YORK, Pa. — The holiday season is a popular time for couples to get engaged.
Now, a few months later, many of these couples are starting the wedding planning process. This is why February is labeled National Wedding Month.
If you or someone you know is recently engaged, congratulations! I'm right there with you planning my own wedding next year.
The process can be overwhelming to start, so we're going to step you through some of the planning that needs to take place as you design your dream day.
To do this, I enlisted the help of Leah Barnes, wedding planner and owner of Your Perfect Day in York County. She says there’s a few big items that you want to check off your list first, starting with the venue.
“We call it the big four here," Barnes told me. "So you need to get your venue. You need to get your caterer, your DJ, and your photographer pretty much as early as possible. In today’s world, it’s really hard.”
Barnes says some of that difficulty comes from the backlog of weddings from COVID-19, which caused many couples to delay their own big days during the height of the pandemic.
Something important to keep in mind as you start to book the "big four" is your budget. Set a budget with your partner and make sure you stick to it. Barnes says most of her couples spend between $25,000 and $30,000 on their weddings. She also suggests that sometimes less is more.
“I know people want to have that big, white wedding, but I’m a big encourager… 60 people is just as good as 100 in my case and you’re paying less for it.”
Another key piece of the wedding day for some - the dress! This is something you probably need to look for a little earlier than you initially thought. Lily Chow with POSH Bridal in Lancaster says brides should start dress shopping nearly a year out from their big day.
“We recommend 12 months because that gives us time for shipping, which generally takes around 8 months," she said. "And then, obviously, it allows us time, a buffer time, to fix any issues with your dress and also for alterations and all that good stuff.”
Chow says that COVID-19 has made it even more important to shop early for your dress, as new variants continue to cause problems in the industry.
“Some of our dresses come out of a designer in Hong Kong and they are having issues with COVID still," she said. "So they’re having sicknesses and people home sick, so they don’t have as many workers."
Your dress and larger vendors all need to booked well in advance of your wedding; however, there are other things that you don't need to do until your big day gets closer.
You can send save-the-dates to guests six to nine months prior to your wedding. Invitations can be sent up to three months ahead of time. Once you get responses, other details can be narrowed down.
“When it comes to food, alcohol, things like that, you really cannot make your call until you have all of the RSVPs in," said Barnes.
If this whole process overwhelms you, Barnes says hiring a wedding planner might be the move for you. Your planner can help guide you through all of the decision-making and make sure your wedding goes as smoothly as possible.