5 Things to Consider Before Setting your Wedding Date

Once upon a time I was just a bride planning my wedding too, and it was surprising to me just how much of the planning involved logistics based on THE DATE.  Have you noticed that yet?  I think couples are so quick to set a date that they don’t realize exactly what that date might be limiting for them!  We all know that you need your planner, venue and wedding photographer right away–but what are some other things to consider before you start putting down deposits with a specific date?

5 Things to Consider Before Setting your Wedding Date

•  How long are you willing to wait?  If he pops the question in November and you know you want a June wedding–are you prepared to wait 1.5 years before you say I Do?  Many top Charlotte wedding vendors will routinely book out the most popular spring and fall wedding dates a year in advance so if you have your heart set on a specific location like The Duke Mansion, or Mint Museum you may have to wait a bit.
• What are your floral must-haves?  This is a big one!!!  If you want something other than roses in your bouquet you should pay close attention to what flowers are in season when you will be hosting your wedding.  One of my favorite wedding blogs, Green Wedding Shoes has an excellent seasonal flower guide for each season:

• Do you have a preference for an outdoor wedding?  Outdoor weddings are beautiful, but I’ll be the first to admit that they do come with a few additional planning headaches.  There is always the possibility of rain, so a backup plan is always ALWAYS necessary if that will bother you, otherwise we can play in the rain!  You also have to consider the heat if you plan to have an outdoor wedding in the summer.  I’ve seen grandmothers faint and that is never a happy wedding day occurrence.  Here in the Carolinas it can easy get upwards of 100 degrees on a sunny summer day, and your dress is going to make it feel even hotter!  You can still have a beautiful outdoor summer wedding, just plan to provide lots of shade and ice water for your guests (and photographer!).
• What colors do you hope to feature?  I know that we all think of our wedding colors as just the bridesmaid dresses, but honestly it goes so much further than that!  Your wedding colors are the pallette of your entire day and likely many of the images you will have to remember it by.  Many times the colors carry through the the flowers, groomsman attire, tablescapes and decor.  If you aren’t a big fan of warm hues you may not want to plan a fall wedding.  Conversely, you usually don’t see a lot of blacks or dark jewel tones during the spring wedding season.  Not to say that you CAN’T do these colors at anytime, it just might be a bit more difficult (read: costly) to arrange it!
• Where do you plan to honeymoon?  This is something that I completely spaced on when I planned my wedding.  I wanted SO BADLY to honeymoon in Costa Rica.  It was my dream destination.  Turns out, every.single.resort. in Costa Rica shuts down in the October due to the rainy season.  Ha!  Leave it to me to not realize a tropical rainforest would have a rainy season.  Other weather-based honeymoon restrictions to consider are hurricane season, the last thing you want is to have to cancel your vacation because a storm is threatening 🙁