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Wedvice: Day by Day… picking your date!

A quick post for you all with the inside scoop about picking your wedding date.

red and green centerpiece

[Decided to feature one of my floral arrangements this week for your viewing pleasure. Just a few pictures below of this cutie patootie!! All images taken by YOURS TRULY!!]

So, if you’ve followed my advice thus far, you’ve fallen in love with a man, and now fallen for a venue to boot!

My best advice:

Be flexible. There’s a reason I haven’t mentioned setting a date yet. That’s because- unless it’s EXTREMELY important- I don’t think you should yet! After all of the worries and tears and time and effort you’ve taken finding a site, you don’t need to be concerning yourself about if they have this ONE date that you NEED to get married available. The truth is, if a venue allows booking to infinity in advance [and thankfully, some of them cap it at 1 year, 14 months, two years…], you will not be the first one who wants it for that date. Of course, there are concerns. You’re trying to get married during Spring Break from school. You’d like to tie the knot before your family’s vacation to Europe. You’re working around your fiancee’s new work training schedule. Of course. Circumstances apply! But, should the world be your oyster: give yourself two to three months. A big, flashy window of time to find yourself a perfect date to remember for the rest of your life. This window will allow you to walk away from a meeting with the site manager with a list of hopefully around 8 dates that could work for you. From there, you eliminate reasonably, checking in with the venue to ensure that you’ve still got the options you’re narrowing down to!

Consider also the perks of getting married on a day other than Saturday. Some venues offer discounts for Friday and Sunday weddings- most venues offer SIGNIFICANT discounts for Monday through Thursday events. If it’s a destination-style soiree you’re after, then a weekday is more than acceptable. If it’s a holiday, certain venues may pass along a discount as well. These can be large contributing factors to your decision. I know a venue local to me, Ranchos Las Lomas, has strict catering restrictions for a Saturday night but loosens those rules up quite a bit for any other week night. The more flexible you are, the better! Besides, with the price tag attached to venues and weddings in general these days, all is fair! It’s highly likely that you wouldn’t be the first Friday wedding your guests will attend.

Take into account your type of venue and the season. There are just certain places in the world with certain seasons in the world that will make for a miserable [heat], anxious [rain], or miserably anxious [snow? Sleet? Hail?] engagement. Try and take the most pressure off of yourself by booking in a smart manner. There are “off season” discounts- at least here in California- for the winter months. Which is great for an indoor site, but the risk of an all-outdoor venue may be more than you can bear, checking the weather every day for months and praying for dry skies. Weigh the options and if the risk is worth it for the price difference and the venue’s natural beauty, just ensure you have a great back up plan in case of emergency.

Really, picking your date should be fun and easy. Do NOT let yourself get bogged down with the little things. Remember the one cardinal rule of wedding planning: you will never please everyone. Do this with your fiancé and your fiancé alone! Don’t let your families get over involved as it will just cause frustration and stress and tears, as well as put a huge damper on what should be a great and exciting accomplishment! My take on considering your families in a date picking situation would be this: pick 3 dates that you’re very excited about [say June 8, June 15, June 22] and that the venue has available. Sit with your parents and tell them the options and if anyone has strong opposition [as in “you KNOW that the first week of june Uncle Bill ALWAYS takes his camping trip to the mountains… we can’t have you getting married without him!!”- which, of course, you will have NOT known that Uncle Bill is always out of town the first week of June because, well, you’ve never really needed to care before now…], then you can eliminate from there and choose the date best for you.

I’ve said this before in regards to vendors and I am saying it again: pick your date and firm up the contract between you and your venue QUICKLY. They will not hold a date for you for more than 24 hours most likely. They should alert you if someone is looking into the same date you are, but they aren’t obligated to tell you nor are they obligated to give the date to you cause you saw it first, if someone else sweeps in with a check in hand. Once you’ve picked your date, go ahead with the contract and get your deposit in!

After you pick your date at the venue of your dreams, you’re getting married. Think about that! This is the best, most important and monumental decision ever and you’ve got it nailed down. Allow yourselves to take a week and soak in the enormity of it all. Oh yah, and kiss lots, too. That always helps!

A teency weency bit of eye candy for y’all:

red and green centerpiece

When I made this arrangement, I had two things in mind: I had specifically wanted to “green” [which means using leaves and greens to cover] a “hedge” shape, and I LOVE ranunculus so I wanted the flowers to look like they were growing out of a small bush. I love this modern warm brown wood box vase that I had lying around and knew it was the perfect long, low container for this type of arrangement. It took quite some time but was totally worth it for the end result! Apologies in advance for my dark pictures! This was quite some time ago and I was still getting used to taking pictures without my flash on!!

red ranunculus centerpiece

Hands down, my FAVORITE shot of this arrangement. I LOVE the aerial view, plus it looks SO cute and roundy-square, which was exactly what I had been envisioning. :)

red ranunculus centerpiece

Typically I do my florals just for fun. I adore flowers more than anything and my husband has learned to love having fresh flower arrangements in our home [he’ll actually buy me flowers to arrange because he cares so greatly for it, which makes me swooon!!]. But, coincidentally, one of my clients loved this particular arrangement so much that you’ll be seeing many more of then come May!! As if that’s not one of the most flattering things to ever happen to me [besides each and every one of my clients loving and appreciating me]!!

Thrilled!!

Have a GREAT week, keep reading, and remember what I said about kissing- whether you picked your venue this week or not- do it, now!

xoxo,

A. Auer