The beauty of short range and off-season wedding planning
With a ring on your finger and the contentment of finding your one and only, you start your wedding plans with the click of a mouse. What to search first....the dress? Be truthful, you’ve been looking at dresses online for 6 months now. Inspiration ideas...? Well, you already know you hate purple, coral, and dislike any and every shade of blue but you’ve always loved mint green and black together...done. If you’re into saving money, your focus should be on your venue. If you are open to swift decision making and you realize that agonizing over centerpieces is overrated then read on.....
No matter what time of year you get engaged, there are savings right around the corner. If he pops the question on a beautiful Spring day in the same park where he first told you he loved you, you can look at having your wedding at that very spot in the Fall. This would be considered a short range wedding because it would be in a 6 month planning range. Shopping venues in this kind of time frame can save you 30-40% or more depending on how close the date is and the venue itself.
Let’s say you get engaged on a bitter cold day in December because it’s your birthday and he wants you both to be able to spread the excitement over the holidays. You could in this case end up with a wedding in prime wedding season the following Spring/Summer at a fraction of the price that brides who booked a year in advance paid. You see, certain brides will pay a premium price to secure a special date, on the perfect month, at the perfect time, at the perfect place, a year and a half in advance. This type bride will always exist and she would shutter at the acronym DIY. Then there are the rest of us...
Now, if you know right from the start you want or need a year or more to plan your wedding, then the savings for you will lie in the off-season category. Or an off “day” for that matter. You should be aware that anytime from the week of Thanksgiving to the Saturday before Easter Sunday is off- season. Popular off-days for a reception would be Thursday, Friday, Saturday afternoon or Sunday. I have been a part of many weddings planned on an off-day or off-season and it was truly an unforgettable event. Don’t worry about compromising a Saturday wedding for a Friday night if it works better for your budget. I have always said to brides that I’ve worked with that “the people who love you most will be there whether you marry on a Saturday in May or a Tuesday night in November, guaranteed” and it’s true.
The catch for this kind of planning is to get moving fast and find out where venues need to fill in “gaps” in their facility. This is a fool proof way to save money, and this either makes room for more extravagant wedding day options that you would otherwise have to cut out, or it means that you just landed that perfect venue at a reduced price that keeps you right in your limited wedding day budget. Isn’t saving beautiful!?
