurance thought try to lock down your big vendors (venue, photographer), first to put your mind at ease.

Hi Kirsten,

Still being in early 2019, most vendors might not have their "books" open for 2021 yet, as they might be planning a closure or renovations that year. That's what I learned, as we got engaged in early 2017 and set a date in September 2019.

I even had vendors on my list when we first got engaged that closed down by late 2018. Not booking them then definitely saved me the stress and trouble of having to find someone else later.

I understand that you want to have some of your bigger elements locked down sooner rather than later, but I think you should concentrate on researching your vendors this year and book them at the beginning or mid-2020.

To help you with the process of elimination, you could contact them and ask whether they were planning any big closures or changes in 2021, as you might be calling them back in 2020 to book.

Happy planning

I was in school when I got engaged and began planning, and I started going big ASAP. I think you need to lock down your big vendors (photographer, florists, venue, etc.) then work on the smaller things whenever you have a spare moment. As long as you stay organized and focused, it will all come together